Turning 18 has made us a bit nostalgic … and yet looking forward, too. That got us thinking … wouldn’t it be fun to see how many 2023 CYBILS Awards nominees are written by previous winners? So we dug into the archives to find which CYBILS Awards winners of yore who have new books being considered this year. Quite a …
Middle-Grade Monday | #CYBILS2023 Book Reviews 11.20.2023
Consider yourself warned: we are going back to ancient times with this week’s featured books. Well, at least to life in the world before the Internet. Mexikid is a graphic novel memoir that is a nostalgic road trip through the 1970s. Simon Sort of Says is set in a time where the internet exists, but Simon and his family move …
2023 CYBILS Judges: Fiction for Tweens and Teens
The Middle-Grade and Young Adult Fiction categories comprise books that are grounded in reality. The world as it was or is: contemporary or historical, funny or mysterious, romantic or adventurous, sport-centric or coming of age. These are the stories that nudge readers to self-discovery, open windows to others’ experiences, and let them see the world. It’s pain, its flaws, its …
Middle-Grade Fiction & More: #CYBILS2023 Recommendations from Melissa Fox
You might know Melissa as the gal who creates those awesome themed book lists. Well, now she’s donning a new hat as the Category Chair for Middle-Grade Fiction and she is already busy spotting books she thinks would make great choices for her panel to read this fall. INTRODUCING MELISSA FOX, MIDDLE-GRADE FICTION CHAIR Melissa knows books. She went back …
#CYBILSAWARDS Backlist Book List: Memorial Day Edition
Memorial Day weekend is our unofficial leap into summer each year. Memorial Day itself is bittersweet, as we remember those who have died in service to our country and also celebrate their memories as fathers, sons, brothers, mothers, sisters, daughters, and sisters. To mark the occasion this year, we went into the CYBILS Awards database to find books that share …
2021 Panelists and Judges: Middle Grade Fiction
Round 1 Susan Jensen Bloggin’ ‘Bout Books Twitter: @bbbforme Insta: @blogginboutbooks Julie Williams Middle Grade is Lit Twitter: @JulieWilliams89 Laura Gardner LibrarianMSG Twitter: @librarianmsg Insta: @librarianmsg Shannon Griffin Magical Wonder of Books Rajiv Ganesan Rajiv’s Reviews Twitter: @rajivsreviews Insta: @rajivsreviews Molly Mack Silver Button Books Twitter: @silverbuttonbks Insta: @silverbuttonbooks Katie Bruechert mrsb_reads Twitter: @MrsB_Reads Insta: @MrsB_Reads Round 2 Gina Reba Satisfaction for Insatiable …
#CybilsAwards Backlist Book List: Verse Novels
We’re turning over the Backlist Book List reigns to Gary Anderson, who chairs the Young Adult Fiction category. He has some recommendations for verse novels that, like Cybils 2020 Finalist Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam, deal with tough contemporary societal issues. As Gary explains: This is not poetry for the butterflies and sunflowers set but tough …
#CybilsAwards Backlist Book List: Dino-might
Does anyone else remember that one-word exclamation from a 1970s show called Good Times? Here’s a little trivia for you: Jimmie Walker, the character who used that phrase, also used it in a series of Panasonic commercials for, wait for it … cassettes and 8-track tapes. [Source: Wikipedia] So, as you’ve probably already guessed, our “din-o-might” is a bit different …
#CybilsAwards Backlist Book List for #SharkWeek 🦈
First let’s mark our calendar: July 11, 2021. Shark Week. Less than two weeks away. You probably already know that #SharkWeek was created by the Discovery channel, but did you know … Caged in Fear, the first Shark Week episode, premiered on 17 July 1988? Sometimes Shark Week is in August, not July? From 2005-2011 shark lovers could purchase DVD …
Backlist Book List: #STEM + #DiverseBooks For Young Creators
In 2019, Frankie Sparks and the Class Pet by Megan Frazer Blakemore won the Cybils Award in the Early Chapter Book. In selecting Frankie Sparks as a finalist, the panelists said: … This promising first book in a series will have children learning about animals, design thinking, and emotional intelligence while turning the pages to meet the new pet. …