Was Refugee always set up as three person narrative? Were their stories always connected? Refugee began for me with the story of the MS St. Louis. For those who haven’t read Refugee yet, the St. Louis was a passenger ship that left Nazi Germany in 1939 with more than 900 Jewish refugees on board, bound for Cuba. The St. Louis didn’t end up …
Interview with Ammi-Joan Paquette and Laurie Thompson
This book is all about solid researching techniques. Where did you start digging once you had the idea for the book? Or did plans for a series come partway through the research phase? Joan: The idea for this book first sprang out of the abundance of exciting and unbelievable true stories that we saw around us in the news and …
Interview with Stephanie Burgis
Dragons and chocolate seem like an odd combination. How did you come up with the idea? Dragons and chocolate are two of my very favorite things in the world, so I just loved the idea of mixing them together! And of course it gave me a fabulous excuse to make myself a rich, strong dark hot chocolate EVERY DAY for …
Interview with Neal Shusterman
Congrats! We’d love to know: how did you come up with the idea for Scythe? After many years teen dystopia, I wanted to do something that flipped it upside down. Rather than a tale of a dystopian world, I thought “What would be the consequences of a truly perfect world?” A world without war, poverty, crime, or disease. A world …
The 2017 Cybils Winners
There’s really not much to say, here at the announcement of the winners, except a HUGE Thank You (!) to all our volunteers: chairs, panelists, and judges. We could NOT have done it without you! Board Books Changing Faces: Meet Happy Bear by Nathan Thoms, illustrated by Carles Ballesteros Harry N Abrams Nominated by: Charlotte Learning about facial expressions and …
REVIEW: After the Fall (How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again)
Welcome to our last finalist review of the Cybils season before we announce the winning titles on Wednesday! (Be sure to visit the Cybils blog on Feb. 14th for the full list of 2017’s winners in each category.) Today’s featured finalist is from the Fiction Picture Books category: After the Fall (How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again) by Dan …
REVIEW: Armstrong and Charlie
Today’s featured reviewer is Round 1 judge Sarah Sammis, a Cybils veteran who blogs about books for children, teens, and adults at Puss Reboots. A couple of months ago, she reviewed Middle Grade Fiction finalist Armstrong and Charlie by Steven B. Frank, a historical fiction story set in Los Angeles: The plot takes place in two neighborhoods — Laurel Canyon …
REVIEW: Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team
Elementary school librarian, School Library Journal reviewer, and Round 1 judge Heidi Grange wrote today’s featured blog review. She blogs at Geo Librarian, and a few months ago she reviewed Junior High Nonfiction finalist Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team by Steve Sheinkin: While the book focuses on football and the impact that the Carlisle Indian …
REVIEW: A Face Like Glass
Our Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction category chair Charlotte Taylor wrote today’s featured review–she blogs at the long-running Charlotte’s Library, with a particular focus on sci-fi and fantasy books for children and teens. Some time ago, she reviewed finalist title A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge: It is both simple and complicated, and a really nice one to give to …
REVIEW: Beauty and the Beak
Round 1 judge Gary Anderson, who blogs at What’s Not Wrong?, was a Round 1 judge in this year’s contest and wrote up reviews of a wide range of nominees in the Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction category. One of his review posts looked at the finalist title Beauty and the Beak: How Science, Technology, and a 3D-Printed Beak Rescued a Bald …