My Head Is Full of Books: 2011 Cybils Finalists for Young Adult Fiction are...

"Outside a dog a book is man's best friend, inside a dog it is too dark to read!" -Groucho Marx========="The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." -Jane Austen========="I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."-JK Rowling========"I spend a lot of time reading." -Bill Gates=========“Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.” -Jacqueline Kelly=========

Sunday, January 8, 2012

2011 Cybils Finalists for Young Adult Fiction are...

The Cybils: Children's and Young Adult Bloggers Literary Awards have announced their 2011 finalists.

I am really delighted with this list and will include reviews if I have read the book.

Cybils for Young Adult Fiction, the finalists are:

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins---a debut author with a touching romance/coming-of-age story set in Paris. Read my review here.

Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys---historical fiction set in Stalin's Russia about a family deported from Lithuania to Siberia. This book is absolutely riveting. Read my review here.

Bunheads by Stephanie Flack---I've only recently become aware of this novel about the lives of ballerinas who have to give up nearly everything else to pursue a career in dance.

Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King--- I really like this quirky book about a bullied boy, his dysfunctional family, and dreams of his grandfather who was MIA in Vietnam. This book gave me a lot to think about and the ending is hopeful. My review is here.

Frost by Marianna Baer---this is the first I have heard of this psychological and paranormal suspenseful book. Since my students are often looking for "scarey" books I will look in to purchasing it for my library.

Leverage by Joshua Cohen---"Told in two distinct, believable voices, this story about an unlikely friendship between a mouthy gymnast and a quiet football player wowed panelists in every possible way: muscle, heart and mind. It deals with bullying and abuse." We decided to not include this book in our Mock Printz list of books this year because of the explicit rape scene, but in sounds like we should have. Several boys have told me that they think the book is very good. It's time for me to read it and see for my self.

Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach---This one has been on my list of books to read for a while now. I've ordered it for the library but it hasn't arrived. It sounds like just the type of book that boys like to read. "Both funny and heartbreaking, Stupid Fast drops readers into 15-year-old Felton's mind as he replays the events of the summer that changed his life."