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Home Blog 2016 Nominations: Audiobooks

2016 Nominations: Audiobooks

October 1, 2016

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Review by Gary Anderson @andersonglit: In the exc

Review by Gary Anderson @andersonglit:

In the excellent new middle grade graphic novel CREAKY ACRES, a parental job change means ten-year old Nora has to leave her friends, her school, and her beloved high-end horse facility where she is an accomplished and award-winning equestrian.. At least she gets to keep Hay Fever, her horse and best friend.

Everything in Nora’s new environment seems strange. Her new house is old and purple. The kids at her new horse barn, Creaky Acres, are quirky and lack the discipline expected at Nora’s previous barn. Worst of all, Creaky Acres is in poor repair, and the trainer doesn’t believe in allowing her students to participate in competitions.

At her new school, Nora is the only Black student, and she is met with several microaggressions. Some kids want to touch her hair. The social studies teacher only calls on her when the answer involves a Black historical figure. When she gets in an argument with a white bully, the principal automatically believes the bully’s version of what happened.

CREAKY ACRES has all of this drama, but it also has plenty of appealing sillines, including a girl who insists on riding a cow instead of a horse, a poorly-behaved goat, and possums galore.

The artwork features colorful cartoon-style drawings, and panels of varying sizes are effectively used to intensify especially important moments. Some of the most compelling scenes include no text at all, just sequences of panels that guide readers wordlessly through the action.

I can’t quite put my finger on how they accomplished it, but authors Calista Brill and Nilah Magruder have created a graphic novel that feels cinematic in ways that the characters interact and how the plot unfolds. CREAKY ACRES is definitely for all the horse kids out there, but other young readers wll like it too because of the clever banter, its portrayal of outsider kids supporting each other, and universal themes involving friendship and resilience.

CREAKY ACRES is one of the best graphic novels I’ve seen in a long time. I’m glad that it allows plenty of room for development as a series.

#cybilsbooks #freadom #resilientreaders #free2read #OpenBooksOpenDoors

You're team not doing well in the tourney? 🏀 Ne

You're team not doing well in the tourney? 🏀 Need break from #MarchMadness? Enter: Scribbles from the CYBILS Morning RSS

* Two great articles @ AI
* 30 (!) #MGLit books adults will love
* 7 book-to-screen adaptations coming this year
* How to turn the page on book bans

https://cybilsawards.substack.com/p/the-morning-rss-for-21-march-2025

Well, friends. We've come to our last spotlight: T

Well, friends. We've come to our last spotlight: The 2024 Winner in the Young Adult Fiction category.

EVERYTHING WE NEVER HAD
by @randyribay
@kokilabooks | @penguinrandomhouse

from the blurb: Ribay explores how immigration, racism, assimilation, and the American Dream each impacts the sons and fathers of one Filipino American family over four generations. It’s a stunning feat of writing capped by a complicated yet hopeful ending that will resonate with a current generation of readers.

See all the winners and read the full blurbs:
https://www.cybils.com/2025/02/2024-cybils-awards-winners.html

#cybilsawards #cybils2024 #kidlit #mglit #yalit #bookawards #librariansofinstagram #teachersofinstagram #bookstagram #yafiction #generationalstories #contemporary #contemporaryfiction #teenreading #comingofage #YAbooks #bookawardwinner

The CYBILS Awards recognizes two categories of poe

The CYBILS Awards recognizes two categories of poetry: collections and novels in verse. These are the #CYBILS2024 winners

POETRY COLLECTION

BLACK GIRL YOU ARE ATLAS
by @harlemportland, illustrated by @ekuaholmes
@kokilabooks

from the blurb: A collection of of honest and uplifting poems that explore the challenges and joys of navigating into adulthood, without pushing the reader there too fast. Watson’s mastery of language and free verse are on full display, each poem drawing the reader in with its sense of urgency and heart.

POETRY NOVEL IN VERSE

KAREEM BETWEEN
by @muslimmommyblog
G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers | @penguinusa @penguinkids

from the blurb: An engaging and poignant verse novel that believably captures the usual middle school friendships and peer pressure, along with the navigation of two cultures often at odds in today’s political climate. We also have the experience of living through real recent history, a crucial window/mirror/door for this moment.

See all the winners and read the full blurbs:
https://www.cybils.com/2025/02/2024-cybils-awards-winners.html

#cybilsawards #cybils2024 #kidlit #mglit #yalit #bookawards #librariansofinstagram #teachersofinstagram #bookstagram #poetry #poetrynovel #versenovel #novelinverse #kidpoetry #teenpoetry #contemporarypoetry #contemporary #comingofage #diversevoices #bookawardwinners

The 2024 CYBILS Awards winner in the Middle-Grade

The 2024 CYBILS Awards winner in the Middle-Grade Fiction category is

A ROYAL CONUNDRUM (THE MISFITS)
by @lisayee1 illustraed by @dsantat
@randomhousekids omhousekids

from the blurb: This has got just about everything one would want in a book for 8- to 12-year-olds. It’s intriguing to readers – both advanced and struggling – while maintaining humor and heart.

See all the winners and read the full blurbs:
https://www.cybils.com/2025/02/2024-cybils-awards-winners.html

#cybilsawards #cybils2024 #kidlit #mglit #yalit #bookawards #librariansofinstagram #teachersofinstagram #bookstagram #middlegradefiction #juniorhighbooks #comingofage #tweenbooks

Let's start the week with the winners in the Nonfi

Let's start the week with the winners in the Nonfiction category!

ELEMENTARY NONFICTION WINNER

MY ANTARCTICA:
True Adventures in the Land of Mummified Seals, Space Robots, and So Much More By @neri.greg, illustrated by @corbinWilkin_illustration
@candlewickpress

from the blurb: Embark on an immersive expedition to the polar south with just the turn of a page in this riveting nonfiction narrative. It captures attention with a whimsical mixture of illustrations and photographs, overlaid with comics.

MIDDLE-GRADE NONFICTION WINNER

WHY WE NEED VACCINES:
How Humans Beat Infectious Diseases
by @rowena.rae and @pagestamp
@orcabook

from the blurb: Photographs, drawings, charts, and graphs, along with well-researched text, give readers a clear understanding of many issues related to the invention, development, testing, and distribution of vaccines. Fun-fact: The son of one judge quelled his fear of shots during a recent routine vaccination after reading this big-picture account and celebration of human ingenuity.

HIGH SCHOOL NONFICTION WINNER

AMERICAN WINGS:
Chicago's Pioneering Black Aviators and the Race for Equality in the Sky
by @rhymeswithcapri and @ewein2412
@putnambooks

from the blurb:
From anger to awe, readers will be inspired by the fortitude and perseverance of these young aviators, and experience all the feels you’d expect to find in a novel. [Multiple judges hope this becomes a movie or documentary some day!]

See all the winners and read the full blurbs:
https://www.cybils.com/2025/02/2024-cybils-awards-winners.html

#cybilsawards #cybils2024 #kidlit #mglit #yalit #bookawards #librariansofinstagram #teachersofinstagram #bookstagram #nonfiction #nonfictionforkids #kidslovenonfiction #teennonfiction #juniorhighbooks

The thing about picture books? They are stories fo

The thing about picture books? They are stories for all ages!! Here are the 2024 Board Book and Picture Book winners

WHO LAID THESE EGGS?: A LIFT-THE-FLAP BOOK
by @authorlauragehl, illustrated by @loris_lora
@abramskids

from the blurb: A delightful book for our youngest readers. Its interactive nature inspires them to open the flap to find out. The flaps are easy to manipulate and the book features bright and colorful illustrations.

I AM A MASTERPIECE!
by @count_mia_in, illustrated by @alexandraco_illustration
@randomhousekids

from the blurb: I Am A Masterpiece is a powerful book. Readers are able to get a first-person perspective and a perfect illustration of her viewpoint that we are all the same and we are also all different.

See all the winners and read tSee all the winners and read t#bookawardwinnershe full blurbs:
https://www.cybils.com/2025/02/2024-cybils-awards-winners.html

#cybilsawards #cybils2024 #kidlit #mglit #yalit #bookawards #librariansofinstagram #teachersofinstagram #bookstagram #picturebook #picturebooksforkids #parentsofinstagram #boardbooks #bookawardwinners

The 2024 CYBILS Awards winners in the Graphic Nove

The 2024 CYBILS Awards winners in the Graphic Novels category are ...

BROWNSTONE
by @samuelteer, illustrated by @marimoflor
@versifybooks | @harperkids

Winner: Young Adult Graphic Novel
From the blurb: The novel’s powerful narrative is complemented by warm, elaborate, captivating illustrations that vividly portray the neighborhood, its people, and their lives. The character’s relationships are genuine and endearing, evolving beautifully over the course of the story.

PEARL
by @rhymeswithcapri, illustrated by @christinenorrie
@graphixbooks | @scholastic

Winner: Elementary/Middle-Grade Graphic Novel
from the blurb: The story is complemented by powerful illustrations with a limited color palette, enhancing the emotional weight of Amy’s story without overwhelming it. While it doesn’t delve into graphic detail, it powerfully conveys the human cost of conflict and prejudice, making it a compelling and important read.

See all the winners and read the full blurbs:
https://www.cybils.com/2025/02/2024-cybils-awards-winners.html

#cybilsawards #cybils2024 #kidlit #mglit #yalit #bookawards #librariansofinstagram #teachersofinstagram #bookstagram #graphicnovels #comics #illustratedbooks #YAgraphics #memoir #history

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