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: Verse Novels
We’re turning over the Backlist Book List reigns to Gary Anderson, who chairs the Young Adult Fiction category. He has some recommendations for verse novels that, like Cybils 2020 Finalist Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam, deal with tough contemporary societal issues. As Gary explains: This is not poetry for the butterflies and sunflowers set but tough …
#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 …
#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 …
REVIEW: Clap When You Land
Our featured review for today looks at Young Adult Fiction finalist Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo–specifically, the audiobook version: The audiobook production brings another level to this book, not just because Acevedo herself narrates half this book but because her writing begs to be performed. Her writing is magical and lyrical and her slam poetry background adds such …
REVIEW: Parachutes
Today’s featured review looks at Young Adult Fiction nominee Parachutes by Kelly Yang: I think the representation of Chinese students coming to America for high school was so interesting. Yang did a lot of research into this and it really shows itself in the story. Click here to read the full review by Round 1 judge Grace Barker, a Creative …
REVIEW: Furia
Happy November! YA fiction nominee Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez stars in today’s featured review: I enjoy a good sports movie (think: Remember the Titans, Hoosiers) or book. This one has a good combination of a bit of sports descriptions (but certainly not too much) and life and it’s really the life that is the star of this book. You …
REVIEW: Patron Saints of Nothing
Our final review for the season (yay!) is of Young Adult Fiction finalist On The Come Up (Amazon, IndieBound). And because it’s the last one, here’s a review I did on my blog Book Nut. I wrote: Thomas is a talented writer, telling stories that not only are representative for the world around her and accessible to her target audience, but …
REVIEW: With the Fire on High
Today’s review comes from Young Adult Fiction round 1 panelist Carmen, who writes reviews on Goodreads and has a brilliant Instagram account, Tomes and Textiles. She reviewed Young Adult Fiction finalist With the Fire on High (Amazon, IndieBound), writing: Any book that hypothesizes that women can be teen moms AND good moms gets all the praise from me. Read the whole …