Realistic fiction, be it contemporary or historical, funny or mysterious, romantic or adventurous. These are the stories that represent the real world of the past and present (but not the future) with all of its flaws and pain and humor and beauty. Books that respect their audience; books that teens will press into their friends’ hands with fervor in their …
Meet the #CYBILS2024 Speculative Fiction Teams
Spells, and space rockets, and zombies, oh my! This is the category for books with talking animals, time-travel, ghosts, paranormal abilities, alternate universes, and horror, including books where magic is obvious, not-so-obvious. Some stories may be set here on Earth, but they’re pushing the boundaries of daily life into what is almost certainly impossible or improbable … for now. There …
Meet the #CYBILS2024 Elementary/Middle-Grade Fiction Team
This category comprises realistic fiction for pre-teen readers ranging in age from 8 to 12 with protagonists who are around the same age as the reader. Discover adventure stories, coming of age tales, historical fiction, humorous narratives, mysteries, and sports stories … all set in the real world. There are no fantastical elements, no graphic or gratuitous sex or violence, …
Meet the #CYBILS2024 Nonfiction Teams
Children and students of all ages are curious about a variety of subjects. We can feed their thirst for biography, history, math, science, current events, sports, social justice, activism, journalism, and so much more with accurate and up-to-date information to help them form opinions on what matters most to them. Three audiences are recognized through our award: Elementary, Middle-Grade, and …
Meet the #CYBILS2024 Graphic Novels Team
Graphic Novels are not just for reluctant readers. With a rich combination of illustrations and color choices, graphic novels are both fun and complex reading. Graphic Novels have evolved into a beloved genre of reading format and evolved into a unique form of story-telling. We see lots of diversity, with an abundant range of diverse themes for diverse audiences, created …
Meet the #CYBILS2024 Board Book + Fiction Picture Book Team
These are our child’s first stories – at playtime, before nap, and as bedtime stories. They are sized for their little hands with thicker pages to help them build fine motor skills and practice “reading” for themselves. They are built with a toddler’s wear-and-tear in mind. Fiction Picture Books are a show-and-tell art form. They introduce young readers to the …
Meet the #CYBILS2024 Poetry Team
Poetry is verse written for children and young adults, it may or may not be illustrated. Beginning in 2022, the poetry category has two awards: one for anthologies and collections; and novels/nonfiction in verse. The intended audience for nominations in the poetry category range from toddlers to young adults. CATEGORY CHAIR: TRICIA STOHR-HUNT Tricia discovered Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost …
Now Calling: #CYBILS2024 Early Call for Judges
Welcome to our second annual summer call for judges! For many of us, summer means reading for fun, because, well, we have more time to read. Experienced Cybilites often use this time to read as many books as they can in the categories they love. The summer reading period is a great way to share what you love with other …
Summer is coming … and so is #CYBILS2024
This year, Memorial Day is more than the unofficial start of summer, it is also the unofficial start of the 2024 CYBILS Awards. In just a few days we will be launching the start of #CYBILS2024. Last year we tested a Summer Reading Period as a way to allow people to see what being a CYBILS Awards judge is like …
The 4-1-1 on the 2024 CYBILS Awards
A few weeks ago, we shared three goals that our Board set for its 2024 agenda. In this post we identified several that relate to changes in our award. With the 2024 CYBILS Awards season starting soon, we want to share more detail about several of those changes. Objective: Improve book access and reading volume issues Year in and year …