Some observations from my Cybils reading: What’s In Clockwork/mechanical animals, birds, monsters, objects, steam-punk: The Dead Gentleman by Matthew Cody, The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann, Above World by Jenn Reese, The Brightworking by Paul B. Thompson, Goblin Secrets by William Alexander. Ghosts: Tilly’s Moonlight Garden by Julia Green, The Whispering House by Rebecca Wade, A …
Category Archive: Cybil Awards
Jan 18
Horten’s Incredible Illusions by Lissa Evans
I liked the second book better than I did the first, I think. Children who like puzzles and magic tricks would really find this book and its prequel, Horten’s Miraculous Mechanisms, quite compelling. I just wanted more character development, more reasons to like or at least sympathize with the children in the two stories. Stuart …
Jan 01
12 Favorite Middle Grade Fantasy and Science Fiction Books from 2012
For my Cybils judging responsibilities this year I read 84 of the 151 books nominated. I still have more that I would like to read in the next couple of months. Of those 84, these are my twelve favorites: Darkbeast by Morgan Keyes. Deadly Pink by Vivian Vande Velde. Iron-Hearted Violet by Kelly Barnhill. Princess …
Dec 31
55 More Bits of Wisdom and Advice from Literary (Mostly Cybils) Sources
Do you need a new philosophy for the new year? “Do right. Fear nothing.” Crazy Dangerous by Andrew Klavan. “The universe is not a wish-granting factory.” The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. “A song can be sung once but can be heard forever.” Sword Mountain by Nancy Yi Fan. “Explorers are supposed to …
Dec 19
The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde
I once tried reading The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, but both the plot and the humor eluded my grasp. I did better, or Mr. Fforde did, with The Last Dragonslayer. The humor in this book reminded me of The Princess Bride or Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. High praise indeed. Almost-sixteen-year-old Jennifer …
Dec 19
Deadweather and Sunrise by Geoff Rodkey
Pirates and treasure and ugly fruit and heroes and islands and ocean adventure, oh, my! Yeah, it doesn’t quite have the rhythm and swing I’d like it to have, and neither does this book. But for a pirate story aficionado, Deadweather and Sunrise might do the trick. Deadweather and Sunrise is billed as Book 1 …
Dec 18
In a Glass Grimmly by Adam Gidwitz, and the Retelling of Fairy Tales
There are (at least) two approaches to the recasting of old tales for children–anything from fairy tales to Chaucer to Shakespeare to even the stories of the Bible. Because these stories were not necessarily written (or told) for children, they sometimes contain dark, very dark, material –blood and violence and illicit sex and senseless mayhem …
Dec 17
Iron Hearted Violet by Kelly Barnhill
“In most fairy tales, princesses are beautiful, dragons are terrifying, and stories are harmless. This isn’t most fairy tales.” What a terrible, transformative, true (in the best sense of the word) book. Iron Hearted Violet is a story about an ugly but beloved princess who lives in a “mirrored world” where for time immemorial the …
Dec 13
The Cup and the Crown by Diane Stanley
Yawn. I really like Diane Stanley’s beautifully written and illustrated picture book biographies of famous historical figures such as Joan of Arc, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Peter the Great and others. And Brown Bear Daughter and I both enjoyed her fairy tale fantasy Cinderella story, Bella at Midnight. But The Cup and the Crown, a …
Dec 11
Beauty and the Beast: The Only One Who Didn’t Run Away by Wendy Mass
Do you know that game where you sit in a circle and tell a story, each person breaking off at a critical moment to let the next person add to the story? This book felt like that kind of round robin story, only incorporating two stories in alternating chapters instead of just one. Maybe imagine …
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