If you've been following the Cybils for a few years, you'll no doubt be familiar with returning Cybil-ite Leila Roy of Bookshelves of Doom, who is a Round I Judge for Science Fiction and Fantasy (YA). Besides her thoughtful and humorous book reviews, Leila also hosts The Big Read (sort of a virtual reading discussion group), contributes reviews to Guys …
Stumped About Nominations?
Are you sitting glumly in front of your computer, bummed out because the titles you wanted to nominate have already been nabbed by someone else? Never fear–there are still a plethora of great books that deserve a look, and some of our Cybils bloggers have been keeping an eye out for 'em. So if you're still figuring out who to …
REVIEW
National Geographic Readers: Ants by Melissa Stewart
Today's featured review comes from one of our new volunteers this year, Jeff Barger. Jeff, who blogs at NC Teacher Stuff, is a kindergarten teacher and one of our Round I Judges for Easy Readers and Early Chapter Books. On his blog, you'll find reviews of quality library books as well as a wealth of online instructional resources for teachers. …
Cybils Challenge!
Today was 10/10/10, which is all kinds of cool any way you look at it. Binary Day to some, the end of the world as we know it to others and just five days away from that all important Cybils nomination deadline to us here. So why not celebrate the almost-end of ten, ten, ten with a contest? Try to …
REVIEW
Smells Like Dog by Suzanne Selfors
You've already been introduced to our Fiction Picture Books category organizer, Pam Coughlan, aka MotherReader. No doubt you're already familiar with her through one of her reading or commenting challenges, or one of her hilarious recurring blog features like Bloggers Against Celebrity Authors (BACA). But what makes MotherReader a Mother Reader? Well, that would be TeenReader. We're happy to report …
Kidlitosphere Happenings
The Cybils only come around once a year. Fortunately for all of us, it isn't the only cool virtual event out there celebrating children's and YA literature. If you're relatively new to the kidlitosphere, or just need a reminder, check out the resources at the Kidlitosphere Central home page, or read on for a few major recurring events you might …
More Prominent Cybil-ites
Continuing in a similar vein from yesterday's post on Cybils folks with other exciting online endeavors, we just wanted to give a shout-out to our current and former Cybil-ites who either blog or contribute reviews to School Library Journal. Firstly, the official SLJ bloggers–we're proud to report that 3 out of the 8 blogs on SLJ have been involved in …
Connecting Guy Readers With Books
If you haven't heard of the blog Guys Lit Wire yet, then you're missing out–and I'm not just saying that because I'm the webmaster over there. Guys Lit Wire is all about connecting teen guys (well, and girls, too) with great books, from middle grade and YA fiction to adult crossover titles. Founded by Colleen Mondor of Chasing Ray (who …
Nominations Reminders of Critical Importance
As the nominations come pouring in, we've been tremendously excited about this year's Cybils–but we also want to make sure that you know where to look if you have questions about the nominations process or the categories! You know where to find the nomination form–that much is clear from all the great titles you've been nominating–but if you're wondering things …
2010 Nominations
Middle Grade/YA Nonfiction
True stories, right here! Nominate the year's best nonfiction for older children and teens. We celebrate accurate, well-written books with kid/teen appeal–sports, biography, memoir, essays, science, art, history, how-to, current events, and more. In 2009, Pamela S. Turner's The Frog Scientist took the top Cybils honor in this category. Which book will it be this year? Add your nomination to …