Today's featured blogger, Fantasy/Science Fiction Round I panelist Charlotte Taylor, describes herself as "archaeologist by day, president of the Friends of a small New England library by night." She blogs at Charlotte's Library, posting about (what else?) sci-fi and fantasy for YA and middle-grade readers as well as other children's and YA books. Last year, Sarah Prineas's book The Magic …
Children’s Literary Cafe
Organizers Susan, Pam, myself and ex-Cybils organizer Liz are headed into New York City for a big to-do at the NY Public Library. Another ex-Cybilian, Betsy, is our organizer and moderator. Here's the scoop: Pam and other bloggers will discuss the state of children's literature online today including ethics, publisher/blogger relations, transparency, influence (or lack thereof) over published titles, and …
REVIEW
Roscoe Riley Rules #7: Never Race a Runaway Pumpkin
Easy Readers and Short Chapter Books panelist Terry Doherty is well-known around the kidlitosphere, not just for her literacy efforts at Scrub-a-Dub Tub and Share a Story-Shape a Future, but also for her thorough and informative blog reviews at The Reading Tub. One of her recent reviews looked at Cybils nominee Roscoe Riley Rules #7: Never Race a Runaway Pumpkin, …
NaNoWriMo
Our first blurb
Congrats to Abby Johnson, who sends in our first NaNoWriMo blurb: Pale as Snow by Abby Johnson Rafe knows where he's heading. Though he dreams of more, he'll marry his betrothed and work in the mines. When a new family arrives in the village, things begin to change. Children are disappearing and the town elders don’t care. Rafe must destroy …
Blurb your NaNoWriMo book!
Hey, anyone out there doing NaNoWriMo? Don't tell me you've no idea what I'm talking about. You're doing it, right? Or you started your magnum opus last year, didn't finish, and are wondering if it's worth dusting off … Okay, that's where I'm at. About 40,000 words in and losing faith. Please tell me you're not as pathetic. Two items …
REVIEW
A Book by Mordicai Gerstein
At her blog Write for a Reader, Fiction Picture Books panelist Shelly Burns posts a wide assortment of reviews of children's and YA books, book contests, blog tour stops, articles by guest bloggers, and content geared toward adult readers. What's more, she tweets! How could we turn away such an energetic panelist? Earlier this year, Shelly blogged about one of …
REVIEW
A Life in the Wild by Pamela S. Turner
Today's featured review comes courtesy of Easy Readers and Short Chapter Books Round II judge Mary Ann Scheuer. She is a librarian at Redwood Day School in Oakland, CA and shares her passion for reading at her blog, Great Kid Books, in order to help parents locate wonderful reading material for their kids aged 4 – 14. Earlier this year, …
REVIEW
What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
Leila Roy is a self-described "uber-librarian" and the nefarious mind behind the blog Bookshelves of Doom, where she posts about YA fiction and related news. She's also the creator and editor of a 'zine for YA short fiction, the TBR Tallboy, and she's well known around the Cybils, too. One of Leila's recent reviews looked at YA Fiction nominee What …
REVIEW
Luke on the Loose by Harry Bliss
Back to Books is an apt moniker for today's featured blog, which is the online home of Nicola Manning, one of our Round I panelists for the Graphic Novels category. She hails from the Niagara Region of Canada and blogs about numerous topics, but she focuses primarily on books, especially those she reads with her nine-year-old son. In her review …
REVIEW
Absolutely Wild by Dennis Webster
Tricia Stohr-Hunt, blogger at The Miss Rumphius Effect, is well-known around the Cybils–she's been a Round I panelist for Non-Fiction Picture Books, and this year she's a Round I panelist for the Poetry category. Since she's a teacher herself (of Education!), she frequently blogs about topics of interest to teachers such as thematic booklists, but besides that, she's a true …