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Home Blog September Cybils on Substack

September Cybils on Substack

October 5, 2025

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Here be dragons: Cybils Awards team member @imtann

Here be dragons: Cybils Awards team member @imtanner320 recently reviewed @struan_c_murray’s recent release, Dragonborn.

And here be an edited excerpt from her blog, The Book Search:

🐉🐉🐉

I haven't read anything by Struan Murphy before, but I'm definitely going to look for some of his other work, because this one was terrific.

Alex is leading a tightly controlled existence with her mom after her dad died two years earlier. Her mom doesn't want her to go into the woods (too dangerous) or spend time with other kids or leave the house at all unless it's to go to school. Alex has tried to be a good kid, but when she goes into the woods and roars, a man comes and starts hinting about the fact that there might be more.

In fact, it turns out that Alex is a dragon. Dragons have learned to mask themselves as humans for protection but Alex seems to be a little stuck and can't access her full dragon potential because of her fears of what happened to her dad. There's also an evil presence that may be trying to destroy all humans, so Alex needs to learn to harness her dragon energy and fast.

Kids who like Percy Jackson will like this one too and there are dragons! I thought it was a really fun mystery with some excellent plot twists along the way. There are themes of friendship, allowing yourself to reach your full potential, trust and making good choices.

I thought it was terrific.

📖 Find the full review over on Debbie’s blog, The Book Search (imtanner.blogspot.com). 📖

And check out Dragonborn, out now from @penguinkids.

#middelgrade #mgfiction #kidlit #mgfantasy #fantasy #kidsbooks #bookreview #bookrecommendation #kidlitreview #recentrelease #fantasylit

Look up at the night sky and what do you see? If

Look up at the night sky and what do you see?

If you said, “A story,” you might just be thinking like author-illustrator @woolleystories.

Cybils Awards team member Elizabeth Blake recently reviewed Woolley’s debut space-themed adventure, Earth Rover:

🌎🌎🌎

A fun story from the pet Basset Hound’s imagination and perspective of his astronaut owner’s journey to the moon and back.

It is both a fun read and very educational about travel to the moon. One full-page spread of Earth, moon and beautiful night sky lists by steps how to travel 240,000 miles to the moon starting with an Earth orbit, then when reaching the moon, also spiraling around it before landing. There are also two pages on moon exploration and Rover tools.

The science is very approachable with humor of Rover’s wish to travel along with his human. While NASA does not have a Rover position for him, he is happy to learn his human was chosen as astronaut and they can communicate on video calls.

Very enjoyable with delightful illustrations.

📖 Find more about Elizabeth over on her website, elizabethblake.us 📖

And check out Earth Rover, out now from @familiusbooks.

We’re always on the lookout for a book that’s

We’re always on the lookout for a book that’s a real treat.

Fortunately, our friend @mxphoebesviewpoint has the perfect recommendation based on their recent review of Donutella Hamachi and the Library Avengers by @stepephan and @kimchi_chic and illustrated by @utomaru.

🍩🍩🍩

Here’s an edited excerpt from their blog, Mx. Phoebe’s Viewpoint:

When a seventh-grade patron of the library finds out that the city is going to close his safe place, he decides to take action with a little help from his friends.

I knew from the minute I saw the cover for Donutella Hamachi and the Library Avengers that I needed to read this book. This cover is gorgeous and Utomaru and Murasaki Shuro do an amazing job of making this book come to vibrant life.

I love everything about this story. The premise is on point in today’s world. I was one of those kids whose haven was the library. I related so much to Jae Han and his friends Elijah, Sameera, and Yiren. Their bond over their artistry is beautiful. Friend code to the max is on full display in this story.

The diversity is across spectrums. I love that Jae Han is an immigrant fighting for community here in the United States. It speaks to so many issues we have here in the United States. Realistic fiction mixed in with a great measure about libraries and the power that they have to save lives.

Donutella is an easy-to-read chapter book with graphic design throughout the book to break up the text. This is appealing to the eye and to the reader.

Librarians and libraries rock and this is a love letter to all of the people who make libraries run. We salute you. #TheLibraryIsOpen

📖 Find more of Phoebe’s reviews over at Mx. Phoebe’s Viewpoint (mxphoebesviewpoint.wordpress.com). 📖

And check out Donutella Hamachi and the Library Avengers, out now from @candlewickpress.

#bookreview #librarylove #middlegrade #mgfiction #recentrelease #books #kidlit #comics #childrenslit #recentreads

It’s officially Nonfiction November, and our fri

It’s officially Nonfiction November, and our friend Sondy has a recent review of @debbielevybooks’s A Dangerous Idea that’s just right for the occasion.

🍎🍎🍎

Here’s an edited excerpt from her blog, Sonder Books:

Lest we think that controlling what kids are taught is a new idea, A Dangerous Idea lays out for teens the media circus that happened in 1925 over a few lines about evolution in a high school biology textbook.

Although I'd heard of the case, (Of course I had!) I'd had no idea how much was involved and how huge it was in the attention of the entire country - even in the days before television. Thousands of journalists descended on the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, and spread the word about the trial.

So Debbie Levy is able to bring us a multitude of photographs from the time and newspaper clippings and editorial cartoons, and plenty of other material to illustrate the story and help it come alive.

I like that this book is aimed at teens - exactly the age of people the original Tennessee law was trying to protect. Give them the full story - and we may find teens are more discerning than adults think they are.

📖 Find more of Sondy’s reviews over at Sonder Books (www.sonderbooks.com). 📖

And check out A Dangerous Idea, out now from @bloomsburybooksus.

#nonfictionnovember #nonfictionbooks #bookreview #booksofınstagram #bookfeature #recentreads #booksforteens #teenreads #reading #readingcommunity

We’re rapidly creeping toward Halloween, so that

We’re rapidly creeping toward Halloween, so that must mean it’s time for the October 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 updates, book lists, and other bookish features.

This month, we’re focused on all the reads you need to have a spooky holiday.

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

Books featured in this post:

📖 Beverley, Bat Your Service by @iusedtobeanartist
📚 Bob the Vampire Snail by @zuillmonkey
📖 The House Next Door by @elloecho
📚 A Little Too Haunted by @justinepwinans
📖 Mystery James Digs Her Own Grave by @onedarkally
📚 Open Wide by @imeeriebooks
📖 Phantom Academy by @virnigchristine
📚 Zombie and Brain are Friends by @grubreport & illustrated by @laan.cham

#cybilsawards #halloweenbooks #kidsbooks #booksforteens #booknews #booklist #spookyreads #octoberbooks #books #booknews

Leaves are changing color. Nights are getting long

Leaves are changing color. Nights are getting longer. Halloween is right around the corner. It’s the perfect time to pick up a totally not haunted book.

@roesolo recently reviewed a great (and not haunted) option over on her blog, Mom Read It: @heywhitneywrites’s new graphic novel, Free Piano (Not Haunted).

🎹🎹🎹

Margot is a kid living in a town called Cascade Cove. Her father’s too busy chasing Internet success to pay much attention to her, and her mother works long hours to keep the household running. Margot finds a synthesizer put out for the trash bearing a sign: FREE PIANO (NOT HAUNTED).

Who can resist? Not Margot, who hopes she can connect with her dad over music.

Except, guess what? The piano is haunted by the spirit of a woman named Vision, a pop star from 1979 who bonds with Margot over their mutual passion for music; Vision also has lessons to share with Margot about success and wanting things for the wrong reasons.

The two come together in the most hilarious of situations as Vision attempts to figure out modern-day technology and colloquialisms; when Margot tells Vision she wants “followers”, for instance, Vision fears that Margot is starting a cult. Margot’s friends Sebastian and Seven, the “Sons of Smash”, throw things off a tower for followers and add more humor to the story.

A solid story about complicated parental relationships and a cautionary tale about wanting things for the wrong reasons.

📖 Find more of Rosemary’s reviews over at Mom Read It (www.momreadit.com). 📖

And check out Free Piano (Not Haunted), out now from @simonkids.

#graphicnovels #middlegradelit #bookreview #bookrecommandations #bookish #kidlit #simonkids #whitneygardner #nothaunted

While it’s important to showcase Indigenous stor

While it’s important to showcase Indigenous stories year-round, we’d be remiss if we didn’t take the chance to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day with a good book.

Through everything from picture books to young adult novels, Indigenous authors and illustrators have crafted compelling stories that reflect both their culture and heritage while expressing a unique individuality.

Here are some of our recent favorites:

📚 Benjamin Grows a Garden by Melanie Florence & illustrated by Hawlii Pichette
📖 Dad, Is It Time to Gather Mint? by Tyna Legault Taylor & illustrated by Michelle Dao
📚 Fierce Aunties! by Laurel Goodluck & illustrated by Steph Littlebird
📖 Firefly Season by Cynthia Leitich Smith & illustrated by Kate Gardiner
📚 Legendary Frybread Drive-In edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith
📖 Moon Song by Michaela Goade
📚 Outfoxed by Elise McMullen-Ciotti
📖 The Ribbon Skirt by Cameron Mukwa
📚 The Summer of the Bone Horses by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve & illustrated by Steph Littlebird
📖 The Unfinished by Cheryl Isaacs

#indigenouspeoplesday #childrensbooks #booksforkids #teenreads #indigenousbooks #booklist #recentbooks #bookishlist #bookstoread

It’s been a rainy morning here, but that’s oka

It’s been a rainy morning here, but that’s okay because we have just the right book for the weather.

@roesolo recently reviewed @laumoraiti’s new picture book, Rainy Day for Tortas Fritas, and it’s a real treat.

🌧️🌧️🌧️

Here’s an edited excerpt from her blog, Mom Read It:

It’s a rainy day in Uruguay, and that means one thing: it’s time for Dad to make his tortas!

“Crispy and golden on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside”, tortas are a doughy treat that can be enjoyed with sugar, dulce de leche, or jam, and our narrator can’t wait for Dad to get in the kitchen.

This fun family story is full of family, fun, and food: the perfect way to cheer up a dull and rainy day. Phonetic spelling under some words helps kids with pronunciation of new words like mate (mah-teh) and dulce de leche (dool-zeh deh leh-cheh). The chaos of waiting as the kids play a game and not-so-patiently await the tortas adds playfulness to the story, and the stretchy, colorful fonts make for a fun readaloud. A note from the author explains her father as the inspiration for the story and a tasty recipe for tortas fritas makes sure to suggest an adult’s help.

A cute additional purchase for picture book collections.

📖 Find more of Rosemary’s reviews over at Mom Read It (www.momreadit.com). 📖

And check out Rainy Day for Tortas Fritas, out now from @pawprintspublishing.

#picturebook #rainydaybooks #bookreview #childrensbook #familyreads #kidlit #kidsbooks #picturebookreview

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