Cybils

Cybils Bloggers Nominated for Edublog Awards!

Thanks to FPB Round I Judge Travis Jonker of 100 Scope Notes, today we found out that some of our very own panelist bloggers are part of the group of stellar nominees for the 2009 Edublog Awards, which honor the best education blogs on the web. The "Eddies" have been around for six years, which makes them more venerable than us spring chickens, so we're excited and just a teensy bit in awe.

Firstly, former category organizer and panelist and all-around friend to the Cybils, our own Betsy Bird, has been nominated in the category of Best Librarian/Library Blog for A Fuse #8 Production. W00t!

A Year of Reading has been nominated for Best Group Edublog--hooray for Franki Sibberson, one of our NFPB panelists this year, and Mary Lee Hahn, who's been a panelist multiple times in Graphic Novels, though not this year.

Two Writing Teachers, which features Stacey Shubitz (one of our Round II Poetry Judges), was nominated in the rather daunting category of Best Teacher Edublog. 

And, last but absolutely not least, another nominee for Best Group Blog is I.N.K. (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids), one of whose contributors is a veritable Cybils fixture and our category organizer this year for Poetry--Kelly Fineman (also of Writing and Ruminating).

What are you waiting for? Go check out the nominees and VOTE! Huge congratulations to all of our Cybils peeps who were nominated, and PLEASE feel free to let me know in the comments if I've missed anyone.

--Sarah Stevenson, blog editor

Young Adult Fiction Panel

Fiction for young adults is what these bloggers are all about--at least during the Cybils. Check out our panelists and judges for the YA fiction category.

Panel Organizer: Jackie Parker, Interactive Reader

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Sally Kruger, Reading Junky's Reading Roost
Jackie Parker (see panel organizer)
Tirzah Price, The Compulsive Reader
Leila Roy, Bookshelves of Doom
Amanda Snow, A Patchwork of Books
Sarah Wethern, YA Librarian Tales
Sarah Woodard, Sarah's Random Musings

Round II Judges:

Cathy Ensley, Words, World and Wings
Carrie Harris, The Wonder that is my Blog
Kelly Jensen, STACKED
Em King, Em's Bookshelf
Lee Wind, I'm Here. I'm Queer. What the Hell Do I Read?

Non-Fiction Picture Books Panel

Meet our panelists and judges for Non-Fiction Picture Books--a truly diverse crop of writers, readers, librarians and teachers poised to find this year's best in NFPB and information books.

Panel Organizer: Jone MacCulloch, Check It Out

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Bill and Karen, Literate Lives
Kara Dean, Not Just For Kids
Amanda Goldfuss, ACPL Mock Sibert
Jone Rush MacCulloch (see panel organizer)
Debbie Nance, Readerbuzz
Franki Sibberson, A Year of Reading
Carol Wilcox, Carol's Corner

Round II Judges:

J.L. Bell, Oz and Ends
Shirley Smith Duke, SimplyScience
Roberta Gibson, Wrapped in Foil
Emily Mitchell, Emily Reads
Carol Hampton Rasco, Rasco from RIF

Middle Grade Fiction Panel

Middle Grade Fiction is our spotlighted panel today, and the seven Round I Judges and five Round II Judges are coming from all over the blogosphere to read the best in fiction for readers ages eight to twelve.

Panel Organizer: Kerry Millar, Shelf Elf

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Sherry Early, Semicolon
Melissa Fox, Book Nut
Abby Johnson, Abby the Librarian
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)

Science Fiction and Fantasy Panel

This year we've got TWO sets of Round I Judges for SFF, because we get so many wonderful (and sometimes lengthy) nominations in this category. The great part is we get to involve even more enthusiastic bloggers in the process.

Panel Organizer: Sheila Ruth, Wands and Worlds

Panelists (Round I Judges), MG/Elementary:

Anamaria Anderson, bookstogether
Cindy Hannikman, Fantasy Book Critic
Brian Jung, Critique de Mr. Chompchomp
Eva Mitnick, Eva's Book Addiction
Charlotte Taylor, Charlotte's Library

Panelists (Round I Judges), Teen/YA:

Steve Berman, Guys Lit Wire
Gwenda Bond, Shaken & Stirred
Tanita S. Davis, Finding Wonderland
Nettle, The Muse, Amused
Sheila Ruth (see panel organizer)
Angie Thompson, Angieville
Samantha Wheat, Twisted Quill

Round II Judges:

Maureen Kearney, Confessions of a Bibliovore
Anne Levy, Cybils
Sam Musher, Parenthetical
Tarie Sabido, Into the Wardrobe
Tasha Saecker, Kidslit

Middle Grade/Young Adult Non-Fiction Panel

Non-Fiction for Middle Grade and Young Adult readers, or NFMG/YA for short, has an excellent panel of new folks, old folks, all great-to-have-them folks:

Panel Organizer: Susan Thomsen, Chicken Spaghetti

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Alicia Blowers, The LibrariYAn
Sarah Rettger, Archimedes Forgets
Jennie Rothschild, Biblio File
Jill Tullo, The Well-Read Child
Erin Walker, Erin Explores YA

Round II Judges:

Wendy Burton, Six Boxes of Books
Jennifer Donovan, 5 Minutes for Books
Dave Judge, Adventures at Wilder Farm (Author Lita Judge's blog)
Colleen Mondor, Chasing Ray
Lisa L. Owens, L.L. Owens-Children's Writing Blog

Fiction Picture Books Panel

Our Fiction Picture Books panelists are a truly diverse bunch, with a blend of familiar faces and new friends prepared to find you the best in writing and illustration for kids this year.

Panel Organizer: Pam Coughlan, MotherReader

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Shelly Burns, Write for a Reader
Pam Coughlan (see panel organizer)
Katie Harvey, Katie's Literature Lounge
Travis Jonker, 100 Scope Notes
Natasha Maw, Maw Books Blog

Round II Judges:

Amy, Big Brother is Reading
Andi (cloudscome), A Wrung Sponge
Lori Calabrese, Lori Calabrese Writes
Bethany Gatto, Your Friendly Neighborhood Librarian
Dawn Mooney, My Thoughts Exactly

The Poetry Panel

Whether you're the type of poetry fan who likes your verse free or metered, you'll find a lot to love in this category of the Cybils. Our enthusiasts and experts are ready to get to work to winnow out the best in poetry books for young readers.

Panel Organizer: Kelly Fineman, Writing and Ruminating

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Bruce Black, Wordswimmer
Kristy Dempsey, Reverie--Abstract Musings on a Hopeful Life
Kelly Fineman (see panel organizer)
Tricia Stohr-Hunt, The Miss Rumphius Effect
Sylvia Vardell, Poetry for Children

Judges (Round II):

Sara Lewis Holmes, Read Write Believe
Elaine Magliaro, Wild Rose Reader
Greg Pincus, GottaBook
Jama Rattigan, Alphabet Soup
Stacey Shubitz, Two Writing Teachers

Graphic Novels Panel

We've been working hard behind the scenes on the judging assignments, and we've put together an enthusiastic panel of fans and bloggers to read the best in graphic novels for both young adult and elementary/middle grade audiences.

Panel Organizer: Liz Jones, Liz Jones Books

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Alyssa Feller, The Shady Glade
Maggi Idzikowski, Mama Librarian
Liz Jones (see panel organizer)
Nicola Manning, Back to Books
Kim Rapier, Si, se puede! Yes we can
Gina Ruiz, AmoXcalli
Alysa Stewart, Everead

Judges (Round II):

Walter Biggins, The Quiet Bubble
Justin Colussy-Estes, Guys Lit Wire
Sarah Sammis, Puss Reboots
Sarah Stevenson, Finding Wonderland
Casey Titschinger, Bookworm 4 Life

Easy Readers and Short Chapter Books Panel

The Cybils panels are beginning to take shape with a fabulous cast of bloggers, both familiar faces and Cybils newbies. Today we're starting off with the Easy Readers and Short Chapter Books panel. Our Easy Readers category was brand new last year, and this year we've made a few refinements, including changing the name for the sake of clarity. For those who need a reminder, Easy Readers are those 6"x9" books designed specifically for children learning to read.

Panel Organizer: Anastasia Suen, 5 Great Books, Literacy Links

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Terry Doherty, Scrub-a-Dub-Tub, Share a Story - Shape a Future
Sarah R. Neal, In Need of Chocolate
Anastasia Suen (see panel organizer)
Jennifer Wharton, Jean Little Library, Check It Out
Melissa Young, Sweet On Books

Judges (Round II):

Heather Acerro, ACPL Kids, ACPL Mock Geisel
Amanda Blau, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Sharon Hrycewicz, Bend in the Road
Cynthia Lord, Cynthia Lord's Journal
Mary Ann Scheuer, Great Kid Books