Elementary/Middle Grade Graphic Novels Crush (Berrybrook Middle School) (Amazon, IndieBound) by Svetlana Chmakova Yen Press Nominated by: Wendy What is it like to have a crush for the first time? Crush explores exactly that emotion – following big, baseball playing Jorge, a quiet but courageous character who stands up to bullies and helps others when needed. Although part of a …
2019 Finalists: Young Adult Fiction
Don’t Date Rosa Santos (Amazon, IndieBound) by Nina Moreno Disney-Hyperion Nominated by: boricuareads Three generations of Santos women come together in this light-hearted but meaningful novel about culture, family, grief, love, and finding out who you truly are. Rosa and her abuela are esteemed members of their small coastal Florida town where a curse has kept Rosa from finding love, …
2019 Finalists: Easy Readers and Early Chapter Books
Easy Readers Fox & Chick: The Quiet Boat Ride and Other Stories (Early Chapter for Kids, Books about Friendship, Preschool Picture Books) (Amazon, IndieBound) by Sergio Ruzzier Chronicle Books Nominated by: Josh Funk This second book in the Fox & Chick series is written for preschool and up. Kids and adults will laugh and enjoy the book’s comic-book-type format and …
The 2019 Cybils Finalists!
It’s January 1st, our favorite day of the year: The day in which all round one panelists breathe a huge sigh of relief (and we express our heartfelt thanks!), and which everyone (from the authors and illustrators to the fans to the round two judges) eagerly watches to see what’s made the cut. First off — because we know you’re …
2019 Finalists: Junior/Senior High Non-Fiction
Junior High Non-fiction 1919 The Year That Changed America (Amazon, IndieBound) by Martin W. Sandler Bloomsbury USA Nominated by: Jennifer Naughton One hundred years ago, a momentous year full of extraordinary events would change America forever. Many issues at the forefront of American society following the end of World War I manifested themselves through several events: the Great Molasses Flood, …
2019 Finalists: Fiction Picture Books and Board Books
Fiction Picture Books A Stone Sat Still: (Environmental and Nature Picture Book for Kids, Perspective Book for Preschool and Kindergarten, Award Winning Illustrator) (Amazon, IndieBound) by Brendan Wenzel Chronicle Books Nominated by: Heidi G. In A Stone Sat Still by Brenden Wenzel, the soft lyrical text examines a wide array of different animal’s perspectives (it was a home, a whole …
2019 Finalists: Elementary/Middle Grade Non-Fiction
Elementary Non-Fiction Monument Maker: Daniel Chester French and the Lincoln Memorial (Amazon, IndieBound) by Linda Booth Sweeney, illustrated by Shawn Fields Tilbury House Nominated by: Dr. Cheryl S. Vanatti Even as a young boy, Daniel Chester French liked to make stuff- drawings ofthe birds in the New Hampshire farm he grew up in, a lion made of snow that frightened …
2019 Finalists: Elementary/Middle-Grade Speculative Fiction
Cog (Amazon, IndieBound) by Greg van Eekhout, illustrated by Beatrice Blue HarperCollins Nominated by: Violet Cog uses the voice of a robot with artificial intelligence, who looks like a brown-skinned, 12 year old boy, to raise questions about what makes us human. Learning from making mistakes? Our connections with others? After Cog saves a dog from being run over, he …
2019 Finalists: Poetry
Dreams from Many Rivers: A Hispanic History of the United States Told in Poems (Amazon, IndieBound) by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Beatriz Gutierrez Hernandez Henry Holt Nominated by: Katy Manck Backed by research, good storytelling and poetic craft, these short snippets of history from 1491 until now with multiple Latinx narrators weave a powerful chronicle, poem by poem. Anastasia Suen, …
2019 Finalists: Middle-Grade Fiction
Maybe He Just Likes You (Amazon, IndieBound) by Barbara Dee Aladdin Nominated by: Joanna Marple Starting middle school can be tough and scary for anyone. For Mila especially so, things are tough at home so school should be her safe place. That is not the case. It starts with an unwanted hug by a classmate and continues and escalates. She …