2024 CYBILS Awards Winners

It is a truly happy day when we can celebrate book love! But before we jump into the list, we want to take a moment to recognize the people who make our awards possible.

• Our judges. More than 100 people volunteer their limited free time to seek out, read, discuss, deliberate, and decide on all the books. They invest a lot of time and attention and we are forever grateful.
• The creators whose ideas and storytelling give young readers adventures, real and imagined; encourage them to think big for themselves and to embrace empathy; and give them role models across the full spectrum of lived experiences.
• The publishers who, beyond trend and public opinion, have championed diverse voices and chosen to invest their time and attention in our award through submissions, as well as providing review copies for our panelists.

All these elements together, and a genuine love of books, have, in happier times, been the life and breath of this award. Unfortunately, these are not happy times. They are fracturing times.

Still, we come together: for young readers, for marginalized peoples, and for those who help get their stories out. And, most importantly, continue to lift each other up in the process.

---

2024 Board Book Winner

Who Laid These Eggs?: A Lift-the-Flap Book (An Animal Traces Book)
Gehl, Laura, illustrated by Lora, Loris
Harry N Abrams
Nominated by: Christopher Helton

Who Laid These Eggs? is a delightful book for our youngest readers. Each page asks a similar question encouraging curiosity and wonder as children try to guess which animal laid the eggs on the accompanying page. Its interactive nature inspires them to open the flap to find out. The flaps are easy to manipulate and the book features bright and colorful illustrations. The repetition and simple concept make it easy for children to understand and enjoy.

2024 Fiction Picture Book Winner

I am a Masterpiece!
Mia Armstrong; Illustrated by Alexandra Thompson 
Random House Books for Young Readers
Publisher/ Author Submission

I Am A Masterpiece is a powerful book written by child actor and model, Mia Armstrong, who has Down Syndrome. Mia shares different experiences in her life and how she navigates them. Through her words readers can feel her zest for life, positivity, and self-advocacy. This book also provides important socioemotional learning as we see how Mia understands and sees different situations.

Readers are able to get a first-person perspective and a perfect illustration of her viewpoint that we are all the same and we are also all different. In the back matter, Mia answers common questions she gets about having Down Syndrome. Her responses are genuine, real, and speak directly to kids.

Elementary Non-Fiction Winner

My Antarctica: True Adventures in the Land of Mummified Seals, Space Robots, and So Much More
By G. Neri, illustrated by Corban Wilkin
Candlewick Press
Publisher/ Author Submission

Embark on an immersive expedition to the polar south with just the turn of a page in this riveting nonfiction narrative. It captures attention with a whimsical mixture of illustrations and photographs, overlaid with comics. Neri’s distinct “everyman” point-of-view personalizes his trip to Antarctica, which very few get to experience, making the exploration exciting and approachable. His intelligent yet child-like abandon is apparent in his word-choice and topic treatment, delightfully enhanced by Wilkin’s creativity.

Interesting lists, maps and facts open doors to a variety of related learning journeys and historic adventures. Neri displays a strong capacity for explaining complicated processes while showing the humanity of those who challenge themselves to travel and work in extreme places. He reveals the balance they must develop to survive, mentally & physically.

This book celebrates wonder, curiosity and learning in an engaging and down-to-earth way that will appeal to elementary readers and beyond. It will spark readers’ thinking about big questions and encourage documenting their own endeavors to learn more about the world around them.

2024 Elementary/Middle Grade Fiction Winner

A Royal Conundrum (The Misfits)
Lisa Yee, illustrated by Dan Santat
Random House Books for Young Readers
Nominated by: aquafortis

The Misfits: A Royal Conundrum, by Lisa Yee and illustrated by Dan Santat has got just about everything one would want in a book for 8- to 12-year-olds. It’s intriguing to readers – both advanced and struggling – while maintaining humor and heart. It has broad appeal, not just with reading level, but with all types of readers themselves. The cast of diverse characters provides personalities and abilities that most kids can relate to. The book showcases a team of kids that learned to come together to work as a team, but the main character, Olive, also learned to come into her strengths as a person. We also like that it operates as a stand-alone while leaving the door open for more Misfit adventures. The illustrations were charming and fun, as befitting a Caldecott-winning artist. In short: it was just a joy to read.

2024 Elementary/Middle-Grade Graphic Novel Winner

Pearl: A Graphic Novel
Sherri L. Smith, illustrated by Christine Norrie
GRAPHIX
Nominated by: BradB

Pearl offers a thought-provoking perspective on the experiences of ordinary people caught up in the tides of war. Growing up listening to her grandmother’s stories as a pearl diver, Amy travels to Hiroshima, Japan to meet relatives she’s never known. But when the attack on Pearl Harbor happens, Amy becomes stranded in Japan, where she is conscripted to translate intercepted Allied radio transmissions. As Amy hears about the internment of Japanese Americans, including her own family, she is torn between two sides, struggling to find where her loyalty truly lies. Amy’s emotional journey captures the heartbreaking reality of being caught between two warring nations, unsure of which side is “right.”

This graphic novel beautifully introduces readers to the experiences many Japanese Americans faced with their dual identity and treatment in America. The story is complemented by powerful illustrations with a limited color palette, enhancing the emotional weight of Amy’s story without overwhelming it. While it doesn’t delve into graphic detail, it powerfully conveys the human cost of conflict and prejudice, making it a compelling and important read.

2024 Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction Winner

Impossible Creatures
Katherine Rundell, illustrated by Ashley Mackenzie
Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Nominated by: Sondra Eklund

Katherine Rundell’s polished and sophisticated voice evokes feelings of wonder. The cast of characters, especially Nighthand’s crew, offers a variety of unique personalities that add bits of humor to the story. The concept of a supreme being that lives eternally and its importance for all living things touches on deities without being didactic or aggressive. The epic scale of a plot involving a reincarnated immortal being is fascinating, and one of the more unique aspects of the book.

The story has deep themes of identity, ties to nature and the land, our roles as caregivers to the Earth, and oh yes–friendship. Mal is the story’s star and however much she just wants to BE, she discovers she is intended for much more. The story has loss and tragedy, but also hope and empowerment. It really speaks to how impactful a voice can be at any age, and how one should never underestimate another because of first impressions.

2024 Middle Grade Non-Fiction Winner

Why We Need Vaccines: How Humans Beat Infectious Diseases
Rowena Rae and Paige Stampatori
Orca Books
Publisher/ Author Submission

The invention of vaccines has had a remarkable impact on the world’s population over the last 200 years! Rae’s fluid and easy-to-understand writing style takes a vast breadth of information from the past, present, and futures of vaccinations and creates an appealing, deeply informative, and well-rounded treatise.

Photographs, drawings, charts, and graphs, along with well-researched text, give readers a clear understanding of many issues related to the invention, development, testing, and distribution of vaccines. She stresses the importance of critical thinking and evaluating sources, as well as ethical and socio-economic issues. Human interconnectedness and the historical significance of vaccines are highlighted throughout. Professionals in associated fields offer advice for middle-grade readers.

This can be read independently but also used to educate on a topic that affects individuals and has larger ramifications in families, societies, and the world. This book doesn’t tell readers what they should think or feel but does communicate a thoroughly accessible explanation of scientific information that will empower readers to make informed choices. Fun-fact: The son of one judge quelled his fear of shots during a recent routine vaccination after reading this big-picture account and celebration of human ingenuity.

2024 High School Non-Fiction Winner

American Wings: Chicago’s Pioneering Black Aviators and the Race for Equality in the Sky
Smith, Sherri L. and Wein, Elizabeth
G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Nominated by: Becky L.

Once upon a time, the “friendly skies” were not so friendly to people of color. Pursuing a passion for aviation meant fighting against the systemic racism found in every aspect of life in the 1920s. American Wings is the engrossing and powerful story of a group of Black young people determined to fly.

Well-researched and fascinating, readers will find themselves immersed in the lives of these daring aviators who brought flight to Illinois, specifically to Chicago and the outlying areas. With the help of illustrations and photographs, readers can see the people and places described by the authors. From anger to awe, readers will be inspired by the fortitude and perseverance of these young aviators, and experience all the feels you’d expect to find in a novel. [Multiple judges hope this becomes a movie or documentary some day!]

Part history of black aviation in the United States, part gripping personal stories, American Wings is a celebration of the grit and resilience of a memorable group of trailblazers. The book has broad appeal to those who love all things aviation – and those who have a fear of flying, too.

2024 Poetry Collections Winner

Black Girl You Are Atlas
Renée Watson,  illustrated by Ekua Holmes
Kokila
Nominated by: Amie

In Black Girl You Are Atlas, Renée Watson has crafted a collection of of honest and uplifting poems that explore the challenges and joys of navigating into adulthood, without pushing the reader there too fast. Watson’s mastery of language and free verse are on full display, each poem drawing the reader in with its sense of urgency and heart.

A bold celebration of young black women and sisterhood, the collection also explores themes that are universal and important for all. Kokila Ekua’s superb art adds depth and complements the poems beautifully. As one judge proclaimed, “This is Poetry with a capital P.”

2024 Poetry Novel in Verse Winner

Kareem Between
Shifa Saltagi Safadi
G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Nominated by: Christopher Helton

Kareem Between by Shifa Saltagi Safadi is an engaging and poignant verse novel that believably captures the usual middle school friendships and peer pressure, along with the navigation of two cultures often at odds in today’s political climate. Without overdoing it, the author skillfully shows where Kareem’s poetic skills and sensibilities come from, and places him perfectly between child and adult, selfish and generous, vulnerable and tough.

Along with the fine writing, the authentic family dynamics, and the believable voices, we also have the experience of living through real recent history, a crucial window/mirror/door for this moment.

2024 Young Adult Fiction Winner

Everything We Never Had
Randy Ribay
Kokila
Nominated by: Richetta

In Everything We Never Had, author Randy Ribay explores how immigration, racism, assimilation, and the American Dream each impacts the sons and fathers of one Filipino American family over four generations. With intricate characters and rich prose, Ribay considers how these issues have contributed to generational trauma and its lasting impact in a way that feels both realistic and relevant to today.

By centering the book on four different sons across generations, Ribay is able to tell the story not only of their teen years, but also who they become as fathers. We anticipate readers will enjoy seeing how these characters grow up and how their previous decisions reverberate with their own sons. It’s a stunning feat of writing capped by a complicated yet hopeful ending that will resonate with a current generation of readers.

2024 Young Adult Graphic Novel Winner

Brownstone
Samuel Teer, illustrated by Mar Julia
Versify
Nominated by: Kristen

Brownstone by Samuel Teer is a heartfelt graphic novel that follows Almudena, a fourteen-year-old girl who is sent to spend the summer with her estranged Guatemalan father in his crumbling brownstone. As Almudena navigates language barriers and cultural differences, she embarks on a profound journey of self-discovery, exploring themes of identity, family, and belonging while helping her father rebuild his home.

The novel’s powerful narrative is complemented by warm, elaborate, captivating illustrations that vividly portray the neighborhood, its people, and their lives. The character’s relationships are genuine and endearing, evolving beautifully over the course of the story. Through both the heartfelt storyline and the expressive artwork, Brownstone offers a moving exploration of bridging cultural divides and reconnecting with one’s roots.

2024 Young Adult Speculative Fiction Winner