We won’t keep you … there are a lot of fascinating, I-want-to-read-that books on the list. Including a novel in verse!! One thing we will also want to point out is that several reviewers recommended listening to the audio editions … and not just fiction! Summaries excerpted from Goodreads. Click the book cover to go to see more details. Middle-Grade …
Fri-YA | #CYBILS2023 Reviews 01.12.24
If it’s Friday, it’s time for YA. We love all the books, so it just makes sense that we go into the weekend with some ooh-I-want-to-read-that titles for our weekend entertainment. Let’s go! The weekend is calling! PS – It’s not all fiction, either!! We’ve got some high school nonfiction for you, too. Summaries via Goodreads. Click book covers to …
The IN be-TWEEN | #CYBILS2023 Reviews 01.10.24
Wednesday. That day in the middle between weekends!! See where we’re going here? The perfect day to share books for tweens, aka the middle-grade audience. The weekly collection will include selections from the Middle-Grade Fiction, Middle-Grade Nonfiction, Elementary/Middle-Grade Graphic Novel, and Elementary/Middle-Grade Speculative Fiction, and Poetry categories. Book summaries from Goodreads. Click the book cover to view the full summary …
Monday Books | #CYBILS2023 Reviews 1.8.24
It’s time to get back to the books … the #CYBILS2023 books, that is. We’ve introduced the finalists for each of the categories. Truth is, they are a small portion of the books that readers nominated and believe are CYBILS worthy. So we’re going to keep going. If a reader nominated it and a (round 1) judge wrote a review, …
Fiction Fri YA | #CYBILS2023 Book Reviews 12.29.2023
It was a dark and stormy night … or should we say a dark and stormy life? Today’s reviews feature characters dealing with different kinds of darkness. The Black Queen is a YA murder mystery. Duchess Simmons is sure she knows who killed her best friend, and she’s determined to “go to the dark side” [befriending her prime suspect] to prove …
Middle-Grade Monday | #CYBILS2023 Book Reviews 12.25.2023
Thanks to the magic of scheduling, we can share reviews AND spend time with family and friends. That’s our kind of multi-tasking. Navigating tweendom is neither straightforward, predictable, nor easy. Yet the “process”of trying to figure out who you are is universal, whether it’s 1905 or 2023. In the historical fiction novel A Sky Full of Song, Soshana is a …
Middle-Grade Monday | #CYBILS2023 Book Reviews 12.18.2023
This week’s featured books have windows, mirrors, and sliding doors. Tweens will both connect with and learn from Anna, Mia, and the people in their lives. Through them they will learn more about cultural heritage, belief systems, belonging, and themselves, too. And, as you’ll see from our reviewers’ comments, we adults can learn a thing or two, as well. Summaries …
Fri YA | #CYBILS2023 Book Reviews 12.15.2023
There’s no such thing as a “girl book,” but there is definitely such a thing as girl power. And it is on full display in today’s featured young adult books. Exhibit A: Perry Firekeeper Birch, the MC in Warrior Girl Unearthed (sequel to CYBILS 2021 YA Fiction finalist Fire Keeper’s Daughter). After attending a meeting at a local university, Perry learns …
Middle-Grade Monday | #CYBILS2023 Book Reviews 12.11.2023
Happy Monday readers!! This week’s middle-grade selections offer readers a front row seat to history and will engage them in ways likely to surprise them! In Maybe an Artist, Liz Montague presents her journey to becoming a cartoonist in the New Yorker. She shares the question she asked herself as a young girl. Not surprisingly (to adults) they are many …
Middle-Grade Monday | #CYBILS2023 Book Reviews 12.4.2023
Even if you haven’t yet seen this week’s books, you probably recognize the authors: Ben Hatke and Kelly Yang. Both are well-known and much-loved among the tween set for their stories of family, friendship, and resilience. FINALLY SEEN and THINGS IN THE BASEMENT are very different books. Yet, as our reviewers point out, young readers can see themselves and gain …