Franki Sibberson is a teacher, author, and co-blogger (with Mary Lee Hahn) at A Year of Reading. Franki and Mary Lee are both familiar faces at the Cybils, and this year Franki is part of our wonderfully experienced panel of Round I judges for Non-Fiction Picture Books. Recently, Franki reviewed Cybils nominee 14 Cows for America, written by Carmen Agra …
Paneling in NYC
Okay, so paneling is not exactly a verb in a way that means "a group of kidlit obsessives who natter on to an audience of strangers." But paneling we did. Betsy Bird of Fuse #8 fame moderated a discussion on kidlit blogging and the Cybils awards at the NY Public Library on Saturday. The one with the lions, though the whole building's under …
Publisher Love
In my role as Publisher Liaison, my job is to notify publishers about their Cybils nominees, finalists, and winners, to answer any questions and concerns from publishers, and to coordinate review copies from those publishers that can provide them. It's a lot of work, but it's also very rewarding to be able to give good news to publishers and experience …
NaNoWriMo
Kelly J’s “Acres” blurb
Hey all, we have a new blurb, this one from Kelly Jensen. Remember, these are 50-word pitches for a YA NaNoWriMo manuscript. The Acres, by Kelly Jensen Selling the family farm to developers left Sidney’s father wealthier but depressed. When he chooses to face his depression in an unimaginable way, Sidney feels compelled to forgo her dream of attending Northwestern …
REVIEW
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews is no stranger to the Cybils, and this year she's a round I judge for the Middle Grade Fiction category. Her book review blog has been going for over three years, looking at children's, MG, YA, and adult books and hosting numerous fun reading challenges as well as author interviews. Becky reviewed one of …
REVIEW
The Color of Earth by Kim Dong Hwa
Yeesh, it feels a little weird to be posting about one of my own reviews! I assure you, it really isn't shameless self-promotion; rather, I wanted to post about a graphic novel for teens, since I'm on the judging panel for this year's Graphic Novels category. We post about graphic novels as well as other fiction for YA and MG …
NaNoWriMo
Sarah’s turn to blurb
Our next NaNoWriMo blurb is from Sarah Mulhern, who adds, "I'm hoping this forces me to keep writing!" River of Monarchs Brielle loved gardening & raising monarch butterflies with her grandfather. But since his death, she hasn’t looked at the garden. When her parents plan a trip to the monarch bioreserves in Mexico, she refuses. But maybe this trip is …
REVIEW
The Magic Thief: Lost by Sarah Prineas
Today's featured blogger, Fantasy/Science Fiction Round I panelist Charlotte Taylor, describes herself as "archaeologist by day, president of the Friends of a small New England library by night." She blogs at Charlotte's Library, posting about (what else?) sci-fi and fantasy for YA and middle-grade readers as well as other children's and YA books. Last year, Sarah Prineas's book The Magic …
Children’s Literary Cafe
Organizers Susan, Pam, myself and ex-Cybils organizer Liz are headed into New York City for a big to-do at the NY Public Library. Another ex-Cybilian, Betsy, is our organizer and moderator. Here's the scoop: Pam and other bloggers will discuss the state of children's literature online today including ethics, publisher/blogger relations, transparency, influence (or lack thereof) over published titles, and …
REVIEW
Roscoe Riley Rules #7: Never Race a Runaway Pumpkin
Easy Readers and Short Chapter Books panelist Terry Doherty is well-known around the kidlitosphere, not just for her literacy efforts at Scrub-a-Dub Tub and Share a Story-Shape a Future, but also for her thorough and informative blog reviews at The Reading Tub. One of her recent reviews looked at Cybils nominee Roscoe Riley Rules #7: Never Race a Runaway Pumpkin, …