Well, what do you know? It's Poetry Friday. And in honor of Poetry Friday, we at the Cybils would like to announce our first panel of the 2010 awards–the Poetry panel. These enthusiasts and experts will ponder a wide range of poetry books for young readers: rhyming stories and lyrical blank verse, by poets famed and yet-to-be-discovered. Panel Organizer: Kelly …
A word about judging
It's the 15th as I write this, the official deadline to have signed up to judge for this year's Cybils. Even as I type, emails are flying back and forth between organizers about who goes where. It literally came down to the wire. At last count, more than 190 people volunteered for roughly 110 spots (give or take a few, …
Important Dates in (Cybils) History
September 15th. The Mayflower departs from Plymouth, England. Charles Darwin's HMS Beagle arrives at the Galapagos. Hispanic Heritage Month Starts. September 16th. Owain Glyndwr declared Prince of Wales. Mexico celebrates its bicentennial. General Motors is founded. September 17th. The first episode of M*A*S*H appears on TV. The city of Boston, MA is founded. And, Cybils panelists for 2010 are formally …
Introducing Anne Levy, Cybils Administrator
Since I last saw you all back in February, a few amazing things have happened. I interviewed a witch who casts spells and stuff and even writes YA. I interviewed an Iraq war veteran whose blog was censored by the U.S. Army. I meet some cool people in my day job as a radio news writer. Until a month or …
A Shout-Out for Our Poetry Organizer
Today, we at the Cybils are squee-ing with pride because our very own Poetry Category Organizer, Kelly Fineman, is a prominent part of the e-book anthology BREAKING WAVES, a collection of 34 poems, memoirs, short stories, and articles (including an excerpt from Rachel Carson's The Sea Around Us and a poem by Ursula K. Le Guin). BREAKING WAVES sells for …
Introducing Susan Thomsen, Middle Grade/Young Adult Non-Fiction Category
Susan Thomsen traces her love of nonfiction back to the days when she was mesmerized by such World Book entries as The Exoskeleton of Insects. She is positively thrilled with today's nonfiction bounty. Thrilled! Just ask her about Civil War submarines, P.T. Barnum, frog scientists, or growing up on Israel's West Bank–all of which were subjects in recent nonfiction for …
Introducing Sarah Stevenson, Blog Editor
This is the second time in a week that Sarah Stevenson has had to write about herself, a fact which makes her feel terrifically self-centered. The first time was a letter introducing her debut novel to teen readers for YALSA's galley program, a task which was both incredibly cool and very intimidating. Her YA novel The Latte Rebellion will be …
Introducing Jackie Parker, Young Adult Fiction Category
Jackie Parker got the reading gene from her mother, a librarian, who had gotten it from her father, who was, by most accounts, a bit of a renaissance man. Jackie didn't become voracious until fourth grade when Stacy Youngs and she had an unspoken and puzzling rivalry regarding who could read the new Babysitter's Club book the fastest each month. …
Welcome home, Gina!
Our social media guru, Gina Ruiz, says she's just moved back into her old blog, AmoXcalli, after a year-long absence. Please stop by and admire all the redecorating she's done, and to welcome her back to the Interwebs.
Introducing Pam Coughlan, Fiction Picture Books Category
As the daughter of teachers turned artisans, Pam grew up saturated with the values of education and art. The literature she added herself, surviving long weekends on the craft show circuit with her precious books. Exposed to many styles and forms of art, her own talent tapered off at doodling – and the occasional clay dragon. Many years later, she …