All about the Cybils 2021
Happy New Year! Today the 2021 Cybils (Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers Literary Awards) finalists are announced. It’s been a little while since I blogged about the Cybils, so here’s a quick recap of how the awards work:
- Anyone can nominate one book per category
- Round 1 judges create a shortlist of 5-7 titles per category
- Round 2 judges select a winner
- Judges comes from online book communities
- The awards celebrate works that combine both the highest literary merit and popular appeal in literature for children and teens
When the call for judges came in September 2021, I had no intention of applying. I’ve been a judge a few times in the past and want to give room to new voices. Plus, I had barely read middle grade in 2021. But when the deadline to apply was extended and folks were encouraged to apply regardless of how they felt about their 2021 reading habits, I decided to put my name in.
So! With a fresh year ahead of us, I’m excited to kick into gear in my role as a round two judge in the middle grade speculative fiction category. Mark @ Say What?, Stacy @ It’s All About the Journey, Jen @ The Bookish Society, Aeicha @ Word Spelunking, and myself will deliberate to decide which of the following finalists will be named the category winner.
Middle Grade Speculative Fiction Finalists
- Amari and the Night Brothers (Supernatural Investigations #1) by B.B. Alston
- Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls (Cece Rios #1) by Kaela Rivera
- Kiki Kallira Breaks a Kingdom by Sangu Mandanna
- The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera
- Ophie’s Ghosts by Justina Ireland
- Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff
- The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy by Anne Ursu
You can read more about each book in blurbs written by the round one judges on the Cybils website. Winners will be announced on February 14. There are 9 other categories (including picture and board books, young adult fiction, elementary and middle grade non-fiction, graphic novels, and poetry) so be sure to check those out too.
Oooh, I didn’t know the judges for Cybils were from the book community – how fun!
Yes, anyone who posts about books online (blog, youtube, instagram, goodreads, etc) can apply to be a judge! Keep an eye out for applications in September 👀
So many beautiful covers! Maybe I’ll need to make a Cybils TBR as I’ve got a couple of these on my TBR already
I think that would be a great idea 😀