Young Adult Fiction finalist title Infandous by Elana K. Arnold takes center stage in today’s featured blog review, which comes courtesy of Kirkus Reviewer and inveterate Cybil-ite Leila Roy. Leila, who blogs at Bookshelves of Doom, was a Round 1 judge this year in YA Fiction, and back in the spring she posted about Infandous for Kirkus and gave it …
REVIEW: Mortal Heart (His Fair Assassin Trilogy)
Longtime Cybils veteran Sondra Eklund brings us our review today–she’s a Fiction Picture Books judge this year, but reads (and reviews) widely at her blog Sonderbooks. A while back, she reviewed YA Speculative Fiction finalist Mortal Heart (His Fair Assassin Trilogy #3) by Robin LaFevers. This trilogy about assassin nuns in medieval Brittany concluded with a bang, as Sondra notes …
REVIEW: Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad
Round 2 YA Nonfiction judge Adrienne Gillespie, of the blog Books and Bassets, brings us our featured review today: finalist title Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad by M.T. Anderson. This versatile author is already acclaimed for his YA fiction, and this nonfiction book (listed for the National Book Award) brings us …
REVIEW: All the Rage
It seems a little strange to be co-managing this blog and not mention at least one post from my own blog, right? Well, let’s remedy that, and move on with our lives. I share a blog with wonderful fellow YA author (and Cybils judge) Tanita Davis called Finding Wonderland, where we blog about writing stuff as well as reviewing mostly …
REVIEW: Honor Girl: A Graphic Memoir
Very rarely do we have cause or ability to reprint a blogger’s entire review of a title in our featured post…but today is one of those times. The book in question is YA Graphic Novels finalist Honor Girl: A Graphic Memoir by Maggie Thrash. The blogger in question is Emily Mitchell of Emily Reads, one of our Round 2 judges. …
REVIEW: Hilda Bewildered
Cool fact about Round 1 Book Apps judge Jill Goodman: as a faculty member at University of Central Florida Department of Education, she serves on the dissertation committees of students doing their theses on apps in early childhood education. She also reviews book apps at Participate Learning, which is where she reviewed Book Apps finalist Hilda Bewildered: “There are few …
REVIEW: Bone Gap
The featured blog review of the day is YA Speculative Fiction nominee Bone Gap by Laura Ruby, reviewed by Round 1 judge Maureen Eichner. Maureen is a library assistant in the Indianapolis area who blogs at By Singing Light, where she focuses on middle grade and YA books, especially sci-fi and fantasy. In her review of Bone Gap earlier this …
REVIEW: The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy
Happy Holidays from the Cybils! We hope everyone is able to find a bit of relaxation during the holidays and some time to enjoy a good book. To that end, today’s featured review is YA Nonfiction nominee The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy by Sam Maggs. It was reviewed earlier this year by Round 1 judge Jennifer Rothschild, who manages …
REVIEW: Everything, Everything
Our featured blog review of the day looks at YA Fiction nominee Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon. Earlier in the year, Round 1 YA Fiction judge Karen Jensen reviewed this book for her blog Teen Librarian Toolbox hosted at School Library Journal. Karen, a veteran Young Adult/Teen Services Librarian, gave this book a rave review: “This is a beautiful and …
REVIEW: Sanctuary
Our featured blogger today is Kim Baccellia, who is an author, blogger, and longtime Cybil-ite who reviews at YA Books Central as well as her own blog, Si, Se Puede. She loves reading sci-fi, dystopian, and fantasy for young readers, and she’s a Round 1 judge this year for YA Speculative Fiction. A few months ago she reviewed Sanctuary by …