Cybil Challenge

7 Cybil Picture Books

2016, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Cybil Challenge, Favorites /

I reserved these with the intention of reading at least some of them to JMP and SquishyFace when they were here and… I didn’t read them a single book. Not one. Gasp. What is the world coming too? Boo!

Oh well, some of them were really really great and they were all good.

My favorites:

Mango, Abuela, and Me – loved it. Such a great story. I’ll read this to the boys, some day.
Last Stop on Market Street – perfection.
Sidwalk Flowers – awwwww. How cute was that?

Really liked these:

Blizzard – though I wouldn’t want to give JMP any ideas about heading out for food after a blizzard, lol.
Bug in a Vacuum – hah. Totally amusing.
In a Village By the Sea – I loved the illustrations.

Good ones:

Hoot Owl, Master of Disguise – loved the illustrations, the story not quite as much.

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2 Cybils Non-Fiction

2016, Books in Bed, Cybil Challenge, Don't Read This, Favorites, Non-Fiction, Young Adult /

There was a time when I never quit a Cybils book but this year, I’ve quit two. The most recent, Symphony for the City of the Dead was… I just couldn’t read it. I tried, I really did. TW read the whole thing, and I give her props for that. I cannot imagine any kid reading this who didn’t have to. (Unless he/she had some great fondness for Russian history or Shostakovich, I guess.) Ugh.

Thankfully, Bayard Rustin: Invisible Activist was better. In fact, it was excellent. Everyone should read this one.

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Three Graphic Novels

2016, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Comics & Graphic Novels, Cybil Challenge, Don't Read This, Favorites, Fiction, Young Adult /

Let’s see… which graphic novels (all Cybils shortlisters) did I read? Oh yea…

Courtney Crumrin: Volume 7 … hated it. Didn’t finish it. At first, I thought it was because I’m way behind on this series, (I think the last one I read was 4), but based on the reviews — a whole lot of series fans just didn’t like this one. I’m glad it wasn’t just me.

Next, Dragons Beware!. I love Claudette and her friends. Absolutely love them.

Last, but not least, Baba Yaga’s Assistant was really good. I didn’t expect much from it, I’m not a very big Baba Yaga fan, so this really exceeded expectations.

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The Walls Around Us

2016, Books in Bed, Cybil Challenge, Fiction, Young Adult /

Here’s a Cybils shortlister that I didn’t love. I didn’t hate it, but it just didn’t grab me the way I had hoped. From the reviews of The Walls Around Us, I might be the only person who didn’t just absolutely love it.

It’s dark, it’s ghost story-like, it’s beautifully written — it just didn’t work for me. It might, however, work for you. Try it and let me know.

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Slasher Girls & Monster Boys

2016, Books in Bed, Cybil Challenge, Favorites, Young Adult /

Thank goodness for the Cybil Awards. Slasher Girls & Monster Boys is something I probably never would have picked up on my own. I like horror, but I don’t read a lot of YA horror and I certainly don’t read short story YA horror. If they’re all like this, I should change that.

This is some of the best storytelling and the best writing, PERIOD. Read it.

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Four Graphic Novels

2016, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Comics & Graphic Novels, Cybil Challenge, Favorites, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Queer, Young Adult /

Readathons, even #fakereadathons, mean I get to spend some time catching up on graphic novels and these four were excellent. All four of them.

Roller Girl was awesome. I loved everything about it. I hope there are more Roller Girl books.

Next, I read March Book 2 and it was good, obviously, because John Lewis, y’all.

After that, Sunny Side Up. Poor kid. This was well written and well drawn. I didn’t expect much from it and was very pleasantly surprised.

Last, but not least, Honor Girl. Loved it. And, shockingly, I loved the ending. Some people probably didn’t – those “I want a happy endinggggg.” kinds of people. Nope. It ended exactly as it should have.

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Everything, Everything

2016, Books in Bed, Cybil Challenge, Young Adult /

We listened to Everything, Everything on audio and we enjoyed it.

I have a little love/hate thing with it. I didn’t want it to be the book it ended up being… I mean I liked it well enough but I didn’t want what happened to the mom to actually happen. I also kind of didn’t want the happy little ending, though it was obvious that it was going to end that way — once the whole situation with the mother went the way it went. Which makes no sense, I know. You just have to read it to understand.

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