Cog (Amazon, IndieBound) by Greg van Eekhout, illustrated by Beatrice Blue HarperCollins Nominated by: Violet Cog uses the voice of a robot with artificial intelligence, who looks like a brown-skinned, 12 year old boy, to raise questions about what makes us human. Learning from making mistakes? Our connections with others? After Cog saves a dog from being run over, he …
2019 Finalists: Poetry
Dreams from Many Rivers: A Hispanic History of the United States Told in Poems (Amazon, IndieBound) by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Beatriz Gutierrez Hernandez Henry Holt Nominated by: Katy Manck Backed by research, good storytelling and poetic craft, these short snippets of history from 1491 until now with multiple Latinx narrators weave a powerful chronicle, poem by poem. Anastasia Suen, …
2019 Finalists: Middle-Grade Fiction
Maybe He Just Likes You (Amazon, IndieBound) by Barbara Dee Aladdin Nominated by: Joanna Marple Starting middle school can be tough and scary for anyone. For Mila especially so, things are tough at home so school should be her safe place. That is not the case. It starts with an unwanted hug by a classmate and continues and escalates. She …
2019 Finalists: Young Adult Speculative Fiction
Aurora Rising (The Aurora Cycle) (Amazon, IndieBound) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers Nominated by: Rebecca J. Allen Six cadets are brought together by circumstance. A rescued girl joins their crew; she’s powerful, mysterious, and over 200 years old. When the group uncovers a massive conspiracy, it takes all of their skills to …
Finalists Announced Tomorrow!
It’s our favorite day of the year (granted, it’s the first day, so it’s easy to be our favorite!): the day which we get to reveal the results of all our hard work and share with you our 2019 Cybils Finalists! Stay tuned to this space (and our Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter) at 9 a.m. PST for the big reveal. …
REVIEW: Dig
A. S. King’s Dig (Amazon, IndieBound) was originally nominated in Young Adult Fiction, but has since found a home in Young Adult Speculative Fiction. Before it was moved, Young Adult Fiction panelist Kara, who blogs at Great Imaginations, reviewed it: One thing I do have to mention though is that this is my first A.S. King novel, and it won’t be …
REVIEW: Cracking the Bell
Today we’re featuring the Young Adult Fiction nominee Cracking the Bell (Amazon, IndieBound). Young Adult Fiction chair Gary Anderson, who blogs at What’s Not Wrong, wrote: As Isaiah considers the life-or-death implications of continuing to play football after suffering concussions, Cracking the Bell honors those attitudes while leading young readers to consider how and when to move on and how to …
REVIEW: All of Me
Today’s review comes from Middle Grade Fiction chair Alex Baugh, who blogs at Randomly Reading. She reviewed Poetry nominee All of Me (Amazon, IndieBound), and wrote this about it: If All of Me rings true to readers, perhaps it is because it is based on the author’s own experiences as a overweight child. Read the full review here.
REVIEW: A Good Kind of Trouble
Today’s review comes from Middle Grade Fiction round one panelist Dr. Genevieve Ford, who does short reviews on her twitter feed. She recently read Middle Grade Fiction nominee A Good Kind of Trouble (Amazon, IndieBound), writing: A thoughtful look at #BlackLivesMatter protests and how families deal with conflict in their communities. You can see the whole tweet here.
REVIEW:
Today’s review of Junior High Non-Fiction nominee Eiffel’s Tower for Young People (Amazon, IndieBound) comes from our illustrious Fiction Picture Book chair Deb Nance, who blogs at Readerbuzz. She writes: It’s a wonderful ride of a story, taking us through the process of trying to get backing for the Eiffel Tower as centerpiece of the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris, through …