Camille Powell from BookMoot is today’s interviewee over at 7-Imp. Her blog’s about to turn four. Wow. She’s lending her expertise to the nonfiction MG/YA judges this year. Cool interview tidbit: she’s a quilter, and is learning to knit socks. Check it out.
CYBILS books on the notable lists
Over at ALA and YALSA the lists have gone up. Best Books for Young Adults, Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers, Great Graphic Novels for Teens and the Children’s Notable Books have been announced and, unsurprisingly, a number of CYBILS nominees are on the lists. Some of them are even on multiple lists, reflecting their category-bending status. –Kelly Fineman, Poetry organizer …
More sexy widgets!
Okay, so only one person commented on my SmartLinks post (Thanks, cloudscome!). But a number of you signed up for a SmartLinks widget, and they’re returning the love. Meet Fraser, their programmer. Here’s his blog again. Ain’t he cute? I love geeks (yeah, okay, so I’m old enough to be his crazy auntie). And he worked his tush off to …
Tracking the impact
Here at the Cybils, we like to think that we’re doing more than just giving out awards. We believe we’re making a difference by connecting readers with books, and by helping people to find some of the best new children’s and young adult books out there. We know we’re having an impact: by the way word spreads through the blogosphere, …
REVIEW: Robot Dreams by Sara Varon
Kelly Herold was moved enough to read Robot Dreams twice, which she admits is odd, because there aren’t any actual words in the book. Our Cybils director and co-founder took to heart this story of a dog and a robot who start out as friends until one is forced to desert the other. Varon’s treatment of friendship–and its painful loss–is …
A peek behind the scenes
Maybe you’d like to join us next year at Cybils. Perhaps you’re already volunteering, but curious how the other panels went. Or maybe you want to relive the moment when it all came together and your finalists were, well, finalized. Several of our bloggers have been generous about sharing their experiences and insights this Cybils season. Stacy DeKeyser gives us …
ALA award-winners on the CYBILS short lists
This morning, the American Library Association announced its literary awards for children’s books. As always, there were surprises. What isn’t particularly surprising, however, is that a number of books on the CYBILS short lists have received honors and awards from ALA. –Kelly Fineman, Poetry Organizer Here are the CYBILS titles, in alphabetical order by ALA award name: Caldecott HonorKnuffle Bunny …
Read all about them
Our panelists and judges are busy, busy folks. It’s tough to keep up with them, but here are two newsy tidbits: The Middle Grade panelists had some fun with characters from their favorite books, compiling a Hall of Fame. This is by now a tradition for Little Willow, who compiled one for YA characters last year. Mary Lee & Franki …
REVIEW
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
Author Kim Baccellia joins us this year as a panelist in Fantasy and Science Fiction, where she was one of the first on this side of the pond to review Incarceron. So far, it’s only available in Britain, but panelists couldn’t resist including it in the short list. Kim gives us a glimpse into its pages: Flinn has no memory …
Apartment Therapy and Cybils
One of the most-talked about topics in the kidlitosphere is how to lure new readers. We all love each other to death, but is our message getting out to regular ol’ Moms and Dads? Here’s a reassuring sign. Ohdeedoh is the blog for Apartment Therapy, which bills itself as a site for "people who care about good design, but happen …