Congratulations Cybils 2009 winners!

A few spe­cial shout-outs for a few spe­cial Cybils 2009 winners:

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Non-Fic­tion For Young Adults
The Frog Scientist
by Pamela S. Turn­er; illus­trat­ed by Andy Comins
Houghton Mif­flin Harcourt
Nom­i­nat­ed by: Lau­rie Thomp­son (YAY, that’s me!)
Again, what a field. Each of the books in this cat­e­go­ry blew me away. It’s thrilling to see these excit­ing top­ics being cov­ered in depth in such inter­est­ing for­mats for upper mid­dle grade and young adult read­ers. I was shop­ping a teen non­fic­tion book awhile back, and an agent told me, “Nobody buys teen non­fic­tion.” Look at this list (and any oth­er awards list this year!), and it’s obvi­ous that is so not true. I think each of these books will leave an impor­tant and last­ing impres­sion on their read­ers, but spe­cial con­grat­u­la­tions to Pamela!

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Pic­ture Book (Non-Fic­tion)
The Day-Glo Brothers
by Chris Bar­ton; illus­trat­ed by Tony Persiani
Charlesbridge
Nom­i­nat­ed by: Cyn­thia Leitich Smith
As soon as I heard Chris was work­ing on this, I fig­ured it would be a slam dunk. What a great top­ic idea! Chris and Tony REALLY pulled it off, though. Chris’ insane research adds so much depth (remind­ing me to always do my home­work, because you nev­er know what you’ll find), and what kid (or adult) could resist Tony’s Day-Glo car­toon-style illus­tra­tions? (Not me!)

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Fan­ta­sy & Sci­ence Fic­tion (Mid­dle-Grade)
Dream­dark: Silksinger (Faeries of Dreamdark)
by Lai­ni Taylor
Put­nam Juvenile
Nom­i­nat­ed by: Melis­sa
Wow, this was a tough cat­e­go­ry for me–so many great final­ists! I know (and love) Joni, Lai­ni, and Grace, so I was cheer­ing for all three (if that’s pos­si­ble). I bet it was even hard­er for the judges, though, don’t you think? It’s got to be a win for all just to be going up against the likes of Neil Gaiman, I guess. But, huge con­grat­u­la­tions are due to the dear, sweet, ridicu­lous­ly tal­ent­ed, and super hard­work­ing Lai­ni Tay­lor. Both Dream­dark books are true masterpieces.

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Pic­ture Book (Fic­tion)
All the World by Liz Gar­ton Scan­lon; illus­trat­ed by Mar­la Frazee
Beach Lane Books
Nom­i­nat­ed by: Cyn­thia Leitich Smith
I LOVE this book, and I can’t decide which I love more, the words or the illus­tra­tions. This is a per­fect exam­ple of a pic­ture book, stand­ing equal­ly on both legs. It’s a beau­ti­ful mes­sage for today and always–sure to become a classic.

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Mid­dle Grade Fiction
Chains
by Lau­rie Halse Anderson
Simon & Schuster
Nom­i­nat­ed by: melis­sa
This is his­tor­i­cal fic­tion at its best, and a book that need­ed to be writ­ten. The only thing miss­ing is book two. I can’t wait! Exel­lent choice, judges!

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Easy Read­er
Watch Me Throw the Ball! (An Ele­phant and Pig­gie Book)
by Mo Willems
Hyperion
Nom­i­nat­ed by: Melis­sa
You just got­ta love Ele­phant and Pig­gie. ‘Nuf said. Although I think THERE’S A BIRD ON YOUR HEAD will always be my favorite.