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
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 🦈
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
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 …
#CybilsAwards Backlist Book List: Middle-Grade Fiction Reads
Is there anything better than relaxing in your favorite reading spot, lost in a book? Exactly! If you follow us on Twitter, you know that we often tweet about books that are soon or just newly released. BUT! Before you put the hold on that shiny new book – and wait your turn in line! – why not enjoy some …
Introducing the #Cybils2021 Idea Boards
Last year, we experimented with a way to celebrate, share, and recommend books that you, passionate readers of youth literature, thought were worthy of Cybils Awards consideration in 2020. So we created Padlets. The upside was that we discovered LOTS of books that you loved, including many we didn’t know about. We had an amazing, diverse collection of books that …
The 2020 Cybils Winners!
Year after year, it never ceases to amaze us how the Cybils Awards manages to come together. From the people who volunteer as chairs to the panelists who spend so much of their fall reading, to the judges who thoughtfully deliberate to choose a winner. It was especially challenging this year, with the pandemic, and we are especially grateful for …
The BIG Day is Nearly Here!
Get ready! The announcement for the 2020 Cybils Finalists are TOMORROW, Feburary 14th at 9 a.m PST. We’re super excited to share it all with you!
REVIEW: Echo Mountain
Our last featured blogger review of the 2020 Cybils season looks at Middle Grade Fiction finalist Echo Mountain by Lauren Wolk: This is the wonderful story of a spunky, persevering and brave twelve year old girl named Ellie. The setting is the wild woods of Maine in the 1930’s. Her parents lost their home in the Great Depression and were …