Today’s featured blog review looks at Young Adult Speculative Fiction finalist They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera. The review is from Round 2 judge C. Lee McKenzie, a writer and former teacher of Linguistics and Inter-cultural Communication at San Jose State University. In her Goodreads review, she said: Another reason I fell into this book was the …
REVIEW: Piecing Me Together
We’ve come back around to the Young Adult Fiction category for today’s finalist review, which comes courtesy of Round 2 judge Dahlia Adler. Dahlia is a YA/NA author, editor, and a blogger for B&N Teens. A while back, she posted a Goodreads review of YA Fiction finalist Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson: I love Renee Watson’s contemp YAs; I …
REVIEW: Bull
Our featured blog review for this Friday was written by Round 2 judge Rosemary Kiladitis, a children’s and YA librarian who blogs at Mom Read It. During this past year she looked at Poetry finalist Bull by David Elliott, a reimagining of the tale of Theseus and the Minotaur. According to Rosemary’s review: There are inevitable Hamilton comparisons to be …
REVIEW: Alice Paul and the Fight for Women’s Rights
Cybils veteran and Round 1 judge Louise Capizzo of The Nonfiction Detectives brings us our featured blog review of the day–she’s Youth Services Manager at a library in Maine and has served on a number of awards committees, including ours! One of her reviews looked at Senior High Nonfiction finalist Alice Paul and the Fight for Women’s Rights: From the …
REVIEW: Soupy Leaves Home
It’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day! For an excellent look at the history of King’s time period, check out the March graphic novel series by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and illustrated by Nate Powell. (March, Book 3 was one of our winners in last year’s contest.) The featured finalist review of the day also looks at a YA graphic novel: …
REVIEW: The Hate U Give
As we enter the Round 2 judging period, we have the opportunity to look at reviews of our fabulous finalist titles from throughout the previous year, and our first such review looks at Young Adult Fiction finalist The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. This widely buzzed title was reviewed by high school teacher William Polking at the group blog …
REVIEW: Wonder Woman: Warbringer
Today’s finalist review is one of six worthy competitors from the Young Adult Speculative Fiction category–Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo, author of the acclaimed Shadow and Bone trilogy. This novel brings readers a new story featuring the beloved DC character recently rebooted on the silver screen. Round 1 judge and YA author Tanita Davis reviewed it on Finding Wonderland …
REVIEW: Caraval
Our featured review for today comes from Round 1 judge for YA Speculative Fiction Rebecca J. Allen, a middle grade author in Connecticut who blogs at The Winged Pen. Back in January, she reviewed YASF nominee Caraval by Stephanie Garber: Scarlett must follow the clues in Legend’s game to find her sister, but winning won’t be easy. In Caraval, no …
REVIEW: A List of Cages
Today’s featured review looks at Young Adult Fiction nominee A List of Cages by Robin Roe. Round 1 judge Kim Baccellia, an author and longtime Cybils judge, reviewed this title for Young Adult Books Central and gave it a rave review: There’s so much to love about this novel which includes how powerful love and friendship are to those who …
REVIEW: Girl Rising: Changing the World One Girl at a Time
Today’s featured blog review comes from one of our Round 1 judges in Junior/Senior High Nonfiction, Anne Bennett. Anne is a school librarian, YA lit fan, and book club enthusiast who blogs at My Head is Full of Books. Last month, she looked at Senior High Nonfiction nominee Girl Rising: Changing the World One Girl at a Time by Tanya …