2011 Finalists: Easy Readers/Early Chapter Books

Easy Readers Aggie Gets Lost (Aggie and Ben) by Lori Ries Charlesbridge Nominated by: Jeff Barger Aggie and Ben are back for a new adventure in the fourth installment of this endearing series. Ben takes a restless Aggie to the park for a game of fetch, but Aggie gets lost when the ball is thrown too far. Lost dog stories …

Neener Neener Neeners

The lists of finalists are streaming in from our panels and I'm as thrilled as ever. Some exciting stuff awaits you at 12:01 am Mountain Time (2:01 am Eastern, 11:01 am Pacific) on January 1st. There's a good mix of familiar authors and new discoveries, plus at least one self-published title in the mix. Hints? Spoilers? Keep dreaming. See you …

Review
“The Mockingbirds” by Daisy Whitney

We at Cybils hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and there were lots of books under your tree or magically appearing in your Nook/Kindle/iPad or whatever. Welcome back! Today's review is of a book that's kind of a downer, so don't read on if you don't like books about Bad Things That Happen. That's a heckuva lot of YA …

Teen Fantasy Roundup

I met Maureen Kearney at Kidlit Con in September and was relieved to find another 'Zonie (short for Arizonan) shivering in what Seattle calls early autumn. Maureen is another Cybils veteran and this year is judging in teen Science Fiction & Fantasy. Her regular gig is at Confessions of a Bibliovore, where she's been doing some brief roundups of the …

Review
“Blackout” by John Rocco

I was a kid when New York City had its big blackout in the 1970s. Stories of looting gave the Big Apple a big, black eye for decades. By the time a power outage hit again a few years ago, the city had returned to a more civilized, neighbor-helping-neighbor kind of place. Blackout by John RoccoHyperion Natalia Ortega-Brown reviews a …

Review
“Clean” by Amy Reed

The Brown Bookshelf is one of those blogs that I'd long hoped would send us a judge or two. It's a group blog with a strong point of view and is written with verve and conviction. It's main goal is to showcase the many quality books for children and teens by African American authors and illustrators. This year, we're thrilled …

Review
“Harold & The Purple Crayon” Book App

Would you believe that "Harold and the Purple Crayon" is out in a book app for iPad? Yes, of course you would. And it's just as good as you'd imagine it to be. Mary Ann Scheuer  of Great Kid Books is our very first organizer in this brand-new category, and she had a lot of fun with that legendary purple …

Mining the Nomination Lists

As you shop for holiday presents, don't forget that there's gold in the nomination lists! To help you find great holiday presents for the children or teens (or adults!) in your life, I've updated the 2011 nomination lists to include links to all panelist reviews so far. Better yet, any purchases made through the Amazon links in the nomination lists …

Teens and Literature, circa 1964

I've been lucky enough to work with writing coach extraordinaire Bruce McAllister. But before he became the go-to guy for struggling writers, he was a precocious teen who thought he knew everything. Or at least, more than his English teacher, who kept force-feeding him exercises in finding symbolism in works of Lit-rah-toor. He decided to ask the Great Authors himself …

Picture Book Roundup

Another roundup of fiction picture books for you all. Honestly, this is such a huge category that it's nice to have a bunch of quickie reviews. Today's come from Dawn Mooney at My Thoughts Exactly. This is Dawn's third year with us, all of them on fiction picture books. She's pretty excited to be back and we're just as happy …