“Hey, I know Gary! He’s the YA Fiction chair.” Yes, he was. And during the COVID CYBILS, he was co-chair for both YA Fiction and YA Speculative Fiction! Introducing Gary Anderson, CYBILS Board Member Gary served as a judge for a number of CYBILS Awards categories before becoming YA Fiction Chair. His panels are as diverse as his reading: graphic …
#CYBILS2023 Recommendations from Tanita S. Davis
Uh, huh. THAT Tanita Davis. Author of MARE’S WAR, her NAACP Image Award-nominated and Coretta Scott King Award-winning young adult novel. She’s also a long-time member of the CYBILS Awards board, helping us continue our work in diversity, equity, inclusion, and outreach. Introducing: Tanita S. Davis, Board Secretary Tanita describes herself as being an asocial hermit, who, like most of us …
Graphic Novels & More: #CYBILS2023 Recommendations from Kristen Harvey
Okay, comics fans! Are you ready to topple that TBR? Don’t you just love that visual (pun intended)! This week’s list of Boy-I-Hope-These-Get-Nominated titles includes fiction and nonfiction, realism and fantasy, and starts with a learn-to-draw title! Introducing Kristen Harvey Kristen has participated in the CYBILS Awards since 2013 and is returning for her third year at the helm of …
#CybilsAwards Backlist Book List Summer: It’s a Wrap
Last week we posted our last Backlist Book List for 2021. We hope you have had as much fun exploring the curated lists as we had in creating them! Nine lists: 6 read-alike lists, 3 themed lists. Ten years of nominations, finalists, and winners. 154 recommended books for readers toddler to teen. What made them particularly fun was discovering books …
REVIEW: March Forward, Girl
After a bit of a hiatus earlier this week, our featured blog reviews are back with Junior High Nonfiction nominee March Forward, Girl: From Young Warrior to Little Rock Nine, a memoir written by civil rights activist Melba Pattillo Beals and illustrated by Frank Morrison. One of our Round 1 judges, Rebecca G. Aguilar, reviewed this book on her blog, …
REVIEW: Spooked!: How a Radio Broadcast and The War of the Worlds Sparked the 1938 Invasion of America
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! BoooOOOOooooooOOOOOOoooo! Scared yet? No? Well, today’s featured review looks at an event that caused a lot of panic back in October of 1938–the radio broadcast of H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds. The book is called Spooked!: How a Radio Broadcast and The War of the Worlds Sparked the 1938 Invasion of America, by Gail Jarrow, and …
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: Beastly Brains
If you’re looking for a last-minute gift idea for nonfiction-loving kids in your life, an animal book is almost always a hit–today’s review looks at Junior High Nonfiction nominee Beastly Brains: Exploring How Animals Think, Talk, and Feel by Nancy Castaldo. Round 1 judge Rebecca G. Aguilar, a writer and avid reader who blogs at Mostly About Nonfiction, reviewed this …
REVIEW: Shackles from the Deep
Today’s featured review comes from Heidi Grange, an elementary school librarian who blogs about a wide range of kids’ books at Geo Librarian. Heidi is a Round 1 judge for Junior/Senior High Nonfiction, and earlier this year she reviewed Junior High nominee Shackles From the Deep: Tracing the Path of a Sunken Slave Ship, a Bitter Past, and a Rich …
Young Adult Non-fiction – Category Description
Young Adult Nonfiction is not known for being the most glamorous category, perhaps others might say that is fiction. The books in this category do take our readers on journeys and with these journeys; we have the added benefit with knowing they are true. We do not have to ask readers to suspend belief because we know that when we …