Review: Noggin

Today’s review is of YA Speculative fiction nominee and National Book Award  finalist Noggin, by John Corey Whaley. Our reviewer is  YA speculative fiction round one panelist, and librarian Karen who blogs at Teen Librarian Toolbox. She writes: This book is not at all what I expected, but it IS a richly emotional look at coming of age and coming …

Review: Greenglass House

Today’s review of National Book award longlisted and Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative fiction nominated Greenglass House, by Kate Milford comes from longtime Cybils volunteer, Sherry. A homeschoooling mom and avid reader, she blogs at Semicolon. She also hosts the Saturday Review of Books, which is a great place to find reviews all over the book blogs. About Greenglass House, she writes: I …

Review: Strange Sweet Song

Kimberly, half of the dynamic duo at Stacked, is a first round Young Adult Speculative fiction panelist. And, as anyone familiar with the Cybils knows, that means she’s doing a LOT of reading. She recently highlighted a few books she finished, along with Speculative fiction nominee Strange Sweet Song, by Adi Rule. She writes: This book lives up to its title. …

Review: Gabriel Finley and the Raven’s Riddle

New first round Middle Grade fiction panelist, Brenda, who blogs at Log Cabin Library. A speech pathologist by profession, she says has a weakness for middle grade fiction with pretty covers and fairy-tale retellings. She reviewed the Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative fiction nominee Gabriel Finely and the Raven’s Riddle by George Hagen, saying: Gabriel Finley and the Raven’s Riddle is also about being …

Review: Cress

Today’s review comes from Round 2 Young Adult Fiction panelist (and 16-year-old) Summer, a Palestinian girl who loves all things books. (She’s also Harry Potter’s long-lost twin sister, so we love her for that already.) Summer blogs at MissFictional’s World of YA Books where she writes about all sorts of YA books, including Young Adult Speculative Fiction nominee Cress, by Marissa Meyer. …

Young Adult Speculative Fiction – Category Description

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 …

Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction – Category Description

Inventive, wild, and wonderful–great speculative fiction for kids just keeps on coming! Along with the obvious wizards and aliens, this category includes books with talking animals, time-travel, ghosts, and paranormal abilities, and all the other books that might not have obvious magic or travel to distant planets, but which push past the boundaries of daily life into the realm of …

2014 Young Adult Speculative Fiction Judges

First Round Sheila Ruth Wands and Worlds @sheilaruth Karen Jensen Teen Librarian’s Toolbox @tlt16 Kim Baccellia Kim Baccellia @ixtumea Allie Jones In Bed With Books @wearedevilcow Kathy Burnette The Brain Lair @thebrainlair Maureen Kearney Confessions of a Bibliovore @mosylu Kimberly Francisco Stacked Books @kimberlymarief Second Round Tanita Davis Finding Wonderland Jennifer Rummel YA BookNerd @yabooknerd Cecelia Larsen Adventures of Cecelia …