The heart of the Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards (aka CYBILS Awards) is a passion for engaging kids and teens with amazing books, and, by extension, igniting or rekindling the spark that is a love of reading. We know it isn’t just our passion, it’s yours, too. It’s why you work to … fill your library with books …
2021 Cybils are Here: A Call for Judges
We’re limping towards normal around here, slowly but surely. Publishing seems to be back on track, and there have been a good number of excellent children’s and young adult books out this year. So, what better way to get past division and stress and anxiety about the state of the world than to volunteer for the Cybils? (I can’t think …
#CybilsAwards Backlist Book List Summer: It’s a Wrap
Last week we posted our last Backlist Book List for 2021. We hope you have had as much fun exploring the curated lists as we had in creating them! Nine lists: 6 read-alike lists, 3 themed lists. Ten years of nominations, finalists, and winners. 154 recommended books for readers toddler to teen. What made them particularly fun was discovering books …
Hey, Reader!
After 15 years of binge-reading, re-reading, fan-fictioning, nominating, voting for, and celebrating our favorite books, we at the CYBILS Awards have the privilege to once again invite you to be a part of the process of recognizing the stories which combine both “literary merit and popular appeal.” The CYBILS Awards are passionate about the stories we love equitably reflecting the …
#CybilsAwards Backlist Book List: So You Want To Learn Magic
Charlotte Taylor, Chair for our Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction category, has conjured this week’s Backlist Book List. And dare we say it? It’s magical. There. We said it. If you know a young reader who dreams of spells and wishes for magic skills, this is the book list for you. Meet Eva Evergreen! We’ll let Kristin Harvey, who blogs at …
Save the Date: It’s Time to Think about Applying!
It’s difficult to believe that six months have gone by since we announced our 2020 winners, and yet here we are: it’s the start of another Cybils Awards Season! We will be opening up our volunteer applications shortly, so keep an eye out for that. If you haven’t engaged with us this summer on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and (now: look …
#CybilsAwards Backlist Book List: Verse Novels
We’re turning over the Backlist Book List reigns to Gary Anderson, who chairs the Young Adult Fiction category. He has some recommendations for verse novels that, like Cybils 2020 Finalist Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam, deal with tough contemporary societal issues. As Gary explains: This is not poetry for the butterflies and sunflowers set but tough …
#CybilsAwards Backlist Book List: Dino-might
Does anyone else remember that one-word exclamation from a 1970s show called Good Times? Here’s a little trivia for you: Jimmie Walker, the character who used that phrase, also used it in a series of Panasonic commercials for, wait for it … cassettes and 8-track tapes. [Source: Wikipedia] So, as you’ve probably already guessed, our “din-o-might” is a bit different …
#CybilsAwards Backlist Book List: Pivoting Pandemic Reads
It’s either emblematic of the COVID-19 pandemic or the most over-used word of 2020. Either way, we couldn’t resist using it for this week’s Backlist Book List! We promise it is more riveting than pivoting. Laurie Halse Anderson’s award-winning book Fever 1793 was published in 2000, six years before the Cybils Awards launched. It is a historical fiction novel about …
#CybilsAwards Backlist Book List: #BatterUp
In a little less than a week, baseball fans will be celebrating the 91st Midsummer Classic, also known as Major League Baseball’s 2021 All-Star Game. Last year, because of the pandemic, this annual event didn’t happen. But this year, well … we’re ready! To help get ready for the big game, let’s have some fun with a little trivia. ⚾ …