Today's featured blog gives us a bunch of bonbons — short and sweet — and all Middle Grade Fiction. Karen Yingling organizes her blog, Ms. Yingling Reads, into handy categories such as adventure, history, fantasy or humor. I first heard of her a couple years ago when she emailed my husband at his blog to ask if he could recommend …
Review
“The Inquisitor’s Apprentice” by Chris Moriarty
Any day now, I shall stop whining about the lack of non-Holocaust kids' books with Jewish characters. Fortunately, I have Charlotte Taylor of Charlotte's Library to point me in the right direction. Charlotte's one of the most prolific and experienced review bloggers in the kidlitosphere, and that's no exaggeration. Her reviews nearly always show the depth and breadth of her …
Review
“Shine” by Lauren Myracle
Shine by Lauren MyracleAmulet Nominated by: Jo Knowles The dust-up over Lauren Myracle's on-again, off-again nomination for a National Book Award at least drew attention to "Shine," a story that tackles some difficult topics. The story's catalyst is a vicious beating in a rural town that leaves a gay teen in a coma. Cat, a close friend, begins asking uncomfortable …
Review
“Nurse, Soldier, Spy” by Marissa Moss
Cathy Potter (no relation to the boy wizard) works her own kind of magic as an elementary school librarian in Falmouth, Maine. She's half of the duo behind The Nonfiction Detectives and I'll bet you'll never guess her favorite genre. Nonfiction! Freaky coincidence, right? Nurse, Soldier, Spy: The Story of Sarah Edmonds, a Civil War Hero by Marissa MossAbrams for …
Review
Ashes by Ilsa Bick
In the interest of full disclosure, the blogger I'm featuring today has become one of my best virtual friends. We wouldn't have met (okay, we still haven't met, technically) but for Cybils. That's not why I'm putting the spotlight on her blog, though. Tanita Davis has been with us from the start, sifting the wheat from the chaff for the …
BEA Librarian blog love
Many thanks to Julie Jurgens, this year's pick to be librarian blogger for Book Expo America. She's done a really fun write-up of Cybils, including her own insights from judging last year. Julie will join us again in January to judge teen Science Fiction & Fantasy. Welcome back, Julie!
Review
Cinderella from Nosy Crow
Every year at Cybils we comb through our judges' blogs looking for book reviews. Or we comb through the lists of books looking for reviewers. Either way, we kill two birds with one stone by highlighting both a nominee and one of our bloggers. For the first review of the 2011, we're showing off our newest genre, Book Apps, and …
The 2011 Cybils
Welcome to the sixth annual Cybils Awards. Nominations are now closed and our first-round judges have begun their reading period. Short lists come out on New Year's Day 2012 and the winners will be posted on Valentine's Day 2012. Meantime, read more about us. If you like us and believe in what we're doing, please consider clicking on the "donate" …
Bookmarks #(*&%!!
Bad news for those who ordered bookmarks. The printer isn't shipping them until Oct. 24th. They were originally set to ship Oct. 3rd. No reason given why. I still have all your addresses and will get them to you as soon as they're in my grubby paws. Apologies.
Shine vs. Chime
By now, hardcore bibliophiles know the controversy over the mysterious sixth nomination to the National Book Awards. To make a long story short, the Young Peoples Literature category first came out last week with five nominees and then a sixth was added just afterward. Well, here's a sorry update about playing telephone, grown-up version. Wouldn't you know that the judges …