2008 Cybils Finalists

Woo-Hoo! The shortlists for the Cybils - the Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Award - have just been announced. Each group of panelists was charged with selecting titles which had both literary quality as well as "kid appeal" for their list of finalists. These books will now be reviewed and discussed by a separate panel of judges who will decide on the year's winning Cybil book in each category. The winners will be announced on February 14, 2009.

As a member of the Middle Grade Fiction panel, I can tell you that we all took this task very seriously. It was great fun to read and discuss such a variety of books published in 2008. Unlike the Newbery Award, the Cybils are not limited to books by an American author, so there were even more options under consideration. Out of 129 books nominated, here are the five books that our panel selected for the Middle Grade shortlist:

• Shooting the Moon by Frances O'Roark Dowell
• Diamond Willow by Helen Frost
• Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things by Lenore Look
• Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass
• The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd
  

I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge and thank our category organizer and the group of Middle Grade Panelists who shared the responsibility of selecting the finalists for the Middle Grade category. You might want to check out their blogs to learn more about the books they've enjoyed this year:

• Kerry/Shelf Elf
  
• Melissa/Book Nut
• Sherry/Semicolon
• Alysa/Everead
• Kim/Si, se puede! Yes we can
• Sarah/The Reading Zone
• Matt/The Book Club Shelf.

Even though we didn't always agree, it was great fun working with a group of people who are passionate about children's literature and putting books into the hands of kids. Thanks for the opportunity!