Many thanks to Liz for the great article in the School Library Journal e-newsletter about our awards. Our hits are through the roof! And a hearty welcome to SLJ subscribers landing here for the first time. Some quick links for you: Here’s the shortcut to our short lists. And here’s the index to our long lists, which many librarians are …
What are they up to?
Most awards competitions make you wait until their final announcement to discover the winner, leading to all sorts of speculation. Not us! We’re going to torture you first. The organizers have given status reports on our tippy-top-secret Yahoo! group, where we hold important discussions about books, make up new rules to contradict the old rules and snicker about what you’re …
The countdown begins …
After today, only two weeks remain until the Big Day. Yep, we plan to announce winners right here in this very space on February 14. Think of it as a great, big, Valentine’s smooch for the winning authors and illustrators (and their fans). But for every winner, there will be fivefour, ah, runners-up. Honorees? I don’t know what we’ve decided …
Meet Jennifer
Today we meet Jennifer, who writes Snapshot. She’s a Mom to two kids, ages 8 and 2, but somehow still manages to find time to judge in the MG/YA Non-fiction category. She answered our questions for us: Q. When did you start blogging? A. March 2006 Q. Why do you blog? A. I first began my blog as a way …
Meet J.L. Bell
J.L. Bell is a writer and reader of fantasy literature, with a special fondness for L. Frank Baum of Oz fame. He is the editor of Oziana, creative magazine of the International Wizard of Oz Club, and an Assistant Regional Advisor in the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators. A judge in the Fantasy and Science Fiction category, he …
Thanks, Franki!
Franki Sibberson weeded through 111 picture books to help us find the five best. She writes about her experience as a panelist at Choice Literacy and links to us here. Thanks for the nice press, Franki! We’re glad you enjoyed the experience. As a judge in this same category, I get to pick up where Franki left off. It’s great …
Meet Anne-Marie Nichols
Anne-Marie’s blogging career has taken her from her Mommy blog to the popular Dot Moms and then to a cooking blog, among many others. She’s now getting paid to combine her passion for kidlit and cooking over at ClubMom, where she writes A Readable Feast. We’re not sure when she finds the time for Cybils, but we’re glad she’s joined …
Meet Greg Fishbone
Greg Fishbone makes stuff up at his blog, which, dontcha know it, is titled I Make Stuff Up! But he doesn’t, really. He coins witty terms and then defines them with true trivia, factoids and news items. Check out this take called ‘Eternal Dog,’ which he defines as "a supreme being worshipped by dyslexics" before telling us about a type …
Welcome, Orlandoans. Orlandites? Orlandoers. Whatever!
Many thanks to the Orlando Sentinel’s parenting blog for their shout out to us, and a big welcome to Orlando-area parents reading us for the first time. Scroll down to see finalists in all eight categories. Leave us a comment if you’re outraged or thrilled or curious how we picked that book.
Finalists: Fantasy and Science Fiction
One of the most complex and broad of all the categories, Fantasy and Science Fiction received 87 nominations. Shiela Ruth headed the busy panel that winnowed them down to five: Ptolemy’s Gateby Jonathan StroudHyperion: Miramax Magician John Mandrake (a.k.a. Nathaniel), rebel commoner Kitty, and wise-cracking, sarcastic djinni Bartimaeus are drawn together in spite of their differences to battle a powerful …