From Classics to MMORPG: #CYBILS2024 Games & Puzzles Book List

book list games puzzles kids teens

Welcome to the #CYBILS2024 Game & Puzzle Emporium … book list style. Make your move on with classic puzzles like Rubik’s Cube, perennial favorite chess; online and roleplaying games, and, last but not least, adventurous quests and escape rooms. And in case you were wondering, there is (a lot) more to these stories than competition and winning.   friendship challenges loyalty …

Indigenous Voices Book List #CYBILS2024

native voices books kids

November is National American Indian Heritage Month, a time to “celebrate the traditions, languages and stories of Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and affiliated Island communities.”  As we have done in the past, we are celebrating the histories, rich cultures, and vast contributions of Native peoples in books for children and teens. This list includes books written and illustrated …

Our Not-as-Scary Book List, Part 2

halloween books young readers

More eerie. Less scary. Mystery and Adventure the unusual and unexplained ghosts, goblins, and witches Monsters and Zombies … and even laugh-out-loud humor! This is the book list for those of us who love mystery with a side of magic and fantasy, but don’t like – or aren’t ready for – truly dark and scary stuff. There are lots of …

Read. If you dare. Our Spooky, Scary Book List Part 1

halloween book list YA readers

Spine chilling. Hair-raising. Frightening. Read with the lights on.  Nightmare-inducing. If these are the kinds of middle-grade and YA stories you love, have we got the book(s) for you! From creepy to terrifying and chilling to horror. You’ll find realistic, apocalyptic, classic, modern tales and urban legends … all perfect for this, the spooky season! My thanks to judges Hailey …

#CYBILS Book Playlist: CEMETERY BOYS by Aiden Thomas

book playlist ya specfic

CEMETERY BOYS By Aiden Thomas Swoon Reads Young Adult Contemporary, Family, Folklore, LGBTQ+, Romance, Urban Fantasy Winner – Young Adult Speculative Fiction 2020 CYBILS Awards The Book Deeply steeped in Latinx culture and folklore, Cemetery Boys weaves magic, identity, and family birthright into a compelling coming of age story. When his family bans him from performing the ritual that would …

Book Playlist: MEET THE BEARS by Kate Peridot a #CYBILS 📚🎶 

MEET THE BEARS By Kate Peridot Illustrated by Becca Hall Welbeck Children’s Elementary Animals, Children’s, Nonfiction, Zoology Finalist – Elementary Nonfiction 2023 CYBILS Awards The Book Be ready to go on a reading adventure with this book! Meet the Bears is an easily accessible picture book packed with beautiful illustrations and valuable information about eight different species of bears, displayed in a …

FRIZZY by Claribel A. Ortega a #CYBILS 📚🎶 

FRIZZY By Claribel A. Ortega Illustrated by Rose Bousamra First Second Books Middle Grade Contemporary, Family, Growing Up, Realistic Fiction Finalist – Elementary/Middle Grade Graphic Novels 2023 CYBILS Awards The Book   Frizzy by Claribel Ortega is an exploration of cultural expectations connected to hair and respectability. Marlene loves art and hanging out with her best friend. But she does not …

BIG by Vashti Harrison a #CYBILS 📚🎶

BIG By Vashti Harrison Little, Brown Books for Young Readers All Ages African American, Emotion, Mental Health, Realistic Fiction, Storytime Winner – Fiction Picture Book 2023 CYBILS Awards The Book   Big by Vashti Harrison is a stunning picture book that explores the meaning of being big in a world that often values small. The story follows a young girl …

LONG WAY DOWN by Jason Reynolds a #CYBILS 📚🎶 

LONG WAY DOWN By Jason Reynolds Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books Poetry young adult, family, ghost stories, realistic fiction CW: violence Winner – Poetry 2018 CYBILS Awards The Book Long Way Down is a tour de force work of poetry. The entire novel in verse takes place on an elevator ride as a young man whose brother has been shot and killed …

Book Reviews: #CYBILS2023 Early Chapter Book Finalists

Here we are, friends! It seems only appropriate that Early Chapter Books be the “final chapter” in our posts sharing judges reviews of 2023 CYBILS Awards finalists and winners. There are a few familiar series and new faces, too. These stories also welcome young readers into stories that may be comfortable and fun, and others that will expose them to …