Happy November! YA fiction nominee Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez stars in today’s featured review: I enjoy a good sports movie (think: Remember the Titans, Hoosiers) or book. This one has a good combination of a bit of sports descriptions (but certainly not too much) and life and it’s really the life that is the star of this book. You …
REVIEW: Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera
Today’s featured review looks at Elementary Nonfiction nominee Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera by Candace Fleming, illustrated by Eric Rohmann: HONEYBEE: The Busy Life of Apis Millifera by Candace Fleming and illustrated by Eric Rohman ( 2020) is robust in text, illustrations and backmatter. It pushes all of us to help out our honeybees. The full review was …
REVIEW: Clean Getaway
This year, one of our nominees in the Middle Grade Fiction category is from well-known YA author Nic Stone. In Clean Getaway, Stone presents readers with a middle grade road trip story featuring a mixed race kid: A road trip across the south, one unconventional Grandma (G’ma), plus plenty of secrets/mystery make this a fun (and funny) middle grade read …
REVIEW: Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier
Today’s featured review looks at Elementary/Middle Grade Graphic Novels nominee Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier by Jim Ottaviani and Maris Wicks, both veterans of the science graphic novel genre. There are some great and hilarious anecdotes throughout, and [astronaut] Mary Cleave’s love for space exploration and science comes through, making me hopeful that this book will inspire many, many …
REVIEW: Facts vs. Opinions vs. Robots
Fiction Picture Book nominee Facts vs. Opinions vs. Robots by Michael Rex talks to young readers about the differences between facts and opinions–an important topic in teaching information literacy: This is the book that both kids and adults alike should take the time to read. It’s a fun, interactive, and informative way to learn the difference between what is a …
REVIEW: Sal and Gabi Fix the Universe
Our featured review for today looks at Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction nominee Sal and Gabi Fix the Universe by Carlos Hernandez: Sal and Gabi are back! Sal’s father is worried about the holes in the universe that Sal made in the first book, accidentally and on purpose pulling things like his mother from other universes. Now his machine to repair …
REVIEW: Come In, Zip!
Welcome to our first blogger review of the 2020 Cybils season! Starting off in the Easy Readers category, nominated title Come In, Zip! (The Adventures of Zip) by David Milgrim is great for kids who are just beginning to read: Zip and his mom are from outer space. And Zip can do magical things. Off he goes in a spaceship. …
REVIEW: Harold and Hog Pretend for Real
When faced with a book like Easy Reader nominee Harold and Hog Pretend for Real (Amazon, IndieBound), round one panelist Pat, who blogs at her self-titled blog Mrs. Patricia Ann Timbrook, steps up her game: We will first set a “pretend” mode, meaning that we–you, the reader, and I, the reviewer–will be playing a game together, an imagination game about …
REVIEW: The Wicked King
We’re featuring Young Adult Speculative Fiction nominee The Wicked King (Amazon, IndieBound) today! Our review comes from Young Adult Speculative Fiction round one panelist Grace, who blogs at GraceGetsBooks. She writes: I read this book over spring break and I read the whole thing in a day. It’s amazing and I cannot wait for The Queen of Nothing, which by the way …
REVIEW: The Downstairs Girl
Young Adult Fiction Round one panelist Susan, who blogs at Blogging ’bout Books and on Goodreads, reviews today’s selection, Young Adult Fiction nominee The Downstairs Girl (Amazon, IndieBound). She writes: There’s a lot going on in this quick, entertaining YA historical. Maybe too much, but it’s still a compelling, fast-paced novel that I enjoyed very much. Read the whole review here. …