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” …
#Cybils2022 Graphic Novels
Invisible: A Graphic Novel Christina Diaz Gonzalez, illustrated by Gabriela Epstein GRAPHIX Nominated by: cheriee weichel Five Latine students are thrown together because they all speak Spanish. What they know, and others (including the reader) learn is that they are not: they all have distinct experiences and cultures that make them different. Told in alternating viewpoints, they all work …
#Cybils2022 Easy Reader/Early Chapter Books
Cornbread & Poppy (Cornbread and Poppy, 1) Matthew Cordell Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Nominated by: Reshama This charming story follows a pair of mice as they make preparations for winter. Cornbread, a born planner, starts preparing for winter in advance, scouring for berries, buying cheese, and finding grains. His house is all set with food for winter. …
#Cybils2022 Board Books and Fiction Picture Books
10 Little Tractors (10 Little Vehicles) Annie Bailey, illustrated by Jeff Harter Doubleday Books for Young Readers Nominated by: JSJ Ten little tractors have a busy day working, and when the day comes to an end, they all gather together to go to sleep. This is a board book that does everything we ask for in a board book: …
#Cybils2022 Nonfiction
A Perfect Fit: How Lena “Lane” Bryant Changed the Shape of Fashion Mara Rockliff, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal Clarion Books Nominated by: Emma @ Miss Print A Perfect Fit is a children’s picture book biography about Lena Bryant, founder of what would later become Lane Bryant clothing. But more than just being a story about the beginnings of a …