Today’s review was written by Round 2 Middle Grade Fiction judge Greg Pattridge, a teacher, consultant and writer who blogs at Always in the Middle. Earlier this year, he reviewed MG Fiction nominee Finding the Worm, the sequel to Twerp by Mark Goldblatt. About this coming-of-age story, Greg said: “This sequel, set in 1969-70, has Julian at age 13 returning to …
REVIEW: Sunny Side Up
Today’s featured review has a little bit of sunshine for you: Sunny Side Up, a graphic novel for elementary and middle grade readers by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm, the team behind Babymouse. Our reviewer is Alex Baugh, a Round 2 judge in Middle Grade Fiction this year. Alex is a former 4th grade teacher and historical fiction enthusiast …
REVIEW: Sidewalk Flowers
In the middle of winter, we could use a few flowers, couldn’t we? Today’s featured review brings you Sidewalk Flowers, written by JonArno Lawson and illustrated by Sydney Smith. The review was written by Hannah DeCamp, one of our Round 1 judges in the Fiction Picture Books category. Hannah, who is a bookseller and literacy advocate, among other things, has …
REVIEW: Bayou Magic
Our featured review for today was written by Katy Kramp, who is a public librarian and Round 1 judge for Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction this year. She blogs at alibrarymama, and features books that span the age range from board books all the way to adult. A few months ago she reviewed Bayou Magic by Jewell Parker Rhodes, a magical …
REVIEW: Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah
Amy Broadmoore, who is a Round 1 judge this year for Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction, is an aspiring children’s librarian, mom of 3, former attorney, and founder of International Book Giving Day. At her blog Delightful Children’s Books, she focuses primarily on great picture books, and has a fantastic range of booklists sorted by age range and theme/subject matter. Earlier this …
REVIEW: Written and Drawn by Henrietta
Today’s book review features a nominee in the Easy Readers category, Written and Drawn by Henrietta: TOON Level 3 by Liniers. This TOON Books title was nominated by Fiction Picture Books category chair Terry Doherty and reviewed by Easy Readers/Early Chapter Books chair (and Round 1 judge) Katie Fitzgerald–so naturally I was intrigued. Katie, a former children’s librarian near Washington, …
REVIEW: Crêpes by Suzette
Deb Nance of the blog Readerbuzz–avid reader and book-challenge-participator, returning Cybils judge, and Round 1 panelist for Fiction Picture Books this year–recently reviewed her first-ever book app: Crêpes by Suzette, an adaptation of the picture book by Monica Wellington. The paper book itself is out of print, so it’s a lucky thing there’s an app to whet the…er…appetite (sorry): “I …
REVIEW: Sanctuary
Our featured blogger today is Kim Baccellia, who is an author, blogger, and longtime Cybil-ite who reviews at YA Books Central as well as her own blog, Si, Se Puede. She loves reading sci-fi, dystopian, and fantasy for young readers, and she’s a Round 1 judge this year for YA Speculative Fiction. A few months ago she reviewed Sanctuary by …
REVIEW: The Boys in the Boat
Though today’s featured review is a nominee from the YA Nonfiction category, our spotlighted blogger is none other than Karen Yingling, category organizer for Middle Grade Fiction. Her blog, Ms. Yingling Reads, highlights great books for middle schoolers, especially boys. Karen is a middle school librarian as well as a reviewer for School Library Journal and YA Books Central, so …
REVIEW: All the Bright Places
Jenn Hubb, who blogs at Lost in a Great Book, is a self-described proud geek, lifelong book lover, and teacher-librarian in Ontario, Canada, as well as a Round 1 judge for YA Fiction this year. Earlier in the year she reviewed YA Fiction nominee All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven, which has been ambitiously described as “The Fault in …