Ring in the New Year with the Cybils!

Happy New Year! And Happy Cybils Shortlist Day!!

Go forth and check out the fabulous Cybils shortlists!!!

Nominate books for the Cybils!

THERE'S STILL TIME! DON'T LET THESE BOOKS GO UN-NOMINATED!!

Listen, folks, a book CAN'T WIN if it's NOT NOMINATED. Here are some awesome books and big releases that are eligible and have not been nominated yet (as of this posting). Please consider nominating one of them (or one from each category)! Remember, ANYONE can nominate one title in each judging category. You don't have to be a blogger! Click here for the nomination form!

YA Fiction


Deadly by Julie Chibbaro (Feb. 2011)
Taking Off by Jenny Moss (Jan. 2011)
The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen (Jan. 2011)
Vixen by Jillian Larkin (Dec. 2010)

Fantasy/Science Fiction


Hero by Mike Lupica (Nov. 2010)
Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini (May 2011)
Sweetly by Jackson Pearce (Aug. 2011)
The Magnolia League by Katie Crouch (May 2011)

Middle Grade Fiction


Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth by Jeff Kinney (Nov. 2010)
Pie by Sarah Weeks (Oct. 2011)
Sweet Treats & Secret Crushes by Lisa Greenwald (Jan. 2011)

Fiction Picture Books


M.O.M. (Mom Operating Manual) by Doreen Cronin (Oct. 2011)
The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse by Eric Carle (Oct. 2011)

And be sure to check out these lists of nomination-worthy titles from other bloggers! Don't let your nom go to waste! Make sure you get your nominations in by October 15!!

Time to nominate your favorites for the Cybils awards!

Yes, that's right! Cybils nominations are officially open! The Cybils are the Children's & YA Blogger Literary Awards and ANYONE can nominate one title in each of the following categories: 

• Book Apps
• Easy Readers/Short Chapter Books
• Fantasy & Science Fiction
• Fiction Picture Books
• Graphic Novels
• Middle Grade Fiction
• Non-Fiction Picture Books
• Non-Fiction: Middle Grade & Young Adult
• Poetry
• Young Adult Fiction

So, what are you waiting for? Keep in mind the updated eligibility rules and go forth & nominate!

Happy Cybils Day!

I knew there was something special about today.  Love is in the air... Love for GREAT KIDS' BOOKS, that is!  The winners of the 2010 Children's & Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards were announced this morning!!

Congratulations to all the authors and illustrated who were recognized!  We had a fabulous field of nominees this year and it couldn't have been an easy decision in any category.

Note:  If you are going to purchase any of the Cybils winners or nominees, I urge you to click through to the Cybils site above and use their links to Amazon (unless you are patronizing your local indie!) so the Cybils will receive their small commission!  Funding like that makes it possible for the awards to happen!

The Cybils Are Here! The Cybils Are Here!

At least the short lists are.
Go check 'em out!

A Cybils Announcement for Nonfiction Monday!

Very fitting that on this Nonfiction Monday (now that I am back in town after my lovely weekend in Chicago), I get to announce to you that I'm serving as a nominating panelist for the Non-Fiction Picture Book category of the 2010 Cybils Awards!!  I'm working with a fabulous group of bloggers, as you can see: 

Panel Organizer: Jone MacCulloch, Check It Out

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Doret Canton, Happy Nappy Bookseller
Shirley Duke, Simply Science
Amanda Goldfuss, ACPL Mock Sibert
Abby Johnson, Abby (the) Librarian
Jone MacCulloch (see category organizer)
Karen Terlecky, Literate Lives
Carol Wilcox, Carol's Corner

Judges (Round II):

Kara Dean, Not Just for Kids
Roberta Gibson, Wrapped in Foil
Deb Nance, Readerbuzz
Carol Rasco, Rasco from RIF
Franki Sibberson, A Year of Reading

I am super excited about participating in the Cybils again this year!  Don't forget that nominations for the 2010 Cybils Awards will open on October 1.  Anyone can nominate one title per category (titles must have been published October 16, 2009 - October 15, 2010).  Yes, anyone!  You don't have to be a blogger or a certain age or a resident of the United States!  (Books must be published in English, though.) 

So start thinking about your favorite books of the year and get those nominations ready to go! 

Happy Cybils Award Announcement Day!

Yes, the winners of the 2009 Cybils Award were announced today and it is a fantastic list. Congratulations to all the winners!

Your Post-Cybils Middle Grade Reading List

Cybils time is an intense time, I know. For the past three months, you've been reading nothing but what's nominated in your category. Well, now the Cybils shortlists have been posted and you can relax and possibly pick up, say, a Middle Grade Fiction title. Of course, you should check out the shortlist we came up with - seven absolutely fabulous books - but it's no easy task to narrow the 100+ nominees down to a handful. So I'd like to highlight a few more middle-grade books for your post-Cybils TBR lists.

Also Known as Harper by Ann Haywood Leal. Harper Lee Morgan loves words. It's a love she inherited from her mama, a lady so in love with To Kill a Mockingbird that she's read it at least 36 times and named her firstborn child after its author. Yes, Harper loves words, and she's certain that she's going to win her school's poetry contest. The only problem is that she and her mama and her little brother Hemingway have been evicted from their house, so getting to school has become a problem. But Harper's determined to get to school for the poetry reading, just as determined as she is to rid herself of any memory of her whiskey-soaked daddy who told her that her words weren't worth anything.
 
Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking, and Other Natural Disasters by Lenore Look. Alvin Ho is back and this time he's facing something even scarier than school: camping. Do you know what could happen to you when you're camping? You could be attacked by bears! You could get lost in the woods! There could be a tornado or an earthquake or a flood! So Alvin had better be prepared...

Bobby Versus Girls (Accidentally) by Lisa Yee. Bobby Ellis-Chan and Holly Harper have been secret best friends since they were little kids. Why secret best friends? Because at their school, boys and girls do NOT hang out together. It's never been a problem for them, but lately Holly's been acting weird. She's been acting like... well, like a girl. And it's kind of driving Bobby crazy. Still, he never meant to start a battle of the sexes... it just kind of happened. And now Bobby's got to figure out how to make it right.

Dani Noir by Nova Ren Suma. Although Dani's dealing with situations that have been done (divorce, changes in friendship, etc.), it all feels fresh because Dani's seeing it through this film noir lens and comparing her own life to the movies she loves. It puts a fresh spin on things and adds a lot to the story. It made me want to watch all of Dani's favorite movies, too.
 

The Girl Who Threw Butterflies by Mick Cochrane. I wasn't expecting the magic of the writing. Yes, the book is slim, but the writing demands that you slow down and savor it. I was intrigued by the plot and interested in the characters, but it was the writing they kept surprising me (in a good way).

The Kind of Friends We Used to Be by Frances O'Roark Dowell. Kate and Marylin had been best friends since preschool until they had a falling out last year in sixth grade. Now Marylin's a middle school cheerleader and Kate is writing songs to play on her guitar. The two of them are in a strange place, not enemies but not all-the-time friends either. As they navigate the strange waters of seventh grade, both girls will start the arduous process of figuring out her place in the world.

Neil Armstrong is My Uncle and Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me by Nan Marino. It's the summer of 1969 and the whole world is waiting to watch Neil Armstrong take the first steps on the moon. Tamara is gritting her teeth and dealing with Douglas "Muscle Man" McGinty, the wimpy new foster kid who's replaced Tamara's best friend Kebsie down the street. He thinks he's so great, but Tamara can see straight through his lies. He's not training for the Olympics. And Neil Armstrong is not his uncle, no matter what the wormy kid says. Why can't Muscle Man go away and send...more It's the summer of 1969 and the whole world is waiting to watch Neil Armstrong take the first steps on the moon. Tamara is gritting her teeth and dealing with Douglas "Muscle Man" McGinty, the wimpy new foster kid who's replaced Tamara's best friend Kebsie down the street. He thinks he's so great, but Tamara can see straight through his lies. He's not training for the Olympics. And Neil Armstrong is not his uncle, no matter what the wormy kid says. Why can't Muscle Man go away and send Kebsie back? Why can't everything go back to the way it was before?

The Year of the Bomb by Ronald Kidd. This is one of my favorite historical periods to read about and Ronald Kidd really brought it to life. Gone was the cohesion and can-do attitude of early 1940s America. Suddenly there was this bomb, this terrible weapon unleashed on the world, and no one was sure what was going to happen. The paranoia of the time is evident throughout the book.

Cybils shortlist!

Oh, yeah. Not only is it New Year's Day, but it's Cybils Shortlist Day! We've been working hard on your Middle Grade Fiction Shortlist, so I hope you enjoy! And, of course, check out the rest of the 2009 Cybils shortlists. These books combine literary merit with kid appeal, so they make a great resource for readers' advisory.

Captain Nobody
by Dean Pitchford
Putnam Juvenile
Nominated by: Dawn Mooney

Even though he's smart and capable, Newt is the neglected younger brother of a high school football star, mostly content with sliding through the cracks of life.  Then a couple of events--his older brother ends up in a coma the night of the Big Game and Newt is forced to improvise a Halloween costume--coincide to spur the creation of a new superhero: Captain Nobody. Newt finds that he feels different when in his costume: stronger, more outgoing, more able to handle...well, everything (within reason, of course) that's thrown his way. Hilarious, fun, and completely charming, this is one superhero that the world can't do without.
--Melissa Fox
 
Chains
by Laurie Halse Anderson
Simon & Schuster
Nominated by: melissa
Anderson has taken the historical facts of the American Revolution and given us a new perspective. Chains is told through the eyes of Isabel, a slave girl. Sold after her master dies, Isabel is thrust into the middle of the war where both sides claim they want what is best for her. She passes along messages to the Loyalists only to learn that the only one she can trust to help her gain her freedom is herself. Anderson has presented a story that with the proper foundation can be read, enjoyed and understood by the youngest to the oldest middle-grade student. War is always a tough topic but the details were intricately woven into Isabel's life.  It can be read as a stand-alone book and yet Anderson has left it open enough for a sequel.
--Sandra Stiles, Musings of a Book Addict

Anything But Typical
by Nora Raleigh Baskin
Simon & Schuster
Nominated by: Pam W Coughlan
There is much to love in Nora Raleigh Baskin's Anything But Typical. The writing--in particular the narrative voice--feels so genuine: vulnerable and heartfelt; simple yet beautiful. Almost poetic. The book stars Jason Blake, an autistic hero, who loves to write stories and participate in online forums.  When his parents surprise him with a trip to the Storyboard writing convention, you might think he'd be happy instead of terrified.  But for Jason the thought of meeting his online friend, PhoenixBird, in real life causes nothing but anxiety.  Everyone has moments of insecurity and doubt, and to see these reflected so honestly in Jason feels more than right.
--Becky Laney


Heart of a Shepherd
by Rosanne Parry
Random House Children's Books
Nominated by: jone
Twelve-year-old Ignatius Alderman discovers the "heart of a shepherd" as he helps his grandparents take care of the family ranch when his father is deployed to Iraq. Nicknamed "Brother," Ignatius is the youngest of five brothers, named for St. Ignatius, and searching for his own gifts, talents and career path. He's not sure that ranching or military service, the two traditions that dominate his family, are truly his gifts.  And although he learns to live up to his responsibilities, it will take a major crisis for Brother to find his own right road to maturity.

The book is rather quiet, the pacing slow and deliberate, like Brother himself. Even when the crisis comes, it sneaks up on the reader rather than announcing itself with trumpets.  In addition to its coming-of-age theme, Heart of a Shepherd also has lots of little details about ranching life and rural Oregon and the life of a soldier in Iraq and even about chess.  These will capture the young reader who's interested in any of those subjects and make him pay attention to the larger themes in the book.  This debut novel by author Roseanne Parry is a treat to be savored.
--Sherry Early


All The Broken Pieces
by Ann Burg
Scholastic
Nominated by: Laurie Schneider
Matt Pin is haunted by his memories of Vietnam. He was born a bui doi, the dust of life -- son of an American GI and Vietnamese mother during the Vietnam War.  He was airlifted out of Vietnam at ten years old, leaving behind his mother and brother.  Through the course of this verse novel, Matt is forced to come to terms with his with his horrifying past and his American present. 

The spare, poetic format of the story allows the reader to feel like they have entered Matt's head and heart. All the Broken Pieces is a gorgeous novel that captures the emotional and physical rubble left in the aftermath of a war. The free verse is incredibly well-written and not a single word is used when it isn't necessary.  This powerful novel will satisfy even the most anti-poetry readers but many of the verses will remain in the heart and mind of the reader for days afterward.
--Sarah Mulhern


Operation Yes
by Sara Lewis Holmes
Arthur A Levine
Nominated by: Laura Purdie Salas
Operation Yes is a story that revolves around cousins Bo and Gari. Bo's father is in charge of a military base in the south and Gariâ's mother is deployed to Afghanistan; so Gari must relocate from Seattle to live with her cousin.  They are both in the same sixth grade class and their teacher teaches in a box about the importance of life outside the box.  What makes this story a standout is how kids can overcome tough times and show adults what they are capable of when they work together.
--Kyle Kimmal
 
Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis, The
by Barbara O'Connor
Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Nominated by: Augusta Scattergood
Popeye is dreading the boring summer that stretches out before him...until Elvis arrives in a broken-down motor home and the two boys start exploring the back woods, investigating the mysterious Yoo-Hoo boats that come floating down the creek.  Barbara O'Connor's book manages to be laugh-out-loud funny and still deal with more serious subject matter without veering into Depressing.  This is a rather quiet book for anyone who's been bored and dreams of having small adventures.
--Abby Johnson

Cybils! *squee!*

Yup, I'm happy to announce that I'll be serving on the Middle Grade Fiction nominating panel for the 2009 Cybils Awards!

I'm working with a great group of bloggers, some of whom I'm familiar with and some of whom I'm not (yet!). Check 'em out:

Panel Organizer: Kerry Millar, Shelf Elf

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Sherry Early, Semicolon
Melissa Fox, Book Nut
Abby Johnson, Abby the Librarian (me!!!)
Kyle Kimmal, The Boy Reader
Becky Laney, Becky's Book Reviews
Sarah Mulhern, The Reading Zone
Sandra Stiles, Musings of a Book Addict

Round II Judges:

Kimberly Baker, Wagging Tales
Stacy Dillon, Welcome to my Tweendom
Monica Edinger, Educating Alice
David Elzey, Excelsior File
Kerry Millar (see panel organizer)

There were lots of great middle grade novels published this year, so make sure you nominate your favorite!

And say you're on a Cybils panel for the first time. You might be wondering just what you've gotten yourself into. Last year I was on the YA Fiction panel, so I have a few tips for Cybils newbies:

1. Start reading now. Yes, I know the final nomination lists won't be out until mid-October, but you will appreciate it later if you start reading right now. You probably have some idea of the titles in your category that have been getting buzz, so seek them out and get started!

2. Yes, you will get free review copies of some books, but you may not receive review copies of all the books. Last year we got most of them, but not all, and the economy will have an even bigger impact this year. Use your local library and see if they will ILL or purchase the titles they don't own.

3. Start reviewing those titles that you read and start sharing your thoughts with others on your panel. Letting others know which titles are your favorites will help all of you pick which titles you should prioritize. In categories with large numbers of nominations (YA Fiction, MG Fiction, and Fantasy/Sci-Fi, I'm lookin' at you), this will be really helpful.

4. Make notes as you read, particularly the books you want to recommend for the short list (or books you really don't think should be on the short list). When your group gets together to hash out the list, it's so helpful to have your reasoning thought out and written down. It makes it much easier to make a case for a particular favorite or explain why someone else's favorite isn't short-list-worthy. That said, there will be compromises. Not all the books on last year's YA fiction short list were my very favorites, but I can honestly say that they each had a case built for them. Remember that it's a group effort!

5. Being on a Cybils nominating panel is A LOT OF WORK. But it's fun work and worthwhile. The short lists you come up with will be tools for parents, kids, librarians, and teachers looking for great books. They kind of go down in history. And you'll get to know a great group of bloggers, which only strengthens the community and your place in it. (Okay, that was not a tip, but I just want you to be prepared!)

If you're a Cybils judge this year, best of luck! If you volunteered and were not selected, don't lose heart. The Cybils organizers have a huge job in fitting bloggers into panels. Keep reading, keep blogging, and maybe there will be a place for you next year. And don't forget to nominate your favorite books of 2009!

Cybils nominations are open!

And the new form is snazzy and awesome!

Go forth and nominate!

Last year my strategy was to swoop in there right away and be the first to nominate the popular awesome books we all love. This year my strategy is to wait and then nominate some of the books that have fallen through the cracks. So I can make sure all my favorites get on the list.

Although I did already nominate one. :)

Cybils winners announced!

Head on over to the Cybils website to see the 2009 winners! It's a great list of books, so thanks to all the judges for their hard work! All of the finalists were fantastic, so I know it was a lot of hard work. :)

(And finally The Hunger Games got some recognition! Woohoo!)

Congratulations to all the winners!!

Post-Cybils, uh, post

So, the shortlists have been posted! I hope y'all enjoy the books on the YA Fiction shortlist and I wish the best of luck to the next round of judges who have a hard task in front of them. Each of these books is excellent.

The YA Fiction nominating panel was made up of a fantastic group of bloggers. Hard-working, even when balancing personal commitments and upheaval, all six of my fellow panelists are just awesome.

Of course, there were some compromises made. Put seven bloggers in a chat room and ask them what their favorite book of the year was and, chances are, you'll get seven different answers. I think our list is fantastic, but there are a few other books that I'd like to give honorable mention to. I think these books are worthy of buzz and I hope you'll pick up the ones that sound interesting to you.

The Last Exit to Normal by Michael Harmon is a funny, touching book about a boy who moves to a small town in Montana with his dad and his dad's husband. Life for gay fathers and their son in a small town isn't exactly what Ben expects and as he gets acclimated he deals with the residual anger he's been feeling towards his father. I thought Ben was a very realistic protagonist and I appreciated the fact that his problems with his dad didn't magically disappear overnight. They had to work at their relationship. And Ben's spunky grandmother is one of the best supporting characters I've read in a long time.

The Squad: Perfect Cover by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is about cheerleading spies. C'mon. That should be enough to make you want to pick it up. If it's not, consider the fact that it's unputdownable and smartly funny.

How to Build a House by Dana Reinhardt is a thoughtful novel about a girl traveling across the country to find something she doesn't know she's looking for. As she builds houses for tornado victims, she'll rebuild her own self-confidence.

Good Enough by Paula Yoo made me laugh and laugh. Patti Yoon is a goal-oriented high school senior... until she meets dreamy musician Ben and her priorities start to change. Filled with heart and laugh-out-loud funny, this is the perfect book to cheer you up when you're having a bad day. (Or to read in general on any day.)

Girl, Hero by Carrie Jones is a little atypical, but it's a story that really stuck with me. Liliana has a lot of problems she she de-stresses by writing letters to John Wayne. Yeah, John Wayne the dead actor to whom she is in no way related. She sees him as the perfect father figure, a guy who's not afraid to step up and defend the little guy. And as the story progresses, Liliana will figure out how to step up and be her own hero. The story's told through Liliana's letters and maybe not everyone will dig that. But for those who do, you'll find a true and brave protagonist in Liliana.

Looks by Madeleine George is told in a cinematic style that makes it seem like the story is unfolding before your very eyes. Two very different girls will come together to get revenge on the girl who hurt them both. The writing is gorgeous and I was totally engrossed in this book.

This was my first time serving on a Cybils committee and, although it was definitely a lot of work, it was so, so fun and definitely rewarding.

Cybils finalists!!!

First of all, Happy New Year!! I have high hopes that 2009 is going to be an awesome year!

And seeing the announcement of the Cybils finalists is a great way to kick off the year!! I'm so proud of our YA fiction shortlist. I hope you like it.

I'm really happy to see Savvy on the MG fantasy list and A Curse Dark as Gold, Graceling, and The Hunger Games on the YA fantasy list (I haven't read The Explosionist, Airman, or Wake, but I've heard great things and that is looking to be one heck of a shortlist!!).

Rapunzel's Revenge made it onto the MG graphic novel list (woo!). And I love the shortlist for MG Fiction. I loved Alvin Ho and Every Soul a Star (my review for this is coming soon!). The London Eye Mystery has been highly recommended to me by some of my colleagues and I'm also looking forward to checking out Diamond Willow.

Thanks to all the panelists who put in a LOT of hard work to eke out these shortlists. I look forward to reading the books I haven't yet read and I'm excited to see what the next round of judges will think! The winners will be announced on February 14.

What I've been doing since October

Voila Cybils nominees... plus at least a dozen library books. I haven't read every book on this table, but I've read at least half of them.

Whew!

New widget and NaNoWriMo update

If you're reading this in a reader, you might want to click through to my actual site so you can admire the shiny new Cybils nominees widget. Mine rotates through all our fantastic YA Fiction nominees (so you can sympathize with me when I tell you that we have a Very Hard Job ahead of us to narrow this list down to 5-7... oy!). Like what you see? You can get one of your very own! Choose the categories you want to show and customize the colors to compliment your site. Very, very cool.

And my novel is coming along, slowly but surely. I know that there are some authors out there who object to the idea of NaNoWriMo, an attempt to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. I can see their point. After all, they work hard for months and months (or years and years) to perfect their manuscripts and I can see how it might be offensive to them that thousands of people call themselves "authors" and "novelists" after a 30-day writing frenzy.

For me, though, it's just fun. I don't intend to become a writer (although I guess I would never say never). And I don't typically brag about the fact that I'm working on my fifth novel (because then people might want to read my novels and, well, all of my novels are... very not good). NaNoWriMo is an outlet for me to be creative with a support group of thousands of other people who are also being creative. It's an excuse to let go and to write something that I know is bad and to not care that it's bad.

I have been finding this year's novel hard going. Um, in fact, I hate this year's novel. But yesterday I gave my main characters X-men-like super powers and I think I'm starting to like it a bit more. I passed the halfway mark this weekend and I'm up to 27,469. And I hope that the second 25k is going to be much easier and more fun than the first 25k.

Here's hoping, anyway...

Around the interwebs

Okay, okay, everyone has already ooh-ed and aah-ed over the list of National Book Award Finalists in Young People's Literature:

Laurie Halse Anderson, Chains (Simon & Schuster)
Kathi Appelt, The Underneath (Atheneum)
Judy Blundell, What I Saw and How I Lied (Scholastic)
E. Lockhart, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (Hyperion)
Tim Tharp, The Spectacular Now (Alfred A. Knopf)

Of these five, I've read (and loved) three. And I'll certainly be getting my hands on What I Saw and How I Lied and The Spectacular Now at my earliest opportunity.

I found out via Jocelyn that ALA has announced the Teens' Top Ten List:

1. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
4. Vampire Academy by Rachel Mead
5. Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson
6. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
7. The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
8. Extras by Scott Westerfeld
9. Before I Die by Jenny Downham
10. Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

No surprises there and I'm particularly happy to see Before I Die on that list, as that was one of my favorites of last year.

Speaking of spectacular booklists, the lists of the Cybils nominees are up! There are 136 nominees in the YA Fiction category, so I'll be a busy little librarian for the next couple of months! Certainly the Cybils shortlists will be excellent resources for book recommendations, but there's something to be said for the nominee lists as well. Although some of them won't be your cup of tea, it's a great starting place if you need to, say, come up with some middle grade novels or picture book nonfiction books for booktalks.

And speaking of booktalks, The YA YA YAs have a post up about booktalking tips that you'll want to check out. I'll heartily second Trisha's advice to find your own style (there's not one way to deliver a perfect booktalk... do what works for you and what you are comfortable with) and Gayle's advice to practice, practice, practice! From my own bag of tricks, I'll add that what I try to do with booktalks is to find the hook... When you started reading the book, what made you keep reading it? What made it interesting to you? What built suspense?

Lastly, I want to report that the ALSC blog will have a new feature starting in November: "Things I Didn't Learn in Library School..." ALSC bloggers will post about things they've learned since being on the job and anyone is welcome to submit anecdotes (head over to their post to share). It's certain to be useful and probably amusing, so I'll be on the lookout for those posts.

Get your nominations in!

Remember, tomorrow's the last day to get in your nominations for the Cybils! Don't know what to nominate? Check out the What's Missing? post to see what awesome books haven't yet been nominated. You might find a favorite you'd forgotten about!

(Can I just say that I can't believe the nomination period is almost over? It seems like they just opened yesterday...)

I know I speak for my fellow panelists when I say we're super excited to get the final list of nominees and start reading and discussing!

Cybils Nominations Now Open!!

From Jen Robinson's Book Page:

Nominations for the third annual Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards (the Cybils) will be open Wednesday, October 1st through Wednesday, October 15th. The goal of the Cybils team (some 100 bloggers) is to highlight books that are high in both literary quality and kid appeal. The Cybils were founded by Anne Boles Levy and Kelly Herold.

The Cybils lists, from long lists to short lists to the lists of winners, offer a wonderful resource to anyone looking for high-quality, kid-friendly books. The Cybils team has worked hard to balance democracy (anyone can nominate titles) with quality control (two rounds of panel judging by people who focus on children's books every day). We do this work because we consider it vital to get great books into the hands of children and young adults.

How Can You Participate?

We think that the Cybils nominations will be of interest to parents, teachers, librarians, writers, and teens. If you have a blog or an email list or belong to a newsgroup that serves one of these populations, and you feel that your readers would be interested, please consider distributing this announcement (you are welcome to copy it). The Cybils team would very much appreciate your help in spreading the word. And if you, or the children that you know, have any titles to suggest, we would love to see your nominations at the Cybils blog, starting on Wednesday.

This year, awards will be given in nine categories (Easy Readers, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Fiction Picture Books, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade Novels, Non-Fiction Middle Grade/Young Adult Books, Non-Fiction Picture Books, Poetry, Young Adult Novels). Anyone can nominate books in these categories (one nomination per person per category). Nominated titles must be published between January 1st and October 15th of this year, and the books must be in English (or bilingual, where one of the languages is English). To nominate titles, visit the Cybils blog between October 1st and 15th. A separate post will be available for each category - simply nominate by commenting on those individual posts. If you are not sure which category to choose for a particular book, a questions thread will also be available.

Between October 16th and January 1st, Cybils panelists (children's and young adult bloggers) will winnow the nominations down to a 5-7 book short list for each category. A second set of panelists will then select the winning titles for the different categories. The winners will be announced on February 14th, 2009.

Thanks for your help, and stay tuned for further news!

Jen Robinson
Literacy Evangelist for the 2008 Cybils

Color me excited!

I got the news today that I'm on the YA Fiction panel for the Cybils this year! Wooohooo! Not only am I so excited about participating, I'm also super excited about working with such an awesome crew of bloggers:

Organizer Jackie Parker from Interactive Reader

Panelists:

Leila Roy from bookshelves of doom
Becky Laney from Becky's Book Reviews
Amanda Snow from A Patchwork of Books
Trisha Murakami from The YA YA YAs
Kate Fall from Author2Author
Jocelyn Pearce from Teen Book Review

And judges:

Jackie Parker from Interactive Reader
Sarah Stevenson from Finding Wonderland & Readers' Rants
Little Willow from Bildungsroman
Lili Wilkinson from Inside a Dog
Casey Titschinger from Avid Teen Reader

I'm so looking forward to working with everyone!

Remember, nominations for the Cybils open on October 1! Read an awesome book published between Jan. 1, 2008 and Oct. 15, 2008? Anyone can nominate a book (authors, publishers, teachers, development assistants, bloggers, non-bloggers, librarians, law students, construction workers, kids, marketing gurus at sign-making companies... anyone!). So get on over there sometime between October 1 and October 15 and make your voice heard!

And (completely unrelated) as if the Cybils news wasn't enough to make me positively giddy, I got a box of books from Houghton Mifflin today!

Today = best day ever!