REVIEW: Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda

Many of us know and love Cybils veteran Leila Roy from her long-running blog Bookshelves of Doom, or from her reviews as a columnist for Kirkus. This year she’s lending her expertise as a Round 1 judge for YA Fiction, and back in February she reviewed YA Fiction nominee Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda for her Kirkus column. This …

REVIEW: Took: A Ghost Story

As we creep closer to Halloween, it seems only fitting that we take a look at a ghost story from the Elementary and Middle-Grade Speculative Fiction category. (And isn’t that cover art SUPER creepy? Yipes.) Today’s review of Took: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn is brought to you by Round 1 judge Mark Buxton, aka sixth-grade language arts …

REVIEW: Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery that Baffled All of France

Roberta Gibson, Round 1 judge for Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction, brings us our review of the day, from her children’s lit blog Wrapped in Foil. She focuses primarily on children’s and YA nonfiction, and has an interest in both biographies and STEM titles–both of which could describe EMNF nominee Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery that Baffled All of France …

REVIEW: Ling & Ting: Twice as Silly

Today’s review comes from Sonderbooks, the online home of Sondra Eklund, one of our Round 1 judges this year for Fiction Picture Books and longtime Cybils participant. She posts a wide range of reviews from picture books to books for grown-ups, and one of her reviews earlier this year described Easy Readers nominee Ling & Ting: Twice as Silly by …

REVIEW: Metamorphabet

Welcome to the first featured blog review of the 2015 Cybils Awards contest! We’re starting right at the top of the list of categories with a Book App called Metamorphabet, reviewed by Round 1 Book Apps judge Jill Goodman. Jill is an academic and a veteran explorer in the world of book apps, and she blogs at appoLearning, now known …

Review of the Day
Loving Will Shakespeare

Today’s book of the day is Loving Will Shakespeare, by Carolyn Meyer, a Young Adult Fiction title brought to us by Jackie from interactivereader. Jackie is a librarian who works with teens, and a prolific reader. She’s the interactive reader because she likes to share her feelings about whatever book happens to be passing through her hands. She blogs about …

Review of the Day
An Abundance of Katherines

Today’s review of the day is a title nominated for the Young Adult Fiction category: An Abundance of Katherines, by Printz-award winning author John Green. This review was cited by the author on his blog, where he called it "long and thoughtful (and nicely written, I think, although obviously I am biased because the review made me happy)". Who wrote …