Kelly Fineman, our poetry category organizer and a Round II judge, is a woman of many talents. Besides being an incredibly thoughtful and detailed reviewer and blogger, she's also a writer and poet who was recently featured in the poetry anthology Breaking Waves along with the likes of Ursula K. LeGuin. One of the Cybils finalists Kelly read and reviewed …
REVIEW
Zig and Wikki in Something Ate My Homework
Sharon Hrycewicz, one of our Round II judges on the Easy Readers and Short Chapter Books panel, credits Anne of Green Gables for giving her a lifelong love of books and an eventual career as a children's librarian. On her blog, Reading Chick, she reviews a range of books for kids, with a special focus on audiobooks. One of the …
REVIEW
Finally by Wendy Mass
The blog EVEREAD (simply called "a book blog") has been a part of the Cybils for a few years now, and this year two of EVEREAD's bloggers–Ashley Bair and Alysa Stewart–are co-occupying a spot on the Middle Grade Fiction Round I panel, very fitting since they're voracious readers (and bloggers) of all sorts of middle grade books. One of the …
REVIEW
Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins
Melissa Wiley of Here in the Bonny Glen is amazing for so many reasons. She's been blogging since 2005, she's a homeschooling mother of a surprisingly large number of adorable children, she's a children's author in her own right, and she's the one who holds the honor of having coined the term "kidlitosphere." And she's a lovely person. No wonder …
REVIEW
Mammoths and Mastodons: Titans of the Ice Age by Cheryl Bardoe
Carol Wilcox is a literacy coach and reading intervention teacher in Colorado who has been an enthusiastic Cybils participant for the past few years. On her blog Carol's Corner, she reviews a wide range of titles for children and adults, and regularly participates in Poetry Friday. This year she's a Round I judge for Nonfiction Picture Books. What better time …
REVIEW
Yummy by G. Neri
Longtime Cybils regular David Elzey blogs about children's literature at the excelsior file and about books for teen guys at Guys Lit Wire, but he's also a writer in his own right (er, no pun intended). This year he's a Round II judge on the Graphic Novels panel. This fall, David reviewed Graphic Novels nominee Yummy: The Last Days of …
REVIEW
Who Said Coo? by Deborah Ruddell
Dawn Mooney is a Round I judge on our Fiction Picture Books panel this year, as well as a blogger on 5 Minutes for Books, a community of people who love books, reading, and sharing their reviews and opinions on literature for readers of all ages. Dawn is also a stay-at-home mom and former preschool teacher, so the FPB panel …
REVIEW
Boom by Mark Haddon
Karen Yingling, a middle school librarian, is new to the Cybils this year, but she's been blogging about books for MG and YA readers–especially boy readers–since 2006 at Ms. Yingling Reads. She reads voraciously (as proven by her "Voracious Reader" blog merit badge) and reviews lots of fantasy and sci-fi, with some realistic fiction and other genres thrown in here …
REVIEW
Extraordinary Ernie and Marvelous Maud by Frances Watts
Melissa Taylor is one of our Round I judges for Easy Readers and Short Chapter Books this year. She's also a teacher, a freelance writer, book editor-at-large for Colorado Parent magazine, a mom–and a blogger who posts reviews of kids' books ranging in age from board books to middle grade fiction. She blogs at Imagination Soup and Bookmarkable. This fall, …
REVIEW
Spilling Ink by Ellen Potter and Anne Mazer
Sarah Mulhern Gross is a 6th grade teacher who has blogged about books, reading and writing at The Reading Zone since 2007. She's also one of the brains behind the recent ARCs Float On campaign to get more books into classroom libraries. Sarah has spent a few years as a loyal Middle Grade Fiction judge, but this year she's lending …