Today we meet Kerry Millar, category organizer for Middle Grade Fiction:
Hello fellow Cybilers: nominators,
panelists and judges! I’ve been teaching Grade 5 for three years,
so I’ve got some solid first-hand know-how about what’s going on
out there in Middle-Grade-land–what’s cool, what’s old, what
has true kid appeal and what doesn’t.
Before teaching, I was part
pastry chef, part children’s bookseller (a.k.a. the dreamiest job-combo
known to man), and went to sleep every night full of French pastries
and stories. Now I spend my days with many ten-year olds, trying to
find every conceivable excuse to pull out a book and read to them.
Over a year ago, inspired by
the many quirky, clever and generally delightful blogs in the kidlitosphere,
I launched Shelf Elf, where I’ve been
blogging ever since about everything kidlit related. I’m also a contributing
blogger over at Guys Lit Wire, the
new group blog that recommends great books to teen male readers, and
a regular participant in features such as Poetry Friday and Nonfiction
Monday.
Last year I served as a Cybils
panelist for the Middle Grade Fiction category, and I’m so happy to
be back again, this time as a MGF judge and category organizer. When
I’m not teaching / blogging / reading, I can be found curled up with
a Siamese cat and slice of cake.