Today, we at the Cybils are squee-ing with pride because our very own Poetry Category Organizer, Kelly Fineman, is a prominent part of the e-book anthology BREAKING WAVES, a collection of 34 poems, memoirs, short stories, and articles (including an excerpt from Rachel Carson's The Sea Around Us and a poem by Ursula K. Le Guin). BREAKING WAVES sells for …
Introducing Susan Thomsen, Middle Grade/Young Adult Non-Fiction Category
Susan Thomsen traces her love of nonfiction back to the days when she was mesmerized by such World Book entries as The Exoskeleton of Insects. She is positively thrilled with today's nonfiction bounty. Thrilled! Just ask her about Civil War submarines, P.T. Barnum, frog scientists, or growing up on Israel's West Bank–all of which were subjects in recent nonfiction for …
Introducing Sarah Stevenson, Blog Editor
This is the second time in a week that Sarah Stevenson has had to write about herself, a fact which makes her feel terrifically self-centered. The first time was a letter introducing her debut novel to teen readers for YALSA's galley program, a task which was both incredibly cool and very intimidating. Her YA novel The Latte Rebellion will be …
Introducing Jackie Parker, Young Adult Fiction Category
Jackie Parker got the reading gene from her mother, a librarian, who had gotten it from her father, who was, by most accounts, a bit of a renaissance man. Jackie didn't become voracious until fourth grade when Stacy Youngs and she had an unspoken and puzzling rivalry regarding who could read the new Babysitter's Club book the fastest each month. …
Welcome home, Gina!
Our social media guru, Gina Ruiz, says she's just moved back into her old blog, AmoXcalli, after a year-long absence. Please stop by and admire all the redecorating she's done, and to welcome her back to the Interwebs.
Introducing Pam Coughlan, Fiction Picture Books Category
As the daughter of teachers turned artisans, Pam grew up saturated with the values of education and art. The literature she added herself, surviving long weekends on the craft show circuit with her precious books. Exposed to many styles and forms of art, her own talent tapered off at doodling – and the occasional clay dragon. Many years later, she …
Introducing Kerry Millar, Middle Grade Fiction Category
You know you are a kidlit blogger for life when someone (adult book person) asks you what you read over the summer and you pause… pause… (pause more)… because you are wracking your brain trying to think of the last Important Grown Up Book you read. But it's really hard. So you give up and name the last book your …
Introducing Jone MacCulloch, Non-Fiction Picture Books Category
Jone's love of non-fiction picture books began early in life. She was three years old when she proudly showed her mother's illustrated nurse textbooks to her grandmother to explain where babies really come from. She went on to number her books in her personal library and participated in every summer library program possible, foreshadowing her career as an elementary library …
Introducing Kelly Fineman, Poetry Category
Kelly has always been an avid reader, the kind who generates their own force field that keeps out conversation, explosions and such while engrossed in a book. She can walk while reading, including manoeuvring up and down stairs, but she cannot keep track of time, remember things like meals and bedtimes, or engage in civilized conversation. In fourth grade, Kelly …
Introducing Sheila Ruth, Fantasy and Science Fiction Category
Sheila Ruth learned to read peering at the pages of Analog Science Fact & Fiction and F&SF magazines over her father’s shoulder. By fourth grade she was reading the stories of Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Andre Norton, and Robert Heinlein (except for a few naughty ones her parents wouldn’t let her read). In fifth grade, a teacher put a …