So nominations for the Cybils are chugging along, and sixty some books have been nominated in the middle grade sci fi/fantasy category, and over ten mg sci fi/fantasy books have been nominated in other categories....but still there are important and interesting books missing.
Now, I am not a fiercely, desperately competitive and neurotic person and I don't every year get saddened by the fact that more YA sci fi/fantasy books get nominated than middle grade ones and I don't write frantic posts saying ACK! These books haven't been nominated and I don't obsessively check just about every hour to see if any new books have made it onto the mg sff Cybils list. (Kidding. I am and I do).
This year some of the pressure is off me because publishers get to do a bit of filling in the blank at the end. So this is not a frantic, hysterical post; it is a calm and reflective post, in which I look back at November and December of 2011 to see what books came out then that haven't been nominated yet.
It used to be that there was a great website that listed books by their release date, and I used to go through these lists and cull the middle grade and YA sci fi/fantasy books into lists I shared here. But it went dark in March. Still, the November (part a and part b) and December lists (part a and part b) are there....So if you haven't nominated, take a look and see if you are reminded of a beloved book, and if looking back at those lists reminds you of a YA title you want to nominate, I guess that's ok too.
I didn't actually read as many of these as I would have thought I might have, but here are some that look interesting to me personally, and some I read and liked:
MOUSENET by Prudence Breitrose
BESWITCHED by Kate Saunders (now nominated!)
THE FUTURE DOOR: NO PLACE LIKE HOLMES by Jason Lethcoe
THE GRAVE ROBBERS OF GENGHIS KHAN: CHILDREN OF THE LAMP by P.B. Kerr
LITTLE WOMEN AND ME by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
MADAME PAMPLEMOUSSE AND THE ENCHANTED SWEET SHOP by Rupert Kingfisher
THE OUTCASTS: BROTHERBAND CHRONICLES by John Flanagan
SNOW IN SUMMER: FAIREST OF THEM ALL by Jane Yolen (now nominated)
THE TWILIGHT CIRCUS: WOLVEN by Di Toft
(and here are some books from Jan-March)
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query beswitched. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query beswitched. Sort by date Show all posts
1/6/13
This Week's Middle Grade Fantasy and Science Fiction Round-up (!/6/2013)
Welcome to the first mg sff round up of 2013! In case anyone is new to these posts, what I do is read skim as many blogs as I can, looking for reviews of mg sff, so that I can gather them all together in one easily found place so that fellow fans of the genre can enjoy them. Please let me know, this week, or any week, if you have a post for me, or if I missed a post by you or your loved ones.
The Big News:
The Cybils Shortlists have been announced, and here are the lovely books us first round mg sff panelists came up with! (click here to see the blurbs we wrote for them)
Beswitched by Kate Saunders
Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities by Mike Jung
The Cabinet of Earths by Anne Nesbet
The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen
The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann
The Reviews:
The Aviary, by Kathleen O’Dell, at Beyond Books
The Cup and the Crown, by Diane Stanley, at Kid Lit Geek
Elliot and the Goblin War, by Jennifer Nielsen, at My Precious
The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Bookends and Literate Lives
The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Ex Libris
Just So Stories, by Rudyard Kipling--Michael Morpurgo at The Guardian
Iron Hearted Violet, by Kelly Barnhill, at Karissa's Reading Review
The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate, at Challenging the Bookworm
Palace of Stone, by Shannon Hale, at Stacked
The Path of Beasts, by Lian Tanner, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Peculiar, by Stefan Bachmann, at books4yourkids
Pip and the Wood Witch Curse, by Chris Mould, at Charlotte's Library
Posiden and the Sea of Fury, by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams, at The Write Path
Shadow Breakers, by Daniel Blythe, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Spirit Fighter, by Jay Law, at Challenging the Bookworm
Tilly's Moonlight Garden, by Julia Green, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Who Could That Be At This Hour? by Lemony Snickett, at Biblio File
Two fantasy moth books--Margaret and the Moth Tree, by Brit Trogan and Kari Trogan, and The Grey Ghost, by Julie Hahnke, at Charlotte's Library
Other Good Stuff:
At From the Mixed Up Files, Sayantani DasGupta asks--Is there a shortage of girls in mg sff? I think not, myself, and the comments are full of recommendations. Watching the books I'm offering to my own young fantasy reader, I'm rather thrilled to see how many books with central characters who are girls he's loving, and I think that if you want your boy to "read girls," mgsff is your best bet. Followed by graphic novels.
Which is illustrated by my own look at the mg sff sequels and series continuators coming out this spring--6 star girls (one being a girl dragon) and 3 star boys.
For those interested in diversity in mg sff--here's my round up of all the 2012 books I found whose central protagonists aren't white kids.
It would actually take 2.5 million seagulls to lift the Giant Peach (via The Guardian). Logistically challenging.
The Big News:
The Cybils Shortlists have been announced, and here are the lovely books us first round mg sff panelists came up with! (click here to see the blurbs we wrote for them)
Beswitched by Kate Saunders
Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities by Mike Jung
The Cabinet of Earths by Anne Nesbet
The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen
The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann
The Reviews:
The Aviary, by Kathleen O’Dell, at Beyond Books
The Cup and the Crown, by Diane Stanley, at Kid Lit Geek
Elliot and the Goblin War, by Jennifer Nielsen, at My Precious
The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Bookends and Literate Lives
The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Ex Libris
Just So Stories, by Rudyard Kipling--Michael Morpurgo at The Guardian
Iron Hearted Violet, by Kelly Barnhill, at Karissa's Reading Review
The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate, at Challenging the Bookworm
Palace of Stone, by Shannon Hale, at Stacked
The Path of Beasts, by Lian Tanner, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Peculiar, by Stefan Bachmann, at books4yourkids
Pip and the Wood Witch Curse, by Chris Mould, at Charlotte's Library
Posiden and the Sea of Fury, by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams, at The Write Path
Shadow Breakers, by Daniel Blythe, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Spirit Fighter, by Jay Law, at Challenging the Bookworm
Tilly's Moonlight Garden, by Julia Green, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Who Could That Be At This Hour? by Lemony Snickett, at Biblio File
Two fantasy moth books--Margaret and the Moth Tree, by Brit Trogan and Kari Trogan, and The Grey Ghost, by Julie Hahnke, at Charlotte's Library
Other Good Stuff:
At From the Mixed Up Files, Sayantani DasGupta asks--Is there a shortage of girls in mg sff? I think not, myself, and the comments are full of recommendations. Watching the books I'm offering to my own young fantasy reader, I'm rather thrilled to see how many books with central characters who are girls he's loving, and I think that if you want your boy to "read girls," mgsff is your best bet. Followed by graphic novels.
Which is illustrated by my own look at the mg sff sequels and series continuators coming out this spring--6 star girls (one being a girl dragon) and 3 star boys.
For those interested in diversity in mg sff--here's my round up of all the 2012 books I found whose central protagonists aren't white kids.
It would actually take 2.5 million seagulls to lift the Giant Peach (via The Guardian). Logistically challenging.
2/23/14
This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (2/23/14)
Welcome to this week's round-up--I didn't have time to do much scrounging, so may well have missed things--please let me know!
The Reviews:
Beswitched, by Kate Saunders, at Things Mean a Lot
The Blue Lady, by Eleanor Hawken, at Nayu's Reading Corner (giveaway)
The Children Next Door, by Jean Ure, at Charlotte's Library
Doll Bones, by Holly Black, at alibrarymama
The Eighth Day, by Diane K. Salerni, at Middle Grade Mafioso
Flora and Ulysses, by Kate DiCamillo, at Candace's Book Blog and GreenBeanTeenQueen
The Gargoyle in my Yard, by Philippa Dowding, at Mother Daughter Book Reviews
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Geranium Cat's Bookshelf
The Grimm Conclusion, by Adam Gidwitz, at Becky's Book Reviews
The House on Parchment Street, by Patricia McKillip, at Finding Wonderland
How to Catch a Bogle, by Catherine Jinx, at alibrarymama
How To Train Your Dragon, by Cressida Cowell, at Mister K Reads
The Interrupted Tale, by Maryrose Wood, at Kid Lit Geek
The Lotus Caves, by John Christopher, at Views From the Tesseract
Magic Marks the Spot, by Caroline Carlson, at Mister K Reads
Operation Bunny: The Fairy Detective Agency's First Case, by Sally Gardner, at Bibliophilic Monologues
Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy, by Karen Foxlee, at The Book Monsters
The Quantum League: Spell Robbers, by Matthew J. Kirby, at Charlotte's Library and The Englishist
The Rithmatist, by Brandon Sanderson, at Sonderbooks
Rose, by Holly Webb, at Sonderbooks
The Runaway King, by Jennifer Neilsen, at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia
The Secret Box, by Whitaker Ringwald, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Shadow Throne, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile, The A P Book Club, Jen Robinson's Book Page, and Stacked
Sidekicked, by John David Anderson, at Guys Lit Wire
A Snicker of Magic, by Natalie Lloyd, at Literate Lives
A Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz, at My Precious
Theodosia and the Last Pharoah, by R.A. LaFevers, at Jean Little Library
The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp, by Kathi Appelt, at Sonderbooks
The Vengekeep Prophecies, by Brian Farrey, at The Book Monsters
Zoe and Zack and the Yogi's Curse, by Lars Guignard, at Candace's Book Blog
Three at Views from the Tesseract: Tesla's Attic, by Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman, Spider Stampede by Ali Sparks, Sasquatch Escape, by Suzanne Selfors
Two at Redeemed Reader-- The Handbook for Dragon Slayers, by Merrie Haskell, and The Time Fetch, by Amy Herrick
And two at Ms. Yingling Reads: Handbook for Dragon Slayers and The Shadow Throne
Authors and Interviews:
Jennifer Nielsen (The Shadow Throne) at The Enchanted Inkpot
Nikki Loftin (Nightingale's Nest) at The Book Cellar (giveaway)
Neil Shusterman and Eric Elfman (Tesla's Attic) at Project Mayhem
F.T. Bradley (Double Vision: Code Name 711) at The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow
A weeks' worth at Susan K. Quinn:
Other Good Stuff:
A Tuesday Ten of music at Views from the Tesseract
Lee and Low is giving away a copy of Dear Mrs. Parks: A Dialogue With Today's Youth, by Gregory J. Reed, signed by Rosa Parks herself! Head on over to Lee and Low's Facebook page to enter; ends Feb. 26
Looking ahead to next weekend--Middle Grade March kicks off with a day long read-a-thon--more info. here
And looking even further ahead, here's the Fall 2014 Children's Sneak Preview from Publisher's Weekly --lots of good mf sff!
The Reviews:
Beswitched, by Kate Saunders, at Things Mean a Lot
The Blue Lady, by Eleanor Hawken, at Nayu's Reading Corner (giveaway)
The Children Next Door, by Jean Ure, at Charlotte's Library
Doll Bones, by Holly Black, at alibrarymama
The Eighth Day, by Diane K. Salerni, at Middle Grade Mafioso
Flora and Ulysses, by Kate DiCamillo, at Candace's Book Blog and GreenBeanTeenQueen
The Gargoyle in my Yard, by Philippa Dowding, at Mother Daughter Book Reviews
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Geranium Cat's Bookshelf
The Grimm Conclusion, by Adam Gidwitz, at Becky's Book Reviews
The House on Parchment Street, by Patricia McKillip, at Finding Wonderland
How to Catch a Bogle, by Catherine Jinx, at alibrarymama
How To Train Your Dragon, by Cressida Cowell, at Mister K Reads
The Interrupted Tale, by Maryrose Wood, at Kid Lit Geek
The Lotus Caves, by John Christopher, at Views From the Tesseract
Magic Marks the Spot, by Caroline Carlson, at Mister K Reads
Operation Bunny: The Fairy Detective Agency's First Case, by Sally Gardner, at Bibliophilic Monologues
Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy, by Karen Foxlee, at The Book Monsters
The Quantum League: Spell Robbers, by Matthew J. Kirby, at Charlotte's Library and The Englishist
The Rithmatist, by Brandon Sanderson, at Sonderbooks
Rose, by Holly Webb, at Sonderbooks
The Runaway King, by Jennifer Neilsen, at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia
The Secret Box, by Whitaker Ringwald, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Shadow Throne, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile, The A P Book Club, Jen Robinson's Book Page, and Stacked
Sidekicked, by John David Anderson, at Guys Lit Wire
A Snicker of Magic, by Natalie Lloyd, at Literate Lives
A Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz, at My Precious
Theodosia and the Last Pharoah, by R.A. LaFevers, at Jean Little Library
The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp, by Kathi Appelt, at Sonderbooks
The Vengekeep Prophecies, by Brian Farrey, at The Book Monsters
Zoe and Zack and the Yogi's Curse, by Lars Guignard, at Candace's Book Blog
Three at Views from the Tesseract: Tesla's Attic, by Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman, Spider Stampede by Ali Sparks, Sasquatch Escape, by Suzanne Selfors
Two at Redeemed Reader-- The Handbook for Dragon Slayers, by Merrie Haskell, and The Time Fetch, by Amy Herrick
And two at Ms. Yingling Reads: Handbook for Dragon Slayers and The Shadow Throne
Authors and Interviews:
Jennifer Nielsen (The Shadow Throne) at The Enchanted Inkpot
Nikki Loftin (Nightingale's Nest) at The Book Cellar (giveaway)
Neil Shusterman and Eric Elfman (Tesla's Attic) at Project Mayhem
F.T. Bradley (Double Vision: Code Name 711) at The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow
A weeks' worth at Susan K. Quinn:
Monday: Warrior Faeries and Math Magick: How Susan Kaye Quinn is using a Virtual Author Visit video and Teacher's Guide to reach readers with her MG novel, Faery Swap.
Tuesday: Faery, Fairy, Sweet and Scary: a discussion with MG author Kim Batchelor on writing about Faeries in kidlit.
Wednesday: Sci Fi for the Middle Grade Set: a discussion with MG author Dale Pease about writing SF for kids.
Thursday: Writing Indie MG: a roundup of indie MG authors (Michelle Isenhoff, Elise Stokes, Lois Brown, Mikey Brooks, Ansha Kotyk) about why they write MG and how to reach readers, including their indie MG author Emblazoner's group catalog.
Friday: Marketing Indie Middle Grade - The Hardest Sell - about reaching MG readers as an MG author.
Other Good Stuff:
A Tuesday Ten of music at Views from the Tesseract
Lee and Low is giving away a copy of Dear Mrs. Parks: A Dialogue With Today's Youth, by Gregory J. Reed, signed by Rosa Parks herself! Head on over to Lee and Low's Facebook page to enter; ends Feb. 26
Looking ahead to next weekend--Middle Grade March kicks off with a day long read-a-thon--more info. here
And looking even further ahead, here's the Fall 2014 Children's Sneak Preview from Publisher's Weekly --lots of good mf sff!
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