Since we’re on the verge of a major cookie-eating holiday, it seems seasonally appropriate to feature a book that’s cookie-themed: Elephant & Piggie Like Reading! The Cookie Fiasco by Dan Santat. The review was written by our Elementary/Juvenile Nonfiction chair Jennifer Wharton, who is not a stranger to the Early Chapter Books category, where this book was nominated. In her …
REVIEW: The Wild Robot
Today’s review is kind of a hybrid–it’s a nominee in the Audiobooks category, but the review is specific to the print version. The reviewer is Adrienne Gillespie, Round 2 Audiobooks judge and blogger at Books & Bassets. The book is The Wild Robot by Peter Brown, a middle grade novel about Roz the robot, who gets stranded on an island …
REVIEW: Highly Illogical Behavior
Happy Monday! Today’s featured review is a nominee from the YA Fiction category: Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley. Earlier this year, Round 1 judge William Polking (a high school teacher and coach) reviewed the book for Guys Lit Wire, a group blog devoted to highlighting great books for guys and the people who love them. According to William: …
REVIEW: The Girl from Everywhere
Our featured blog review for today comes from Cybils regular Katy Manck of the blog BooksYALove. Katy is a librarian-at-large (how cool is that?) and a Round 2 judge this year in Middle Grade/YA Nonfiction. She also reads a wide range of other YA books, such as YA Speculative Fiction nominee The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig. Here’s how …
REVIEW: Booked
Kwame Alexander earned a lot of praise for his novel-in-verse Crossover, and its follow-up, Booked, is a Cybils nominee this year in the Poetry category. For a thoughtful review of today’s featured title, check out the Goodreads review by Round 1 judge Linda Baie, a retired teacher and lit coach who blogs at TeacherDance: “I love the voice of this …
REVIEW: The Slowest Book Ever
Today’s featured blog review looks at a nominee from the Elementary/Juvenile Nonfiction category: The Slowest Book Ever by April Pulley Sayre and illustrator Kelly Murphy, a celebration of all things slow, from animals like sloths to natural wonders like the Grand Canyon. A recent review of the nominee was posted by Round 1 Cybils judge Sandy Brehl, an author and …
REVIEW: In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse
Randomly Reading is a book review blog by Middle Grade Fiction Round 2 judge and former 4th grade teacher Alex Baugh; many of us know her from her blog Alex’s Bookshelves/The Children’s War, which focuses on books for young people that include World War II themes. Just last month, she reviewed Middle Grade Fiction nominee In the Footsteps of Crazy …
REVIEW: Lucky Penny
Today’s featured blog review comes from venerable comics blog No Flying No Tights, courtesy of Round 1 Graphic Novels judge Amy Estersohn, who is a seventh-grade English teacher by day. Recently, she reviewed YA Graphic Novels nominee Lucky Penny by Ananth Hirsh and Yuko Ota, a story about a very unlucky young woman. About the book, Amy said: “This book’s …
REVIEW: Puddles!!!
Over here in your trusty co-blog-editor’s neighborhood, the fall/winter rains have been starting, so it seems like a good time to post a blog review of Puddles!!! by Kevan Atteberry, a nominee for Fiction Picture Books. The review comes from Round 1 judge Lynne Marie Pisano, a children’s author from South Florida who blogs at My Word Playground. In her …
REVIEW: Afterward: A Novel
Round 1 YA Fiction judge Jenni Frencham is a Goodreads librarian as well as a real-life librarian–specifically, she’s Youth Services Director at a rural public library. She reviewed today’s title, YA fiction nominee Afterward by Jennifer Mathieu, on her Goodreads account earlier this year. This suspenseful novel about recovery from trauma, living with a disability, and healing through friendship earned …