REVIEW: Roller Girl

Today’s featured review looks at Elementary/Middle Grade Graphic Novel finalist Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson, a Newbery Honor Book which has been described as a great read for kids who loved Smile by Raina Telgemaier. The review is from NoHigh5 News, the blog of Massachusetts 5th grade teacher and Apple Distinguished Educator Mike Lewis. His blog is just one of …

REVIEW: The Fog Diver

Today’s featured review comes from the blog Log Cabin Library, which is the online home of Round 1 judge Brenda Tjaden, on the panel this year for Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction. Brenda is a speech language pathologist by day, as well as an aspiring novelist with a particular interest in middle grade books. A few months ago, she reviewed EMSF …

REVIEW: Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall

Our blog review of the day looks at Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction finalist Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall by Anita Silvey. This fascinating look at the life of the naturalist who brought chimpanzees into the limelight makes a fascinating contrast to the graphic novel Primates, says EMNF category chair Jennifer Wharton. She reviewed the book last summer on her …

REVIEW: Castle Hangnail

Our featured blog review for this Monday is Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction finalist Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon, who is well known for her Dragonbreath series of graphic novels. This review from last spring comes from Stephanie Whelan, a New York Public Librarian who blogs at Views from the Tesseract. Stephanie, one of our Round 1 judges this year, has …

REVIEW: Guts and Glory: The Vikings

One of the coolest things about Roberta Gibson’s blog Wrapped in Foil is that she’s got a list of children’s books by state, from Alabama to Wyoming, along with brief descriptions of each book. Our featured review today–Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction finalist Guts & Glory: The Vikings by Ben Thompson—may not exactly fit on that list, but it did make the …

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: 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: Dayshaun’s Gift

Charlotte Taylor is one of our indispensable category organizers at the Cybils–she’s in charge of Elementary and Middle Grade Speculative Fiction, as well as being one of the Round 1 judges this year. Her blog, Charlotte’s Library, is devoted primarily to reviews of sci-fi and fantasy for children and teens, and on Timeslip Tuesdays she specifically looks at time travel …

REVIEW: Big Red Kangaroo

Today’s review is brought to you by Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction category chair Jennifer Wharton,  librarian and longtime Cybil-ite, who blogs about children’s books at Jean Little Library as well as contributing to No Flying No Tights. One of her recent reviews really appealed to me because I just got back from Australia last week (and yes, I did see both …