Hey, it's me, Sarah, aka Aquafortis at Finding Wonderland. I'm back as your blog editor for this year's Cybils contest–I had to take a break last year because I had a novel eligible in the YA category, but since my next book isn't out until 2013, I happily accepted the invitation to return as blog editor in the meantime. You …
Be Book Smart and Help RIF
Here at the Cybils, we love RIF! They put books into the hands of children who need them, and encourage the spread of literacy and love of reading. In fact, the Cybils and RIF go way back: RIF's CEO Carol Rasco, AKA Rasco from RIF, has been a Cybils judge. Cybils panelists were encouraged this year to donate review copies …
Farewell, Jean Craighead George
Exactly a week after the loss of Maurice Sendak, the children's book world has suffered another loss with the passing of Jean Craighead George. George wrote over 100 books and inspired generations of young adult readers with a love of nature. I still remember reading My Side of the Mountain as a child. I thought it sounded like a grand …
Two Cybils judges get a promotion
Congrats to Travis Jonkers of 100 Scope Notes and John Schumaker of Mr. Schu Reads for winning a berth on an ALA judging committee. Travis moves up from judging Fiction Picture Books with us to the fancy-shmancy Caldecotts this coming year and John, a former Graphic Novel judge, goes over to the Newberys. Full announcement is here. Naturally, we take …
One blogger’s experience
Thanks so much to Miss K at Devour Books for describing her experience as a first-round Cybils judge. I think I'm going to send a link to her post for all judging applicants. It gives a nice overview of the work involved, but also the rewards. Though, on a side note, we can never promise a load of books — …
Some Cybils love
From indie author Susan Ee, who wrote "Angelfall," the first digital-born book to make our finalists.
Awww …
Mo Willems sometimes does a little doodle when he wins a Cybils. Here's his latest. Is this total cuteness or what?
The 2011 Cybils Awards
Greetings, fellow bookworms. Our sixth season culminates with a new list of our favorite books of 2011, the ones that kids couldn't put down and adults couldn't refuse. We don't want Mom frowning or the Librarian to catch any flak, after all. One way to look at the Cybils is that instead of telling kids what we think they should …
Cybils ends tonight!
The moment is almost here. Instead of editing the blurbs for the winning titles, I spent my last day of the 2011-12 Cybils season in a courtroom filling out a jury questionnaire. I did my civic duty and am now free to finish the post, which goes up at one minute after midnight my time. Arizona exists in a parallel …
A mountain of fountain pens
This was the scene in my living room the other week as I finally sent out a huge batch of fountain pens for the 2009 Cybils. Yes, you read that right, the 2009 awards just went out. There were various reasons for the delays: I still don't even have all the addresses I need. The 2010 awards are next and …