Melissa has gained the reputation at work for her happy dances… which she breaks into whenever 1) a new Middle Grade or YA book she’s particularly excited about comes out, 2) when she gets to do a fun story time, or 3) she gets the opportunity to bring a cool author (favorite so far? Maggie Stiefvater!) to Wichita. In short: she loves her …
Meet the 2016 Organizers: Sarah Stevenson, Co-Blog Editor
Sarah Stevenson–a YA author, freelance writer, artist, and graphic designer–has been a part of the Cybils since its inaugural year in 2006, and was blog editor for the 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2012 Cybils. She’s also helped out behind the scenes with the Cybils logo and flyers, and as a judge in various categories. She is very happy to be back …
Meet the 2016 Organizers: Jen Robinson, Literacy Evangelist and Social Media Guru
Jen Robinson loves reading, listening to, and recommending books. Although she works in the high tech industry, she feels that she can actually make a difference in the world if she helps parents, teachers, and librarians to connect kids with books. She does this by purchasing books for as many kids in her life as possible, and by reviewing books …
Meet the 2016 Organizers: Sheila Ruth, Publisher Liason
It all started with Harry Potter and homeschooling. After bonding over reading Harry Potter together, kidlit became a family activity. Dad wrote a book, mom (Sheila) published it, and mom and son started a book website, Wands and Worlds, as a homeschooling activity. Blogging followed soon after, which in turn led to the Cybils, which Sheila has been passionately involved with …
Meet the 2016 Organizers: Anne Levy, Executive Director
I’m the Cybils spokes-model, getting paid big bucks to show off my glamorous self and sell these sleek awards. Only I don’t get paid, and I’m in my PJs, and the awards are free. I’m not really sure why organizers keep me around a decade after co-founding the awards, actually, except as some sort of mascot. I wave a lot …
The Cybils is Now a Non-Profit!
The Cybils organization is thrilled to report that we are now officially a not-for-profit corporation, registered in the state of Arizona. We will be applying for 501(c)(3) nonprofit status this year. We have undertaken this formal registration process as a reflection of the seriousness with which we, the Cybils organizers, treat this award. While we are taking steps to make the …
Call for Judges: We Need YOU!
It’s CYBILS TIME again! (Already? Can you believe it?) After 10 years of doing this, you know the drill. We need YOUR help. It wouldn’t be the Cybils without audience participation. So, we are lining up a crew of judges (newbies and returning ones) who will be willing to read, discuss, think about, blog about, narrow down, and select the year’s …
Changes are FUN! (Part 2)
What we should have said in Friday’s post is that for now meant until Sunday… A couple more quick changes before we get the ball rolling this year. First, we’d like to welcome two more new chairs! Jennie Rothschild will be heading up the YA Non-Fiction category and Jodie Rodriguez as our Easy Readers and Early Chapter Book chair. The bigger change, …
List Fun: Baseball Stories You (Probably) Didn’t Know
Take me out to the ballgame! Cybils supporter Annette Bay Pimentel, who blogs about picture books (as well as writing them), has put together another great list of Cybils titles for us. For kids who enjoy the crack of the bat, these books are sure to be a home run. Barbed Wire Baseball by Marissa Moss, illustrated by Yuko Shimizu. …
List Fun: Diverse YA Speculative Fiction by Diverse Authors
At the Cybils Awards, we care a great deal about diversity in children’s books. We put great importance on finding and promoting books which meet our high standards and which have protagonists from under-represented groups. In addition to the importance of diverse characters, though, it’s equally important to find and recognize books written by voices from marginalized groups. Such books …