2006 Cybils Finalists

More Cybils!
Since I managed to finish all of last year's Cybils Finalists early, I've decided to go back and catch up on the ones I missed. I think this was the first year of the award, so I've made my list. Books I've already read are marked in green and I'll use a lighter green for ones I read now. It's possible that I'm not recognizing some of the picture books by name, since I don't always keep good records of those, but worst case is that I reread some good picture books, so bonus!


This will be a much more leisurely hobby -- I'll order a new book as a finish the old one, but there's not deadline as I'm already about ten years late. And of course, I'll abandon this once the new finalists are announced, at least until I read all those.


Fantasy & Science Fiction:

1. Ptolemy’s Gate by Jonathan Stroud. Stroud writes consistently readable books. I don't remember this.
2. Silver City by Cliff McNish. I don't remember this. 
3. Beka Cooper: Terrier by Tamora Pierce. I'm a big Pierce fan but prefer the Alanna stories.
4. Last Dragon, The by Silvana de Mari. I am sad the sequels didn't get translated; I liked this a lot. 
5. Pucker by Melanie Gideon. Interesting fantasy but I'm a bit uncomfortable with what it is saying about disability.

Graphic Novels:

Ages 12 and under

1. Amelia Rules, vol. 3: Superheroes  by Jimmy Gownley Nice job skating on the edge between realism and magic realism.
2. Babymouse: Beach Babe  by Jennifer Holm and Matt Holm Very much purely for kids.
3. The Baby-Sitters Club: Kristy’s Great Idea by Ann Martin, Rina Telgemeier. Good read but it feels a bit dated now. 
4. Kat and Mouse by Alex De Campi; pictures by Federica Manfredi. Fun school story -- bad rich kids, clever scholarship kid. 
5. To Dance: A Ballerina’s Graphic Novel  by Siena Siegel and Mark Siegl Lovely pictures and a good story for a dancer.

Ages 13 and up

1. American Born Chinese by Gene Yang
2. Castle Waiting by Linda Medley.  Interesting story, with a lot of different threads, some of which don't get resolved. The first volume had tiny print that was hard for me, but the second volume was better.
3. Dramacon Vol. 2 by Svetlana Chmakova. This was a bit hard for me to read, because apparently there are lots of manga conventions that I've probably seen but ignored but are leaned into heavily here. So some panels show very cartoon version of the people, which usually left me baffled as to who was who, and there were expressions that clearly conveyed a lot but left me baffled. But I like the people and now will probably go read other books by the author. Maybe my new sophistication will pay off.
4. Flight Vol. 3 by Kazu Kibuishi & others. Wow, a lot of these short stories were really grim. Like, rocks fall, everyone dies kind of grim. Great art and stories though. Just whew, grim endings.
5. La Perdida by Jessica Abel. A bit grim for my taste -- it's about a girl who is young and naive and careless in who she hurts and looks back later at herself with regret.

Middle Grade Fiction

1. Drowned Maiden’s Hair, A  Laura Amy Schlitz 
2. Framed  Frank Cottrell Boyce. I enjoyed this story set in Wales, with an interesting family and a variety of reactions to great art.
3. Heat  Mike Lupica . Baseball. Fun!
4. Kiki Strike  Kirsten Miller. How is this not SF?
5. Weedflower Cynthia Kadohata 

Nonfiction: Middle Grade & YA

1. Escape! written by Sid Fleischman 
2. Freedom Walkers written by Russell Freedman 
3. Immersed in Verse written by Alan Wolf 
4. Isaac Newton written by Kathleen Krull; illustrated by Boris Kulikov
5. Team Moon written by Catherine Thimmesh 

YA Fiction:

1. Book Thief, The written by Markus Zusak
2. Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life, A  written by Dana Reinhardt
3. Hattie Big Sky written by Kirby Larson
4. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist  written by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
5. Rules of Survival, The written by Nancy Werlin 

Fiction Picture Books:

1. Emily’s Balloon Written and illustrated by Komako Sakai. Lovely and sweet in how it validates the child's competence but also confidence in her caregivers. 
2. Learning to Fly  Written and illustrated by Sebastian Meschenmoser. This book got an automatic book because my son very kindly requested it from his library (the first physical book he needed from his college library, obtained through the elaborate COVID mechanism involving locked boxes and emailed combinations). And then it was a charming penciled sketches with bright spots of color with a few words about a bearded guy who finds and befriends a penguin who dreams of flight. It's great.
3. Scaredy Squirrel Melanie Watt 
4. Waiting for Gregory Written by Kimberly Willis Holt; illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska  A solid entry in the "waiting for baby to be born" genre, with condescending relatives tossing out myths. But the pictures are too odd for my taste.
5. Wolves Written and illustrated by Emily Gravett. This would have been right up my kids' alley; I'm sorry I missed it while they were young. I like the alternate ending and the slow build of suspense, and I'm always here for a book that plays with being a book in a meta way.

Nonfiction Picture Books:

1. 3-D ABC: A Sculptural Alphabet  written and illustrated by Bob Raczka. Nice photos of sculptures for each letter. Good alphabet book for the young -- no plot but interesting pictures.
2. Aliens Are Coming!: The True Account Of The 1938 War Of The Worlds Radio Broadcast written and illustrated by Meghan McCarthy. Great illustrations and illustrations in general. I prefer the one for older kids in terms of information, but this picture book would be a fun one to share with smart little kids.
3. An Egg Is Quiet written by Dianna Aston; illustrated by Sylvia Long.  Lovely pictures and simple text make this a fun picture book. 
4. An Island Grows written by Lola M. Schaefer; illustrated by Cathie Felstead. Basically a more pleasant version of Michener's Hawaii. I liked the simple rhymes.
5. Little Lost Bat written by Sandra Markle; illustrated by Alan Marks. Partly speculative -- the science is that a good percentage of mom/baby bat pairs in Texas caves aren't related. This picture book sympathetically but naturally tells how an orphan baby could match up with a bereaved mum. The dead baby and mom are shown as part of nature -- not graphic deaths but matter-of-fact ones. This would have been fun to read with kids.

Poetry:

1. Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow written by Joyce Sidman; illustrated by Beth Krommes. Sneaky poetry -- hidden inside science riddles. This would've delighted me back when I was reading picture books to my sons.
2. Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich written and illustrated by Adam Rex Fun and with great illustrations.
3. Handsprings written and illustrated by Douglas Florian. One of these made it to my Poetry Notebook.
4. Jazz written by Walter Dean Myers; illustrated by Christopher Myers. This was all about the pictures. The words were good, but primarily they gave me an excuse to look at the pages a little while longer. It helped that I just took a painting class, so I could see where the brush strokes worked. If I ever read it with someone I think I'd have a Jazz playlist going in the background. Hmm, it did feel more like a picture book that an poetry book. I never understand how things get classified.
5. Tour America: A Journey Through Poems and Art written by Diane Siebert; illustrated by Stephen T. Johnson The concept was awesome but none of the poems really hit with me.

43/45