Happy Cybils Round 2 and Happy 2017, everybody! If you haven’t had a chance to check out our finalists announcement, go have a look. From this point forward, we’ll be featuring reviews of finalist titles (and, to avoid any conflicts, the reviews were all written prior to the announcement of the shortlists). Today’s featured review looks at Young Adult Nonfiction …
REVIEW: Highly Illogical Behavior
Happy Monday! Today’s featured review is a nominee from the YA Fiction category: Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley. Earlier this year, Round 1 judge William Polking (a high school teacher and coach) reviewed the book for Guys Lit Wire, a group blog devoted to highlighting great books for guys and the people who love them. According to William: …
REVIEW: The Girl from Everywhere
Our featured blog review for today comes from Cybils regular Katy Manck of the blog BooksYALove. Katy is a librarian-at-large (how cool is that?) and a Round 2 judge this year in Middle Grade/YA Nonfiction. She also reads a wide range of other YA books, such as YA Speculative Fiction nominee The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig. Here’s how …
REVIEW: Lucky Penny
Today’s featured blog review comes from venerable comics blog No Flying No Tights, courtesy of Round 1 Graphic Novels judge Amy Estersohn, who is a seventh-grade English teacher by day. Recently, she reviewed YA Graphic Novels nominee Lucky Penny by Ananth Hirsh and Yuko Ota, a story about a very unlucky young woman. About the book, Amy said: “This book’s …
REVIEW: Afterward: A Novel
Round 1 YA Fiction judge Jenni Frencham is a Goodreads librarian as well as a real-life librarian–specifically, she’s Youth Services Director at a rural public library. She reviewed today’s title, YA fiction nominee Afterward by Jennifer Mathieu, on her Goodreads account earlier this year. This suspenseful novel about recovery from trauma, living with a disability, and healing through friendship earned …
REVIEW: This Land is Our Land
Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving (Happy Turkey Day, everyone!), it seems like a good time to post a review of a Nonfiction YA nominee that looks at our American history, in appreciation of the multitudes who came before us and have contributed invaluably to where we are now. That nominee is This Land Is Our Land: A History of American Immigration …
REVIEW: Salt to the Sea
Today’s featured review is from Round 1 YA Fiction panelist Kelly Hager, an avid reader from Baltimore who blogs at KellyVision (tagline: “That’s what she read.”). Earlier this year, she read and reviewed YA Fiction nominee Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys, author of Between Shades of Gray. This novel, also set in WWII, got a thumbs up from …
REVIEW: Dark Energy
I am proud to note that today’s featured review comes from my co-blogger over at Finding Wonderland, YA author Tanita S. Davis, who is a Cybils veteran and Round 1 YASF panelist. Just last week she reviewed YA Speculative Fiction nominee Dark Energy by Robison Wells, which sounds like an intriguing sci-fi adventure with aliens and a biracial main character: …
REVIEW: White Sand, Vol. 1
Happy Halloween! In between pumpkin carving and candy eating and other festive behavior, why not check out today’s featured review? It’s from Round 1 Graphic Novels judge Alexandra Cenni, aka Lexie, who is one half of the blogging team at For the Sake of Reading. Her favorite genre is fantasy, and one of her recent reads from earlier this year …
Cybils 2016: YA Fiction Judges
Round 1Kim BacciellaSi, Se Puede@ixtumea Jenni FrenchamFrom the Biblio Files @jennifrencham Rose GarrettThe Spirited Librarian@roseinglis Kelly HagerKellyVision@khager Jennifer HubbsLost in a Great Book@lostingreatbook William PolkingGuys Lit Wire@polking Melissa WileyHere in the Bonny Glen@melissawiley Round 2Stormy Campbell Book.Blog.Bake.@stormydawnc Jessica HollandTales Between the Pages@JessicaTBTP Maureen KearneyConfessions of a Bibliovore@mosylu Amanda MacGregorTeen Librarian Toolbox@CiteSomething Laura ShovanLaura Shovan@LauraShovan