As always, our sincere gratitude to the chairs, judges, panelists, and everyone who makes this award possible! Without the time you took away from your busy lives to read and think and discuss, we would not have this award. And to all the winners, our hearty congratulations! We can’t wait to share all these wonderful books with the kids in …
#Cybils2022 Book Lists: The Black Experience, Part 1
Happy Black History Month! To celebrate, we’re collecting all the books about the Black experience from our finalists and nominations this year. There are a LOT of books, so we’re starting with the younger set: board books, fiction picture books, Elementary nonfiction, Easy Readers, Early Chapter books, and poetry collections. We’ll catch the rest in two weeks after our winners’ …
#Cybils2022 Book Lists: Being Differently Abled
One of the things I noticed while going through the lists of nominations looking for mental health books last week, was there were a lot more books featuring characters who are differently abled then I expected. Then I remembered that “Disability Visibility” is a High School Nonfiction finalist, and this week’s list is born. Hopefully, every book I’ve chosen is …
#Cybils2022 Book Lists: Mental Health Awareness
One of the themes I’ve noticed in kids’ books this year has been more of a willingness to talk about mental health issues. I’m taking a broad definition here: I’ve seen books on anxiety and OCD and depression, but also ones about ADHD and emotional awareness. I’m glad that these issues are being written about in books for kids, and …
#Cybils2022 Book Lists: Ocean Life
About mid-January, when I’ve recovered from the holidays and there’s nothing left but dark and cold in my part of the world, I start longing for the warmth and sunshine and ocean waves. What better way to get us there than through books that are exploring all things ocean? Good Eating: The Short Life of Krill by Matt Lilley, Illustrated …
PATRON SAINTS OF NOTHING by Randy Ribay #CYBILS 📚🎶
PATRON SAINTS OF NOTHING by Randy Ribay Kokila Books Finalist – Young Adult Fiction 2019 CYBILS Awards The Book Young Adult Fiction Contemporary, Family, Mystery, Realistic Fiction, Social Justice More than just a murder mystery, PATRON SAINTS OF NOTHING tells a poignant, powerful story about a Filipino-American teen who travels to the land of his birth to investigate the wrongful …
#CybilsAwards Book Lists: The Ones That Got Away (2022 edition)
Because the process of coming up with finalist lists is collaborative, every year panelists have ones that they’re passionate about, but just don’t quite make the cut. Having been one of those panelists many times, I understand the pain of having a really good book not quite make it. Which is why we have this post! It’s a chance to …
#Cybils2022 Book Lists: Knights and Dragons
There aren’t as many books about dragons and knights this year as in the past, but there was one that captured my fancy (and the fancy of all the booksellers at the store I work): Knight Owl. So I was quite tickled when it made the fiction picture book finalist list. I am not above admitting that I’ve created this …
#Cybils2022 Middle Grade Fiction
Air: A Novel Monica Roe Farrar, Straus & Giroux Nominated by: JF Twelve-year-old Emmie is a wheelchair athlete and wants nothing more than to someday own a chair that she can truly show off her skills with, one day maybe even competing in wheelchair motocross. Emmie and her best friend, Claire, put their business skills to work and are …
#Cybils2022 Poetry/Novels in Verse
At the Pond David Elliott, illustrated by Amy Schimler-Safford Candlewick Press Nominated by: Lisa Rogers David Elliott adds a celebration of pond life to his collection of charming animal poetry in At The Pond. Following the arc of a day from morning to night, readers meet a variety of pond flora and fauna, ranging from the “delicate, diaphanous, dazzling” …