We’ve got a review of one of our winning titles for you today: the inaugural winner in our brand-new Audiobooks category. The book is The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, the Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog by Adam Gidwitz, a funny and fantastical medieval adventure. Audiobooks Round 2 judge and Cybils blog co-editor Melissa Fox reviewed this one just last …
REVIEW: When the Moon Was Ours
Today we’re featuring a review of YA Speculative Fiction finalist title When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore. The review comes from Original Content, the long-running blog of Round 2 Speculative Fiction judge Gail Gauthier: “When the Moon Was Ours is elegantly written with lush language that’s carried through the whole work. In addition to being a Cybils finalist, …
REVIEW: When the Sea Turned to Silver
Today’s featured review comes from Round 2 Elementary/Middle Grade Spec Fic judge Mark Buxton, a retired teacher in Ohio who blogs at Say What? One of the fun things about his blog reviews is that he posts, in part, in the voices of book characters themselves. He also, of course, adds his own comments. Regarding finalist title When the Sea …
REVIEW: The Goblin’s Puzzle
Round 1 Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction judge Sherry Early wrote our featured review for today–she’s a homeschooling mom and longtime Cybils judge (and, one could add, a fixture of the Kidlitosphere) who blogs at Semicolon. In the fall, she reviewed Cybils EMSF finalist The Goblin’s Puzzle: Being the Adventures of a Boy with No Name and Two Girls Called Alice …
REVIEW: The Girl from Everywhere
Our featured blog review for today comes from Cybils regular Katy Manck of the blog BooksYALove. Katy is a librarian-at-large (how cool is that?) and a Round 2 judge this year in Middle Grade/YA Nonfiction. She also reads a wide range of other YA books, such as YA Speculative Fiction nominee The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig. Here’s how …
REVIEW: Dr. Fell and the Playground of Doom
Today’s featured review is from Brandy Painter, Round 1 judge in Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction. She is a homeschooling mom and English teacher who blogs at Random Musings of a Bibliophile. She reviews realistic and speculative fiction for middle grade and young adult readers, and earlier this year she reviewed Dr. Fell and the Playground of Doom by David Neilsen. …
REVIEW: Dark Energy
I am proud to note that today’s featured review comes from my co-blogger over at Finding Wonderland, YA author Tanita S. Davis, who is a Cybils veteran and Round 1 YASF panelist. Just last week she reviewed YA Speculative Fiction nominee Dark Energy by Robison Wells, which sounds like an intriguing sci-fi adventure with aliens and a biracial main character: …
REVIEW: The Bronze Key [Audiobook]
We are so excited to kick off our new Audiobooks category this year, and what better way to start up this season’s blogger reviews? Our very first review is from Round 1 Audiobooks panelist Jeanene Johnson, who blogs about audiobooks at Got My Book. She has all of her audiobook reviews sorted into lists by title, author, narrator, rating, and …
Category Description: YA Speculative Fiction
Speculative Fiction takes us to realms of the imagination: places and times and realities where the rules of life may be different than our own and where the impossible and improbable become real. But good science fiction and fantasy does more than that: it asks, “What if?” It makes us think. It holds up a mirror to our own society …
Cybils 2016: Young Adult Speculative Fiction Judges
Round 1 Sheila Ruth Wands and Worlds @sheilaruth Karen Jensen Teen Librarian Toolbox @tlt16 Guinevere Thomas Twinja Book Reviews @dos_twinjas Maureen Eichner By Singing Light @elvenjaneite Sondra Eklund Sonderbooks @Sonderbooks Gary Anderson What’s Not Wrong? @AndersonGL Tanita Davis Finding Wonderland @tanita_s_davis Round 2 Kim Aippersbach Dead Houseplants Pam Margolis An Unconventional Librarian @Pamlovesbooks …