Longtime Cybil-ite Tanita Davis, who is one of our Sci-Fi and Fantasy panelists this year, has received some serious props for her YA novel Mare's War (which was a Cybils YA Fiction nominee). Namely, she's one of only five nominees for an NAACP Image Award in Youth/Teen Literature (in excellent company along with a few other Cybils nominees, we can't …
The Best of the Best: A Cybils List-tacular
During the nominations reading period, hundreds of books were devoured and discussed by our faithful panels of Round I judges, so that we could bring you the fabulous list of Cybils finalists. In the process, a lot of our panelists generated their own lists of favorite books from 2009–not predictions, DEFINITELY not hints, and probably not prophecies, but certainly a …
Celebrating Jon Scieszka
We would be remiss if we didn't join the chorus of thanks to our first National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, Jon Scieszka, as he finishes out his last day at the post. Tomorrow a new ambassador is announced, but today, the kidlitosphere thanks him for his superhuman efforts on behalf of young readers everywhere. Check out the the roundup …
10 … 9 … 8 …
Happy New Year, everyone! I just came down from the roof–literally–where I was watching some fireworks in a neighboring city. (I work nights and our office has a rooftop viewing deck.) We're just about 6 hours away from posting the 2009 finalists. I promise they're worth getting out of bed early for. See you all in the New Year, and …
A little hint or three
I'm cutting and pasting short lists this week and there's a few changes behind the scenes you might find intriguing. For starters, the person who nominated a finalist gets a mention. I'm not done with the lists, and there's a good chance that my weak math skills are leading me astray, but there are two bloggers tied for most nominations …
Merry Christmas, Cybilians everywhere
I want to express my profound appreciation to our organizers and first-round judges who'll still be reading and debating books over the course of Christmas break. You make Cybils happen — and you keep coming back with brilliant, unpredictable and fascinating short lists year after year. Things will be quiet on the blog this week, but we'll be roaring back …
Advertise for a good cause
Our ads are a main source of revenue for Cybils, and the money goes toward a lovely prize for our winners. The BlogAds people have included us in a major book promotion featuring some of the most prominent book blogs. Woot! So, if you want to reach the book-buying hordes, the BlogAds Book Hive would help us and help you. …
Cybils Bloggers Nominated for Edublog Awards!
Thanks to FPB Round I Judge Travis Jonker of 100 Scope Notes, today we found out that some of our very own panelist bloggers are part of the group of stellar nominees for the 2009 Edublog Awards, which honor the best education blogs on the web. The "Eddies" have been around for six years, which makes them more venerable than …
Give a Little Cybils Love
Somewhere in between organizing the Kidlitcon, heading up the Fiction Picture Books category, blogging at her own site, and posting to the Booklights blog at PBS Parents, the indefatigable Mother Reader–aka Pam Coughlan–somehow found time this year to add a new installment to her fantastic series of Ways to Give a Book posts. If you're looking for holiday gift ideas, …
Some insights from a panelist …
Hat tip to Sheila for passing along a link to some fascinating musings from a panelist with the middle grade Science Fiction/Fantasy list. Critique de Mr. Chompchomp notes the reliance of Fantasy authors on magic doodads (trivia note: dubbed "Macguffins" by none other than Alfred Hitchcock). He spots a trend toward one item in particular: But there is a general …