The finalists for the National Book Awards were announced this morning, and we'd like to extend a special congratulations to former Cybils panelist Laini Taylor, who received a nomination for her book, Lips Touch: Three Times. Laini was a panelist in the Fantasy/Science Fiction category last year. The NBA finalists in the Young People's Literature category are: Deborah Heiligman, Charles …
REVIEW
The Last Invisible Boy by Evan Kuhlman
Sharon Hrycewicz of Bend in the Road says of becoming a children's librarian that coming to work in the library for the first time felt like "coming home." This year, she's one of our panelists for the Easy Readers and Short Chapter Books category, but on her blog she writes about all kinds of realistic fiction for kids, including Middle …
Introducing Anne Boles Levy, Cybils administrator
Today we meet Anne Boles Levy, co-founder, president-for-life and chief bottle washer at Cybils. Okay, so I don't really have a title that I like, because I don't much like titles. I'm not paying anyone to put up with me, and I have no use for the fooferaw that attends the windier appellations. My job is to think things through …
Introducing Sheila Ruth, Fantasy and Science Fiction Category
Today we meet Sheila Ruth, organizer for the Fantasy and Sci-Fi category, with a bio that comes courtesy of her son David: Sheila Ruth has loved books for a long time, and has been involved with them in many different ways. She is the president of a publishing company known as Imaginator Press, and of a book lovers' site called …
The Very Angry Book Reviewer
For anyone who has read an Eric Carle book to a toddler (and who hasn't) again and again and freaking gawdammit again, this link is for you. Money quote: Anyone who thinks that writing a good book for a 2-year-old is easier than writing a good book for a 32-year-old is deluded. The children's author has a monumental task. First, …
Introducing Sarah Stevenson, Cybils Blog Editor
Today we meet Sarah Stevenson, Editor for the Cybils blog: I'm a freelance writer, fiction writer and artist, as well as co-founder (with writer and Cybils SFF panelist Tanita S. Davis) of the YA literature blog Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog, founded in 2005. I also help out with the group blog Guys Lit Wire and participate in online literary …
Introducing Kelly Fineman, Poetry Category
Today we meet Kelly Fineman, organizer of the Poetry category: Dear Madam, It is with some trepidation that I respond to your request for a biography of Mrs Kelly Fineman, as one is not often asked for such details about the life of another–and in such a public forum! Mrs Fineman is, I believe, an authoress, and I know her …
2009 Nominations
Young Adult Fiction
While nominations are open in all categories, we're also featuring a few genres at a time over the first few days — Eds. You'll find no dragons or magic, robots or vampires here. Just real people, in the real world, in real situations. In a good YA novel teens will find themselves and discover their world. A great YA novel …
New FTC rules for bloggers & open thread
Just passing along an article that may or may not affect us here at Cybils. Follow this link to a NYT article on new FTC rules affecting bloggers who get free stuff to review. In a nutshell: you're going to have to disclose your arrangements with your advertiser. That extends to disclosing what free books you get from publishers, as …
2009 Nominations
Middle Grade Fiction
While nominations are open in all categories, we're also featuring a few genres at a time over the first few days — Eds. The middle grade years are those with the most potential to turn a child into a reader for life. It's often the books you read between the ages of 8-12 that you remember long into adulthood as …