Today’s review of the day is of a title nominated for the Non-fiction (Middle Grade and YA) category. Kimberly Pauley, of YA Books Central and a member of the Non-fiction (MG and YA) nominating committee, thinks Team Moon rocks (hah!) for a number of reasons. Here’s the why in her review: An inspiring look at the Apollo 11 Mission a …
REVIEW OF THE DAY
The Year of the Dog
Like many of our volunteers, Andi at A Wrung Sponge is a children’s librarian, and the name of her thoughtful blog is meant to suggest how she soaks up all she reads: So here I am, wringing it out. Just wanted a place to reflect … and see if anyone else is reading the same things. In this review of …
REVIEW OF THE DAY
Just in Case
Today is Young Adult Fiction day at Cybils, and we highlight TadMack, a member of our YA Nominating Committee. TadMack is "Another random over-educated Californian… MFA English & Creative Writing", with a tentative release date for her first YA novel set for next winter. TadMack blogs with a team of other writers at Finding Wonderland: The Writing YA Weblog and …
REVIEW OF THE DAY
The Softwire
In March 2002, while much of the rest of the world was still on dial-up, author Gail Gauthier was starting her blog, one of the very first on children’s literature. She’s been posting her penetrating essays and reviews ever since, becoming one of the most influential bloggers in our sunlit corner of Internet. Why she isn’t as big by now …
REVIEW OF THE DAY
John, Paul, George and Ben
If you don’t laugh at this review, you need something stronger in your Starbucks today. What makes Deb Clark so funny? She taps into that Mommy fever dream of someday having an idle moment: Sometimes I find myself attracted to children’s entertainers. Not just any old birthday clown or balloon twister. It’s got to be someone who holds my kids …
REVIEW OF THE DAY
Kat and Mouse: Teacher Torture
We’ve got TangognaT forwards and backwards, and she looks the same coming and going. She’s not just a palindrome, but a librarian with a yen for Japanese manga. She recently helped our own Susan sort out what’s what. Here’s her short take on Kat and Mouse: Teacher Torture, by Alex de Campi and Federica Manfredi drawn from that post: Kat …
REVIEW OF THE DAY
Jazz
Today is Poetry Friday across the kidlitosphere, and what better way to jazz up the day than with a collection on that very subject? Kelly R. Fineman celebrates this uniquely American music in her blog, and her review is short and sweet: I read much of Walter Dean Myers’s book, Jazz, while I was in the bookstore, and I simply …
REVIEW OF THE DAY
Escape: The Story of the Great Houdini
We have several Jennifers among our volunteers, and this one’s a SAHM who blogs at Snapshot about her love of books and sharing that love with her two kids (among other things). She says she’s enjoyed the middle grade and young adult non-fiction nominees that she has read in anticipation of the short judging season. Even if the ones she’s …
REVIEW OF THE DAY
Duck, Duck, Goose
Betsy Bird, alias "Fuse #8" occupies a singular place in the kidlitosphere. From her "hot men of children’s literature" to her reportage from publishers’ PR extravaganzas, her blog has become the Grand Central Terminal of our burgeoning online community. It’s a starting point for those first venturing into our happy realm, but also an absorbing destination for the well-seasoned traveler, …
REVIEW OF THE DAY
Rules
Hot off the presses — this review of Cynthia Lord’s Rules is so fresh, it’s still steaming. Stephanie Ford just posted it yesterday at her blog. Rules deals with one of the more sensitive topics of our day — autism — from the perspective of the older sister. Ford’s a panelist for Middle Grade Fiction, and you can see from …