Cybils 2016: Middle Grade/Young Adult Non-Fiction Judges

Round 1 Jennie Rothschild Biblio File @kidsilkhaze   Karen Ball Mrs. B’s Favorites @batgirl_books   Kelly Jensen Stacked @veronikellymars   Jen Naughton Viking Academy @Viking_Academy   Julie Williams Reading By the Pond @JulieWilliams89   Round 2 Rebecca J. Allen The Winged Pen @RebeccaJ_Allen   Wendy Gassaway Falconer’s Library @WendyGassaway   Sussu Leclerc A Novel Without Further Ado @bookriders1   Thomas …

List Fun: Ghost Stories for All Ages

Whether or not you believe in ghosts, stories that feature these ethereal characters are a creepy delight for readers of all ages. These ten books, selected from past Cybils nominees/finalists/winners, highlight the best tales about ghosts. Some of the ghosts are friends, others are foes; some stories are pretty funny while others are downright terrifying. There’s something for every reader! …

Interview with Tamara Ireland Stone

First off, congrats! We adored Every Last Word. Can you tell us a bit about how you came up with the idea for the book?Thank you so much! What an honor to have been nominated in the YA fiction category this year—and in such impressive company. I’m incredibly grateful to the Cybils judges for reading and supporting Every Last Word. …

Interivew with Nova Ren Suma

First off, congrats! We loved The Walls Around Us. Can you tell us a bit about how you came up with the idea for the book?Thank you so much! I just want to say how incredibly honored I am that The Walls Around Us was chosen for a Cybil this year. Knowing these awards are selected by bloggers who read and support …

The 2015 Cybils WINNERS!

Happy Cybils Day! As always, we want to thank all our judges for their reading, discussing, and ultimately deciding on our fantastic winners. And to our organizers who rose to the challenge of wrangling said judges, making sure everything ran smoothly, on top of everything else that was going on in life. (Life, it does get in the way of …

REVIEW: Infandous

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. …