We are excited to introduce our newest blog feature: Book Playlists! This idea has been on our drawing board for quite some time, and being able to start creating them is, well, music to our ears. Our goal is to publish a Book Playlist for a CYBILS Awards finalist or winner every 6-8 weeks. Each post will feature one book …
#BannedBookWeek Spotlight Post
We recently welcomed Riya Fernando to our Volunteer Team, and are so glad to have her on board. When she offered to create a book playlist for Banned Book Week built around THE HATE U GIVE by Angie Thomas (2017 YA Fiction Finalist), our answer was an emphatic “Absolutely!” Make sure to celebrate this week by reading your favorite books …
2021 Finalists: Young Adult Fiction
A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Namey, Laura Taylor Atheneum Books for Young Readers Nominated by: Jen at Introverted Reader Lila Reyes always knew she’d become head baker at her family’s panaderÃa, but then the Trifecta happened. The woman who taught her everything about cooking—her abuela—dies, her best friend upends their plans to move in together, …
2021 Finalists: Board Books and Fiction Picture books
Board Books Animals Go Vroom! by Cushman, Abi Viking Books for Young Readers Nominated by: Isabella K. Following in the footsteps of Richard Scarry, in ANIMALS GO VROOM!, Cushman illustrates a world in which animals drive cars, ride bikes, and navigate cities, all in their own unique animalistic ways. Cut-outs on solid-color pages provide a teaser for the following …
2021 Finalists: Young Adult Speculative Fiction
Bad Witch Burning by Lewis, Jessica Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers Nominated by: Kim Baccellia An entrancing story of magic and the danger it can bring. Katrell’s can’t make enough to support her mom by talking to the dead to pay the bills she turns to raising the dead. The unforeseen side effects of this decision change her life. …
2021 Finalists: Elementary and Middle Grade Speculative Fiction
by Ireland, Justina Balzer + Bray Nominated by: Darshana Khiani After a white mob kills her father and burns their home, Ophie and her mother leave the Jim Crow south of the 1920s for Pittsburgh and both find work at the huge home of a wealthy family. It is a house full of ghosts, and Ophie can see and communicate …
2021 Finalists: Elementary and Middle Grade Nonfiction
Elementary Nonfiction Bartali’s Bicycle: The True Story of Gino Bartali, Italy’s Secret Hero by Hoyt, Megan, illustrated by Bruno, Iacopo Quill Tree Books Nominated by: Julie Rowan-Zoch Gino Bartali won the Tour de France in 1938 and became an international hero, however he always insisted he was not a hero, simply a cyclist. However, in the years to come he …
2021 Finalist: Middle Grade Fiction
A Place to Hang the Moon by Albus, Kate Margaret Ferguson Books Nominated by: AGW It’s 1940 and Anne , Edmund and Will have just lost the only family they have. With no one left to take care of them they join hundreds of other kids in England evacuating from the war into the country side. The hope is …
2021 Finalists: Graphic Novels
Elementary/Middle Grade Borders by King, Thomas, illustrated by Donovan, Natasha Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Nominated by: Reshama Borders written by Thomas King and Illustrated by Natasha Donovan is a simple yet important story of identity, culture, survival, history and modern politics. It touches on how politics create problems for indigenous people like the blackfoot who have lived on …
2021 Finalists: Easy Readers and Early Chapter Books
Easy Reader Chicken Little and the Big Bad Wolf (The Real Chicken Little) by Wedelich, Sam, illustrated by Wedelich, Sam Scholastic Nominated by: Julie Williams Chicken Little may be called little but she’s the smartest, most scientific chicken in the barnyard. At first, she’s frightened of the big bad wolf, but when the other chickens in the barnyard choose flight …