Cybil Winners - Press Release

It's finally here. And here I present to you the official press release. A satisfying crop.

Cybils Literary Awards Announced

Bloggers sought a balance between literary quality and "kid appeal"among the 482 titles nominated by the public.

CHICAGO, Illinois—A terrified squirrel, a quiet egg and an infinite playlist were among those earning top honors today in the first-ever awards from kidlit bloggers.

The Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards, or Cybils, were won by nine books in eight categories, from picture books to graphic novels and even fantasy and science fiction.

The awards cap five months of activity by roughly 80 volunteers, who plowed through 482 books nominated by the public at the Cybils blog. The contest grew out of a comment on a blog post last October and rapidly gained traction in the tight-knit community of librarians, teachers, homeschoolers, parents, authors and illustrators, dubbed the "kidlitosphere."

The idea was to find books with literary merit that kids couldn't put down, striking a balance between the highbrow Newberys, for example, and the populist Quill awards.

Any children's or young adult title published in English in 2006 was eligible, and anyone could nominate a book. Nominees then went through two rounds of judging: those surviving the first cut were announced New Year's Day.

Here are the winning books:

Fiction - Picture Books:
Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt
Kid's Can Press

Fiction - Middle Grade:
A Drowned Maiden's Hair by Laura Amy Schlitz
Candlewick Press

Fiction - Young Adult:
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Knopf Books for Young Readers

Non-Fiction - Picture Books:
An Egg is Quiet written by Dianna Aston; illustrated by Sylvia Long
Chronicle Books

Non-Fiction - Middle Grade and Young Adult:
Freedom Walkers by Russell Freedman
Holiday House

Poetry:
Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow written by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Beth Krommes
Houghton Mifflin

Fantasy and Science Fiction:
Ptolemy's Gate by Jonathan Stroud
Hyperion: Miramax

Graphic Novels - Ages 12 and Under:
Amelia Rules, vol. 3: Superheroes by Jim Gownley
Renaissance Press

Graphic Novels - Ages 13 and Up:
American Born Chinese by Gene Yang
First Second

For further details on each winning book, please see the Cybils blog.