2012 Cybils Finalists Challenge Wrap-up

It's almost time for the 2013 Cybils finalists to be announced, so I've completed my read of the 2012 book in the nick of time! Now I can record my favorites and then finally peek at the winners to see how we compare.

I forgot to force my kids to rate them, so I'll have to come back and revise this post next week. And although I bought an iPhone this year, I didn't manage to get hold of any of the Book Apps, so I'm not comparing those.

I think I'll do this by color -- my winners will be Blue, and if I get anyone one else to rate, they'll get their own colors. Everything defaults to yellow, since that indicates that I read it.

And now I can go back to refreshing the Cybils page to see what is up for next year!

Easy Readers/Early Chapter Books - DONE!~
Easy Readers

1. A Trip to the Bottom of the World with Mouse (Toon)  by Frank Viva
2. Bink and Gollie, Two for One by Kate DiCamillo. I'm tempted to go read any other Bink & Gollies I can find.
3. Penny and Her Doll by Kevin Henkes
4. Penny and Her Song by Kevin Henkes
5. Pinch and Dash Make Soup (Pinch & Dash by Michael J. Daley

Early Chapter Books - DONE!

1. Ivy and Bean Make the Rules (Book 9) by Annie Barrows
2. Marty McGuire Digs Worms! by Kate Messner
3. Rabbit and Robot: The Sleepover by Cece Bell
4. Sadie and Ratz by Sonya Hartnett. This was delicious!
5. Violet Mackerel's Brilliant Plot by Anna Branford

Fantasy & Science Fiction (Middle Grade)

1. Beswitched by Kate Saunders
2. Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities by Mike Jung
3. The Cabinet of Earths by Anne Nesbet
4. The False Prince: Book 1 of the Ascendance Trilogy by Jennifer A. Nielsen
5. The Last Dragonslayer (The Chronicles of Kazam) by Jasper Fforde
6. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. This one has stuck with me all year.
7. The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann

Fantasy & Science Fiction (Young Adult) DONE!

1. And All the Stars by Andrea K Höst
2. Every Day by David Levithan. Lots of good choices, but this one continues to resonate with me.
3. Planesrunner (Everness, Book One) by Ian McDonald
4. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
5. The Curiosities: A Collection of Stories by Brenna Yovanoff, Tessa Gratton,  and Maggie Stiefvater
6. The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi
7. Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst

Fiction Picture Books DONE

1. Black Dog by Levi Pinfold
2. Chloe and the Lion by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Adam Rex. I'm a sucker for meta.
3. Creepy Carrots! by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Peter Brown
4. Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen. Cute.
5. Home for Bird, A by Philip C. Stead
6. Infinity and Me by Kate Hosford, illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska
7. One Special Day by Lola M. Schaefer, illustrated by Jessica Meserve

Graphic Novels
Elementary/Middle Grade

1. Annie Sullivan and the Trials of Helen Keller (Center for Cartoon Studies Presents) by Joseph Lambert
2. Giants Beware! by Jorge Aguirre and Rafael Rosado
3. Hilda and the Midnight Giant byLuke Pearson
4. Little White Duck: A Childhood in China (Single Titles) by Na Liu
5. Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: Big Bad Ironclad! by Nathan Hale. I want to hunt out all the other books in this series.

Young Adult   DONE!

1. Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White by Lila Quintero Weaver
2. Drama by Raina Telgemeier
3. Friends with Boys by Faith Erin Hicks
4. Ichiro by Ryan Inzana
5. Marathon by Boaz Yakin. Even though I couldn't always tell the people apart, it was a strong story.

Middle Grade Fiction

1. Almost Home by Joan Bauer
2. Chomp by Carl Hiaasen
3. Fourmile by Watt Key
4. Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead
5. The Adventures of Beanboy by Lisa Harkrader. This stuck with me.
6. The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine. I read this on my way around the library.  A good sense of history, if from a well-worn perspective.
7. Wonder by R. J. Palacio

Nonfiction for Tweens & Teens DONE

1. Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin
2. Last Airlift: A Vietnamese Orphan's Rescue from War by Marsha Skrypuch
3. Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 by Phillip Hoose. I honestly thought this would be boring, since I can't tell a crow from an eagle in the sky, but it held me and had me pushing it upon any innocent bystanders.
4. Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World by Sy Montgomery
5. Titanic: Voices From the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson

Nonfiction Picture Books DONE 

1. Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade by Melissa Sweet
2. Dolphin Baby! by Nicola Davies
3. Eggs 1, 2, 3: Who Will the Babies Be? by Janet Halfmann
4. Island: A Story of the Galapagos by Jason Chin. This was a wonderful readaloud.
5. Looking at Lincoln by Maira Kalman
6. Mrs. Harkness and the Panda by Alicia Potter
7. Nic Bishop Snakes by Nic Bishop

Poetry DONE

1. BookSpeak! Poems About Books by Laura Purdie Salas
2. In the Sea by David Elliott
3. Last Laughs: Animal Epitaphs by J. Patrick Lewis
4. Lies, Knives, and Girls in Red Dresses by Ron Koertge. I picked it up reluctantly, and then ended up handing it to my high schooler, who devoured it without even noticing he was reading poetry.
5. National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry: 200 Poems with Photographs That Squeak, Soar, and Roar! by National Geographic Children's Books
6. UnBEElievables: Honeybee Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian
7. Water Sings Blue by Kate Coombs

Young Adult Fiction

1. Boy21 by Matthew Quick
2. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. I want this for my shelves. I gave this as a Christmas present.
3. Endangered by Eliot Schrefer
4. I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga
5. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
6. Storyteller, The by Antonia Michaelis
7. Theory of Everything, The by J.J. Johnson

Book Apps

1. Bats! Furry Fliers of the Night written by Mary Kay Carson
2. Dragon Brush created by John Solimine and Andy Hullinger
3. Rounds: Franklin Frog written by Emma Tranter illustrated by Barry Tranter
4. The Voyage of Ulysses developed by Elastico Srl
5. Where Do Balloons Go? An Uplifting Mystery written by Jamie Lee Curtis illustrated by Laura Cornell

74/74

What's In A Name? Serendipity Version 2013

This year I almost ran out of time to do the challenges I was working on, so I didn't add some others that I like to do. So on the last day of the year I decided to see how I would have done.

One of my favorite challenges is Beth Fish Read's What's In a Name  Challenge. She comes up with six categories and you try to read a book from each. Turns out, I made it!

1. A book with up or down (or equivalent) in the title: 
1. Succubus on Top
2. A Rising Thunder
3. Under the Mesquite
2. A book with something you'd find in your kitchen in the title: 
1. Lies, Knives, and Girls in Red Dresses
2. Dark Currents (x2 -- two books with the same title)
3. Cold Cereal
4. An Apple for the Creature
5. Bread and Roses Too
6. Fleas, Flies, and Friars
3. A book with a party or celebration in the title:
1. The Wake of the Lorelei Lee
2. The Con Job
4. A book with fire (or equivalent) in the title: 
1. Smokescreen
2. Frost Burned
3. The Fire Lord's Lover
5. A book with an emotion in the title: 
1. Wonder
2. Rapture
3. The Geography of Bliss
4. Kris Longknife: Furious
5. Happy Ever After
6. Faith, Hope, and Ivy June
6. A book with lost or found (or equivalent) in the title: 
1. Looking For Alaska
2. Hide and Seek
3. The Lost Fleet books
4. Aunt Dimity and the Lost Prince

Stay On Target

 Still on the hook for my challenges -- I've only one last Cybils finalists to finish so I'm turning my attention to my geography lists.  I need eleven more states, including D.C. I think this is the worst shape I've been in for December since I started this challenge.

Of course, there may be some other distractions going on this month. At least I finally have my tree up, and have scattered my outdoor lights across the floor of my living room. If you peer through my windows you may get a glimpse of them blinking.

I'll sign in at Book Journey or Teach Mentor Texts since I want to see what everyone else is reading this month.

This week I finished:

• Ruby Holler, Sharon Creech. Kidlit. For my elementary school book club.
• Boy21, Matthew Quick. YA. Cybils finalist. My high schooler recommends it.
• The Last Dragonslayer, Jasper Fforde. Kidlit. Cybils finalist. The protagonist is 15, but it does read more as kidlit than YA. Another book receiving my son's praise.
• The Cabinet of Earth, Anne Nesbit. Kidlit. Cybils finalist.
• The Adventures of Beanboy, Lisa Harkrader. Kidlit. Cybils finalist. My son recommends it, although he thought it took place in Ohio. Sadly, it is Kansas based.
• Chomp, Carl Hiassen. Kidlit. Cybils finalist.
• The Peculiar, Stefan Bachmann. Kidlit. Cybils finalist.
• Endangered, Eliot Schrefer. YA. Cybils finalist.
• A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax, Dorothy Gilman. I defiantly read a book just for me. Go Mrs Pollifax, international agent in a spiffy hat.

What am I currently reading?  My book bag has some essays by Fadiman, a cozy mystery in Indiana, the latest paperback In Death book, and my NOOK. 

• At Large and At Small, Anne Fadiman. Library. Gems of essays for the sake of being essays.
• The Storyteller, Antonia Michaelis. YA. Library. The last of the Cybils, but so dark I'll probably take a week or so to read it.
• Paradise, Toni Morrison. It's been pushed aside by Cybils reading, but its Oklahoma setting may push it back up.
• Calculated In Death, J.D. Robb. Library. Only one dead body so far, so maybe it's not one of the gruesome ones.
• Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me?, Louise Rennison. Audio. YA. Library. On disk 4/5. The boys are liking this even though they only here it intermittently -- I listen even when they aren't there.
• Conspiracy, Lindsay Burokers. NOOK. Still not making progress. The library picks always push in front of this poor purchased book.
• Developing Standards-Based Report Cards, Thomas R. Guskey & Jane M. Bailey. I should just finish this -- the last session roamed all over the book.
• Radio Fifth Grade, Gordon Korman. The new teacher does not respect the radio.
• Out to Canaan, Jan Karon. Service sometimes demands sacrifice. And guests.
• Keep Me Forever, Rosemary Laurey. I like the progress of the rich gardener.
• A General Theory of Love, Thomas Lewis. Some false notes about autism.
• The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens. Pickwick is defiant, and goes to Bath. I snore.
• How To Write Science Fiction & Fantasy, Orson Scott Card. I like his definitions of science fiction.

What's up next? I'll attack the eleven books I need for the Where Are You Reading challenge, and hope to fit in two more colors books as well. I got a bunch from the library, so that should help.

2013 Challenges:

1. Cybils: 73/74.  I'm 50 pages into the last one.
2. Where Am I Reading?: 40/51. No change -- I had zilch luck with the wave of Cybils I just finished, which I was kind of hoping would give me a few of the remainder.
3. Crazy Quilt Colors: 7/9. Still need brown and patterns.
4. Reading My Library:  Not this week, either. Maybe next week.
5. Best of the Best 2012: 46/25.   In Zanesville is on deck. 

Eye on the Goal

All my books this week are concentratd on my Where Are You Reading Challenge, which calls for me to read a book from each of the 50 states. I've thrown in Washington, D.C. in the interests of fairness, and find myself staring down December with some significant gaps. So last week I raced around the online library catalog and ordered up books to meet those gaps.


Hidden in Plain View, Jacqueline Tobin & Raymond Dobard. This chronicles the quilts used to guide and assist the Underground Railroad, which sounds fascinating. It's centered around South Carolina.

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio, Terry Ryan. I've actually had this book on my to-read list for years, but now that Ohio has become a standing joke in our house (I've started about ten books that mention Ohio before veering off somewhere else) I'm going to pin down the tale and the state.


When We Were Strangers, Pamela Schoenewaldt. This looks like a strong story of an immigrant and dreams, but it also appears to take place in Chicago, so I have no idea what I was thinking. It may have to wait for next year.

I also got a few books for my High School son, mainly Steven Brusts so he can finish devouring the Vlad series. And a music CD.

Challenge Time

  It's crunch time for my challenges. I've got all the Cybils finalists lined up, and I really want to finish my January 1st, so I can start next years list. Which will be even harder, since I feel like I've hardly read any of this years books as I plow through last years...

Also, my Where Are You Reading list is still thin -- I need eleven more states, including D.C. No wonder I don't have a Christmas tree up yet.

In exercise news, completed our city's K9 CandyCane Run, which is a cute 5K that people bring their dogs to. The weather was sunny but cold -- 20F, which is probably the coldest I've ever tried to exercise in. I made my usual turtle-like pace, and hit my goals, and was only 50% slower than my son. Only one son, since HS Boy was left home sick -- I'm intimidated by sub-freezing weather and banned him when he woke with a cold. And I won the raffle at the end!

I'll sign in at Book Journey or Teach Mentor Texts since I want to see what everyone else is reading this month.

This week I finished:

• The Theory of Everything, JJ Johnson. A Cybils YA finalist -- good story, but man those parents were breathtakingly cruel -- "If you let your grades slip while you grieve your dead best friend, we'll kill your dog!"
• Fourmile, Watt Key. A Cybils Middle Grade finalist. Another book about grief, this time for a dead father.

• The Boy Who Loved Tornadoes, Randi Davenport. A memoir from my TBR list. From the cover I thought it was going to be about a kid who gets better, but it was pretty clear from the beginning that the happy ending was more a not-the-worst-possible-thing kind of ending.
• Almost Home, Joan Bauer. A Cybils Middle Grade finalist. This kid only has to deal with homelessness -- no one dies.

• Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities, Mike Jung. Cybils Middle Grade SF finalist. About the top fans of a superhero. The cover has lured High School Boy into picking it up.
• Battle Magic, Tamora Pierce. YA. What happened to Briar that aged him before The Will of the Empress. I enjoyed this.

• Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95, Philip Hoose. Cybils YA Nonfiction finalist. Fascinating story of endangered migrating birds.
• Big Girl Small, Rachel DeWoskin. YA. Traumatised teen reflects over the worst week of her life. This is an Alex Award, which means it's technically for adults, but as an adult I didn't find the voice convincing, which wouldn't have bothered me as a YA.

• Etiquette & Espionage, Gail Carriger. YA. NOOK. Fun steam-punk twist on the boarding school genre.
• Last Airlift: A Vietnamese Orphan's Rescue From War, Marsha Skrypuch. Cybils YA Nonfiction finalist. Biography of the transition of a war orphan from a Vietnamese orphanage to a Toronto family.

What am I currently reading?  My book bag has a library book from the 2012 Best of the Best list, the most recent Tamora Pierce, a literary novel from my shelves, and my NOOK. Tomorrow I'll add a Cybils book to that and hope the stitches don't break.

• Paradise, Toni Morrison. I like the women in the opening chapters.
• A Palm For Mrs. Pollifax, Dorothy Gilman. Library.  I'm still enjoying this series -- I'll order up the next as I finish this one.
• Calculated In Death, J.D. Robb. Library. This series is not as fresh, but I'll pick them up when they fall in front of me at the library.
• Endangered, Eliot Schrefer. YA. Library. The next Cybils finalist for me, this looks like a better book about the Congo than Congo was.
• Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me?, Louise Rennison. Audio. YA. I'm enjoying this, although I haven't read any of the other books in this series. HS boy enjoys her vocabulosity.
• Conspiracy, Lindsay Burokers. NOOK. Still not making progress. The library picks always push in front of this poor purchased book.
• Developing Standards-Based Report Cards, Thomas R. Guskey & Jane M. Bailey. Time to get to chapter five.
• Radio Fifth Grade, Gordon Korman. The new teacher does not respect the radio.
• Out to Canaan, Jan Karon. Service sometimes demands sacrifice. And guests.
• Keep Me Forever, Rosemary Laurey. I like the progress of the rich gardener.
• A General Theory of Love, Thomas Lewis. Some false notes about autism.
• The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens. Pickwick is defiant, and goes to Bath. I snore.
• How To Write Science Fiction & Fantasy, Orson Scott Card. This is my reward book -- I read a page or so whenever I finish something. I don't plan to do anything with it.

What's up next? A whole bunch of Cybils finalists, and then state work. I need to read at least one a day, and I'm really hoping that I get lucky and knock of some missing states for the geography challenges. Sadly, I don't feel lucky. I have The Storyteller up, but it looks too grim to read in one day, so I'll swap out some others if I have to.  If I have time afterward, I'll read the library books, replacing the soon-due Gilman with the similarly recalled At Large and at Small by Anne Fadiman and Calculated In Death with my next Reading My Library pick.

2013 Challenges:

1. Cybils: 65/74.  Six down, nine more to go.
2. Where Am I Reading?: 40/51. No change. May swap out my Oklahoma book for a shorter one. I'm hoping my Cybils books will give me a few freebies, but it's not looking good.
3. Crazy Quilt Colors: 7/9. Still need brown and patterns.
4. Reading My Library:  Not this week, either. Maybe next week.
5. Best of the Best 2012: 46/25.  Finished Big Girl Small. Will start In Zanesville when I stop panicking about my challenges. 

Racing Through the Library At A Snail's Pace

I have a hopeless goal of reading a book from each shelf in my lovely local library. It's hopeless because we are due for a major renovation which will shuffle everything about, but when should certain doom discourage me in any endeavor? I've already finished Picture Books and Juvenile Series, and I'm turning the last corner in Juvenile Fiction.

Ordinary Magic, Caitlen Rubino-Bradway. A magical school book with a twist -- the world is magic and the special school is for the rare Ordinary child. After the initial shock and horror, the characters settle down into boarding school work, mischief, and defeating evil-doers.

The Dreamer, Pam Munoz Ryan. Lyrical biography of a famous poet. Not so artistic that children would avoid it, but still displaying the love and beauty of language.

Night of the Howling Dogs, Graham Salisbury. Boy scouts in Hawaii deal with a earthquake and tsunami while trapped on a beach during a wilderness camp. Good characters and good action.

Smells Like Dog, Suzanne Selfors. Mysterious societies, vanished uncles, and a town that just doesn't appreciate Homer's eccentricities make up this adventure story. I liked the flying cloud vehicles.



Blue Jasmine, Kashmira Sheth. A family moves from India to Iowa. I admit to grabbing it because of the Iowa thing, but it was an interesting culture shock story from a culture different than mine.

Elephant Run, Roland Smith. A World War II story about kids, English and Burmese, in Burma (later Myanmar) resisting the Japanese.

BONE: Quest For the Spark #1 Tom Sniegoski. A band of heroes assembles and begins to fight against the darkness while searching for the Spark. My first BONE book, but it looked fun and explains why my kids liked them.

Hokey Pokey, Jerry Spinelli. A magical realism story about childhood and growing up, which missed the mark a bit for me since my childhood was significantly different so my mythical landscape would have be different as well. I'm not sure which kids would enjoy it.


Liar & Spy, Rebecca Stead. A mystery with the mystery located slightly askew to where the main character thinks it is, with an additional puzzle he also hides from himself but which most readers will figure out. A good read if not quite as shiny as her previous book.

Edge Chronicles 7: Freeglader, Paul Steward. Delicious vocabulary and fantastical creatures abound in this book, but I never quite got in the spirit of things, probably because of that BOOK 7 thing.

Spellbinder, Helen Stringer. Good solid children's fantasy, with a girl who can see ghosts, a boy who believes her, and the problem of all the ghosts disappearing from the world.