#CYBILS2023 Picture Book Recommendations from Sam Richardson

Is there any better way to introduce the new Board Book/Fiction Picture Book Chair than with a list of her favorite books? We think not. Meet Sam Richardson, Board Book / Fiction Picture Book Chair Sam may be a new category chair, but she has been emersed in this category for several years. She brings with her the diverse experiences …

#CYBILS2023 Recommendations from Tanita S. Davis

Uh, huh. THAT Tanita Davis. Author of MARE’S WAR, her NAACP Image Award-nominated and Coretta Scott King Award-winning young adult novel. She’s also a long-time member of the CYBILS Awards board, helping us continue our work in diversity, equity, inclusion, and outreach. Introducing: Tanita S. Davis, Board Secretary Tanita describes herself as being an asocial hermit, who, like most of us …

Graphic Novels & More: #CYBILS2023 Recommendations from Kristen Harvey

kristen harvey 2023 recommendations

Okay, comics fans! Are you ready to topple that TBR? Don’t you just love that visual (pun intended)! This week’s list of Boy-I-Hope-These-Get-Nominated titles includes fiction and nonfiction, realism and fantasy, and starts with a learn-to-draw title! Introducing Kristen Harvey Kristen has participated in the CYBILS Awards since 2013 and is returning for her third year at the helm of …

#CYBILS2023 YA Speculative Fiction Recommendations from Sondra Eklund

sondra eklund books

Yes friends, we are launching a new feature on the CYBILS Awards blog! Over the next few weeks we’ll be sharing some of the books our Category Chairs hope to see nominated this year. It complements the work that our Early Call judges finding and reading all the books. The best part? You might find a book you didn’t know about …

2021 Panelists and Judges: YA Fiction

Round 1 Gary Anderson What’s Not Wrong? Twitter: @AndersonGL Instagram: @evergreenliterature  Christopher Helton Plucked Stacks Twitter:  @achrishelton   Karen Jensen Teen Librarian Toolbox Twitter: @tlt16  Christa Seeley Twitter: @christasbooks Instagram: @christasbooks  Haley Shaffer Goodreads Twitter: @hale27storm Instagram: @h_shaffer   Vidya Tiru Lady in Read Writes  Twitter: @LadyInReadvt Instagram: @ladyinreadwrites  Jamie Yocum Goodreads Instagram: @jamiereadsthings  Round 2  Lauren Becker Shooting Stars Mag Twitter: …

#CybilsAwards Backlist Book List: Dino-might

cybils awards dinosaur books

Does anyone else remember that one-word exclamation from a 1970s show called Good Times? Here’s a little trivia for you: Jimmie Walker, the character who used that phrase, also used it in a series of Panasonic commercials for, wait for it … cassettes and 8-track tapes. [Source: Wikipedia] So, as you’ve probably already guessed, our “din-o-might” is a bit different …

#CybilsAwards Backlist Book List: Pivoting Pandemic Reads

science books fo kids

It’s either emblematic of the COVID-19 pandemic or the most over-used word of 2020. Either way, we couldn’t resist using it for this week’s Backlist Book List! We promise it is more riveting than pivoting. Laurie Halse Anderson’s award-winning book Fever 1793 was published in 2000, six years before the Cybils Awards launched. It is a historical fiction novel about …

#CybilsAwards Backlist Book List for #SharkWeek 🦈

kid books for shark week

First let’s mark our calendar: July 11, 2021. Shark Week. Less than two weeks away. You probably already know that #SharkWeek was created by the Discovery channel, but did you know … Caged in Fear, the first Shark Week episode, premiered on 17 July 1988? Sometimes Shark Week is in August, not July? From 2005-2011 shark lovers could purchase DVD …

Backlist Book List: #STEM + #DiverseBooks For Young Creators

In 2019, Frankie Sparks and the Class Pet by Megan Frazer Blakemore won the Cybils Award in the Early Chapter Book. In selecting Frankie Sparks as a finalist, the panelists said:     … This promising first book in a series will have children learning about animals, design thinking, and emotional intelligence while turning the pages to meet the new pet. …

#Cybils Awards Backlist Book List: Voices for Social Change

activist books kids teens

Civil Rights. Voting Rights. Individual Rights. Human Rights. These are some of the many issues in our society where people are moved beyond voicing opinions to “doing something” to influence change. Sadly, while they may seem “new” to our children’s consciousness, these ills are not new to us.  For better or worse, since 2016, nearly 100 Cybils-nominated books have centered …