2021 Cybils are Here: A Call for Judges

We’re limping towards normal around here, slowly but surely. Publishing seems to be back on track, and there have been a good number of excellent children’s and young adult books out this year. So, what better way to get past division and stress and anxiety about the state of the world than to volunteer for the Cybils? (I can’t think …

Save the Date: It’s Time to Think about Applying!

It’s difficult to believe that six months have gone by since we announced our 2020 winners, and yet here we are: it’s the start of another Cybils Awards Season! We will be opening up our volunteer applications shortly, so keep an eye out for that. If you haven’t engaged with us this summer on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and (now: look …

The 2020 Cybils Winners!

Year after year, it never ceases to amaze us how the Cybils Awards manages to come together. From the people who volunteer as chairs to the panelists who spend so much of their fall reading, to the judges who thoughtfully deliberate to choose a winner. It was especially challenging this year, with the pandemic, and we are especially grateful for …

The BIG Day is Nearly Here!

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Get ready! The announcement for the 2020 Cybils Finalists are TOMORROW, Feburary 14th at 9 a.m PST.  We’re super excited to share it all with you!

2020 Cybils Finalists: The Ones that Got Away

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One of the things that makes a first-round panelist’s job so hard is the act of working with everyone to narrow down the list to five to seven books. When you have nearly 100 books on the list (or more sometimes!) that means, inevitably, really great books were not going to make the shortlist. We’d like to take a minute …

Twitter 2020 Cybils Finalists Roud-Up!

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It’s been a little more than a week since we announced our finalists for 2020 Cybils and we love to see the Twitter celebration! And since y’all might have missed it, we thought we’d share some of our favorites here!  We're honored to share that THE STORY OF CIVIL WAR HERO ROBERT SMALLS is a @CybilsAwards 2020 finalist in the …

2020 Finalists: Easy Readers and Early Chapter Books 

Easy Readers: Cat Has a Plan (Ready-to-Reads) (Amazon, IndieBound)  by Laura Gehl, illustrated by Fred Blunt Simon Spotlight Nominated by: Cathy Ballou Mealey Cat Has a Plan written by Laura Gehl and illustrated by Fred Blunt was chosen by our panelists for its witty humor and delightful illustrations. The short easy sentence structure and word repetition along with colorful retro …

2020 Finalists: Middle-Grade Nonfiction

All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team (Amazon, IndieBound) by Christina Soontornvat Candlewick Press Nominated by: Deb Nance at Readerbuzz Even though the title gives away the ending of this nail-biting narrative nonfiction, this true story set in Thailand will keep you on the edge of your seat from the time the soccer team realizes they …

2020 Finalists: Young Adult Fiction

Clap When You Land (Amazon, IndieBound)  by Elizabeth Acevedo Quill Tree Books Nominated by: Stephanie @ Love.Life.Read When flight 587 crashes, two girls’ lives are changed forever. Clap When You Land explores what it means to be family and what it means to grieve a person you didn’t completely know. The poetry of this book allows Yahaira and Camino’s voices …

2020 Finalists: High School Nonfiction

All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto (Amazon, IndieBound) by George M. Johnson Farrar, Straus & Giroux Nominated by: Patricia Tilton After reading Johnson’s memoir twice, I remain impressed with his willingness to share his life with readers who so rarely get to see representations of Black queerness encouragingly and lovingly portrayed. Johnson revisits difficult childhood memories, from having his teeth shattered …