Today’s featured review might be a first for the Cybils blog–or, anyway, a rarity: Round 1 Young Adult Fiction judge Stephanie Galvan Russell is a vlogger, and she posted a video review about YA Fiction nominee Dear Martin by Nic Stone. Stephanie is a middle school librarian, former teacher, and YA enthusiast, and her vlog is called Lispy Librarian. Episode …
REVIEW: Hey Kiddo
Hey Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka is today’s featured nominee, from the Young Adult Graphic Novels category. Mel Schuit, a Round 1 judge and picture book enthusiast, posted about this title (and a few other nominees) this past fall on her blog Let’s Talk Picture Books: Jarrett does everything he can to make his non-normal life seem normal, and as …
REVIEW: Honor Among Thieves
Cybils veteran, category organizer, and YA Speculative Fiction judge Charlotte Taylor wrote our featured review for today–a few weeks ago, she looked at YASF nominee Honor Among Thieves by Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre on her blog, Charlotte’s Library: There’s smart-alecky bantering to lighten the mood, some moments where I was deeply moved, and intellectual pleasure from guessing where the …
REVIEW: I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
Our featured blog review for today looks at Young Adult Fiction nominee I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez. Round 1 judge Gary Anderson, a writing professor and tutor as well as educational consultant, reviewed this title on his blog What’s Not Wrong: With this important book, author Erika L. Sánchez gives readers an authentic look …
REVIEW: Blood Water Paint
Today’s featured book review comes from Young Adult Fiction judge Stormy Campbell, a book lover and writer from Texas who blogs at Book.Blog.Bake. Last month she reviewed Poetry nominee Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough, a novel in verse based on the life of Renaissance painter Artemisia Gentileschi: I confess to knowing absolutely nothing about Artemisia before reading this book. …
REVIEW: Votes for Women!: American Suffragists and the Battle for the Ballot
Our featured blog review for today was written by Round 1 Junior/Senior High Nonfiction judge Heidi Grange, an elementary school librarian and longtime Cybils participant who blogs at Geo Librarian. With elections in the news this month, it seems appropriate to look at Senior High Nonfiction nominee Votes for Women!: American Suffragists and the Battle for the Ballot by Winifred …
REVIEW: Beneath the Citadel
Today’s featured review is a nominee in the Young Adult Speculative Fiction category: Beneath the Citadel by Destiny Soria, author of Iron CastGreat Imaginations. Round 1 YA Speculative Fiction judge Kara Malinczak reviewed this title for the blog , where she reviews books from a wide range of genres. About this one, she said: I really liked the idea of …
REVIEW: Fatal Throne: The Wives of Henry VIII Tell All
Round 2 judge Adrienne Gillespie is a Cybils returnee, 6th grade teacher, and former school librarian who blogs at Books and Bassets. Over the summer, she reviewed Young Adult Fiction nominee Fatal Throne: The Wives of Henry VIII Tell All, a series of stories written from the viewpoint of Henry and his various wives by seven excellent YA authors: M. …
Interview with Renée Watson
What inspired Jade’s story? I wanted to tell a story that explored the intersections of race, class, and gender. Jade is a little bit of me, a little bit of the girls I met when I worked as a mentor, and a lot of my imagination. I also wanted to set her in Portland, Oregon, where I grew up. The …
Interview with Neal Shusterman
Congrats! We’d love to know: how did you come up with the idea for Scythe? After many years teen dystopia, I wanted to do something that flipped it upside down. Rather than a tale of a dystopian world, I thought “What would be the consequences of a truly perfect world?” A world without war, poverty, crime, or disease. A world …