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Home Blog 2013 Middle Grade Fiction Judges

2013 Middle Grade Fiction Judges

September 16, 2013

First Round

Mark Buxton
http://buxtolicious.blogspot.com

Jennifer Donovan
http://books.5minutesformom.com
@5M4B

Heidi Grange
http://geolibrarian.blogspot.com
@GeoLibrarian

Deb Marshall
http://mylibrarynotebook.blogspot.ca/
@debamarshall

Jennifer Rumberger
www.jenniferrumberger.com
@j_rumberger

Julie Williams
http://readingbythepond.blogspot.com/
@JulieWilliams89

Karen Yingling
http://msyinglingreads.blogspot.com
@msyingling

Second Round

Alex Baugh
http://randomlyreading.blogspot.com
@randomlyreading

Kathy Burnette
http://www.thebrainlair.com
@thebrainlair

Melissa Gaynor
http://sweetonbooks.com
@sweetonbooks

Michael Gettel-Gilmartin
http://middlegrademafioso.blogspot.com
@MGMafioso

Kyle Kimmal
http://theboyreader.blogspot.com
@theboyreader

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Have you checked out your local library lately? I Have you checked out your local library lately?

If you're looking for a ride, we'd suggest taking the carrot car.
Like so many others, we are saddened to hear about Like so many others, we are saddened to hear about the death of Dolly Parton.

While certainly a titan of the entertainment industry (and beyond!), we’d like to highlight part of her work as a champion for children’s literacy.

Inspired by her father who never formally learned to read or write, Dolly created Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library so that every child has the chance to grow up in a home with books. Since 1995, @imaginationlibrary has delivered titles monthly to kids between birth and the age of five, meaning children immediately enrolled in the program have the chance to amass their own personal library of sixty titles. Recently, the Imagination Library announced they’ve given away over 330 million books.

Dolly made the world a better place, and she’s leaving a lot of bookshelves a little fuller.
August is winding down, so you know what that mean August is winding down, so you know what that means: school's back! This month, the CYBILS Scribbles is celebrating buses, backpacks, and back-to-school season.

If you’re not a regular reader of the Scribbles, it’s our official Substack newsletter dedicated to all things CYBILS. It’s packed with news, book lists, and other features curated for readers like you.

Highlights from this month's edition:

🏫 A 'handmade' book list for crafty readers
📚 Watch a meeting between Eric Carle and everyone's favorite neighbor
🏫 Other bookish news, recommendations, & more!

Check it out over at cybilsawards.substack.com/ (link also in bio).
Reading even just twenty minutes a day with a chil Reading even just twenty minutes a day with a child can help solidify in them a love of good stories all while expanding their vocabulary, building their literacy skills, and shaping their view of the world. While a lot of families implement reading in their bedtime routines, any time of day works just as well. Before school, after dinner—whenever fits their schedules.

But if your reading routine runs a few minutes over because of one more page (or five)? Just remember: good stories don’t have a bedtime.

Still, we certainly would never encourage staying up late to finish just one more chapter. Nope. We’d never do that. 👀
Dear Friends, This is a letter we haven’t wanted Dear Friends,

This is a letter we haven’t wanted to write, but it’s past time. The Board of the CYBILS Awards has decided that we are ending the award for good.

The reasons are myriad and complex, but largely come down to the greatly increased difficulty in accessing judging copies of books, retaining people with the interest, time, ability, and availability to do the work, and fewer schools, libraries, and librarians with the budget, time, and ability to enthusiastically advocate for books for young readers in this way.

The Board has realized that our goal right now must be less to encourage readers towards a “best” book in a given category, but to simply point readers back to reading—reigniting a resurgence of book joy as a whole. In the fall, we’ll be discussing this publicly with interested members of our CYBILS book community. Please stay tuned for an RSVP to that—if you’re interested, we’d love to hear from you.

And so, at last, we close the book on this award. In the love story that this era has been, you have been our finest chapter.

Thank you for being here.

💛

Be sure to keep up with us on our socials, website, and Substack for more information on what comes next. Things might be different, but we'll never stop talking about amazing books.
May is winding down, so that must mean it’s time f May is winding down, so that must mean it’s time for the latest edition of the Cybils Scribbles.

If you’re not a regular reader of the Scribbles, it’s our official Substack newsletter dedicated to all things Cybils. It’s packed with news, book lists, and other features curated for readers like you.

Some highlights from this edition:

📖 Celebrating AAPI Heritage Month
📖 Specially curated book lists
📖 How to watch a Broadway musical from your couch
📖 Other bookish news, recommendations, & more!

Check it out over at cybilsawards.substack.com/ (link also in bio).

Books featured in this post:

📚 Any Way You Look by Maleeha Siddiqui

📚 A Dozen Delicious Donuts by Chanda Ouk Wolf & illustrated by Juliet Yenglin

📚 Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay

📚 Gracie Under the Waves by Linda Sue Park

📚 Home, Home by Sibu T. P.

📚 The Nine Moons of Han Yu and Luli by Karina Yan Glaser

📚 This Book Won't Burn by Samira Ahmed

📚 Unhappy Camper by Lily LaMotte & illustrated by Ann Xu & Sunmi
Gather ‘round, y’all. It’s time for the latest edi Gather ‘round, y’all. It’s time for the latest edition of the Cybils Scribbles.

If you’re not a regular reader of the Scribbles, it’s our official Substack newsletter dedicated to all things Cybils. It’s packed with news, book lists, and other features curated for readers like you.

Some highlights from this edition:

📚 Celebrating National Poetry Month
📚 A specially curated book list for Earth Day
📚 Wishbone is back (in a documentary)
📚 Other bookish news, recommendations, & more!

Check it out over at cybilsawards.substack.com/ (link also in bio).

Books featured in this post:

🌍 The Great Lakes by Barb Rosenstock & illustrated by Jamey Christoph

🌎 A Home Like This by Laura Purdie Salas & illustrated by Miriam Nerlove

🌏 I Am Wind by Rachel Poliquin & illustrated by Rachel Wada

🌍 Just One Oak by Maria Gianferrari & illustrated by Diana Sudyka

🌎 Odd Bugs by Laura Gehl & illustrated by Gareth Lucas

🌏 Poo Pile on the Prairie by Amy Hevron

🌍 This Land Is a Lullaby by Tonya Simpson & illustrated by Delreé Dumont

🌎 Stalactite & Stalagmite by Drew Beckmeyer
Sometimes you just need a good book that goes bump Sometimes you just need a good book that goes bump in the night. Fortunately, @onedarkally has us covered with Down Came the Spiders.

Cybils team member @pluckedfromthestacks (Christopher) recently reviewed it:

🕷️🕷️🕷️

They may not be itsy. They may not be bitsy. But they are terrifying.

It’s Halloween, and the only thing sixth-grader Andi wants is to go trick-or-treating. The problem? Her two friends, Devon and Carly, snagged an invitation to cool-girl Clementine’s Halloween party, which’ll be filled with seventh and eighth graders. Reluctantly, and only with the promise that she can see Clementine’s science-teacher father’s spider collection, Andi agrees to go. After all, she likes spiders more than she likes most people.

And really, what’s the worst that could happen?

For Ally Russell’s most recent middle-grade outing, she expertly lays on the horror, turning creatures Andi loves into something unsettling. After sneaking into Clementine’s father’s office, the three friends stumble across a mysterious (and massive) spider labeled Specimen 17, which seems to have a telepathic pull on Andi. Soon after, Specimen 17 escapes, the adults at the party disappear, and a mass of spiders takes over. It’s a tightly paced nightmare packed with creepy crawlies, though Russell is careful to keep it more than manageable for young readers.

As the friends attempt to fix the situation, Russell balances their terror with Andi’s positive feelings toward arachnids. Rather than simply aiming to kill them, Andi speaks about them with a genuine affection that makes them a more complex obstacle rather than something to squash without another thought. Similarly, Andi must overcome feelings and anxieties about friends and loneliness that bubble throughout the book. These moments are expertly woven into the story, creating a web that traps a satisfying conclusion.

Ultimately, with Down Came the Spiders, you’re getting exactly what it says on the tin: spiders, spiders, spiders. But there’s also a lot of heart, and the result is something deliciously creepy.

📖Down Came the Spiders is out now from @scholastic.📖
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