Last Call for Nominations!

Public nominations end today, and so you have one last chance to nominate books for this year’s Cybils award. Your favorite book already nominated? We have lots of suggestions of books we’d like to see. We hope you’ve nominated!   For some suggestions, check out the following posts: Wands and Worlds Ms. Yingling Reads Charlotte’s Library Si, Se Puede Bibliofile …

Need a Nomination Suggestion?

We are about halfway through the nominating period, and the judges and organizers have come up with lists of great books that we’d really love to see nominated. If you haven’t put your two cents in on the nominating form, please consider using one of these suggestions.  From Stacked Books, a list of YA Speculative Fiction A list of fiction picture …

The 2015 Cybils are OPEN!

Welcome to the TENTH annual Cybils awards! The nominations are now open! Some quick reminders: First off,  be sure to check out our category descriptions. If you don’t know where the book should go, please read through the descriptions to help you decide. If you’re still not quite sure, make your best guess, and we can straighten things out behind the scenes. Take a minute …

Nominations Open TOMORROW

If you’re anything like me (which I know you’re not, but roll with it for a minute), you’ve been scrolling through your Goodreads list of books you’ve read since the last Cybils nomination cycle, writing down your favorites (and second and third favorites) so that when the Cybils nomination form goes live at midnight pacific time on October 1, you’re …

Young Adult Fiction Category Description

The world as it was and is. Not as it could, or would, or should be. Send the dystopias and space operas, the fairies and angels, the blood-suckers, zombies, and alternate realities to Seculative Fiction. In YA Fiction we are looking for realistic fiction, be it contemporary or historical, funny or mysterious, romantic or adventurous. We want the real world …

Young Adult Speculative Fiction Category Description

Speculative Fiction takes us to realms of the imagination: places and times and realities where the rules of life may be different than our own and where the impossible and improbable become real. But good science fiction and fantasy does more than that: it asks, “What if?” It makes us think. It holds up a mirror to our own society …

Poetry Category Description

Poetry is an ever flowing river of words.  From words that rhyme, words that shape emotions on all different topics to poetic forms, thePoetry category is home to an uber stew of entries. These books willappeal to the very young, middle grade and/or young adults. Plus this year Poetry includes nominations of novels in verse.   What belongs in Poetry? Consider …

Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction

Wonderfully inventive and full of unforgettable people and places–this year’s speculative fiction books for kids are better than ever! Along with the expected spells and space rockets and aliens, this is the category for books with talking animals, time-travel, ghosts, and paranormal abilities, and all the other books that might not have obvious magic on every page, and which are set here …

Middle Grade Fiction Category Description

Middle grade fiction encompasses a wide range of stories that do not have magical elements and are geared toward the 8 to 12 year old age group. These stories could be mysteries, histories, humor, sports, adventure and other tales set in the real world. Middle Grade readers’ tastes and reading abilities can vary widely, and getting them a book that …

YA Nonfiction Category Description

Young Adult Nonfiction is experiencing a boon in great books. It is true that there is definitely more interest in great nonfiction, especially if you have a child in school, and that school district uses common core. Not known for being as glamorous as the fiction categories, for this librarian, great nonfiction is as much of a treat as any fiction book on any …