CYBILS!!!

I know it says entire encyclopedia sets about how I need to get a life, but I sat bolt upright in bed at 11:50 p.m. last night and couldn't get back to sleep! I finally got up and checked the Cybils web site, only to find out they posted at 2:00 a.m. my time. I did go back to sleep but was up earlier than usual!

Here are the wonderful winners for middle grade divisions. See more over at Cybils.com.

Poetry
Requiem: Poems of the Terezin Ghetto by Paul B. Janeczko
Candlewick Press
Nominated by: Tricia Stohr-Hunt

Middle Grade Sci Fi/Fantasy
The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale
by Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright; illustrations by Barry Moser
Peachtree
Nominated by: Monica Edinger

Middle Grade Fiction
Nerd Camp by Elissa Brent Weissman
Atheneum
Nominated by: Jennifer Donovan

Nonfiction
Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart by Candace Fleming
Schwartz and Wade Books
Nominated by: Monica Edinger

And one Young Adult Fiction...
Young Adult Fiction
Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach
Sourcebooks Fire
Nominated by: Karen Yingling (me!)

Sad books

Pinkney, Andrea Davis. Dear America: With the Might of Angels
Nominated for the Cybils by Tanita

In 1954, Dawnie Rae doesn't like the school she goes to because everything is worn out and old. The schools that the white students attend, however, are much different, which is why when the NAACP is looking for students to enroll in Prettyman High, Dawnie's parents sign her up. it takes a long time for her even to be allowed to go to school, and when she finally does, the town com pains. Her father loses his job at the town dairy, which starts a boycott of the company by the blacks in town. Some of Dawnie's teachers are supportive, but some are not. Going to an all white school is difficult, but with the help of family and friends, Dawnie is able to persevere.
Strengths: Better written than some books in this series, in that they tend to have a lot of whining and details about daily life that don't necessarily strengthen the plot. The redesigned covers are attractive, and the historical information at the back of the books is always helpful.
Weaknesses: Horrible binding. I didn't care much for some of the overly Southern turns of phrase (" I worry Bethune will melt right into the ground, like syrup on a pancake.") because they seemed out of place with the general writing style.

Russell, Krista. Chasing the Nightbird.
Nominated for the Cybils by Lesley.

Lucky is Happy with his job on a whaling ship in 1851, but when he is docked in New Bedford, Massachusetts, he is shanghaied... by his long lost brother who thinks that their father owes him money. Fortuna, the brother, deposits Lucky at a boarding house, where a sympathetic woman who knew him as a baby takes good care of him, but also makes him work in a mill. There, he meets Daniel, a runaway slave, whose fortunes entwine with his own when Lucky (who is from Cape Verde and therefore free) is targeted by slave runners. Fortunately, he has also meets Emmeline, a young Quaker girl whose father is a sea captain. She tries to help Lucky, and is instrumental in freeing him not only from the slavers but also his evil brother.
Strengths: Lots of action and adventure, and a topic that is always in demand for our 8th grade curriculum.
Weaknesses: Despite the number of really evil characters opposing him, I never particularly liked Lucky.

Yep, Lawrence. Dragons of Silk.
Nominated for the Cybils by Natasha Maw.

Following four generations of a Chinese family, two of whom live in China and two in the US, Yep tells the story of how the silk industry ties them all together. In 1835, a family oaf two daughters and a mother struggle to keep their silk worm business alive after the father returns after having been addicted to opium. Despite their efforts, things do not end well. In 1881, the family is involved with a local realigns factory that is suffering the effects of the war, and the daughter meets young man who was born in the US and decides to escape her life in China for one with the young man, even though things are very difficult for the Chinese there as well. In 1932, it is again the women in the family who have been abandoned by the patriarchs when there is a reversal of financial fortune. While the mother proves unsuited for a difficult life the grandmother and granddaughters take in piece work, tighten their belts, and do what they can to stay safe and happy. Later, in 1962, one young woman tries to get into the designing end of fashion work; the end of the book follows her success and also ties her family in with the family of the sister who did not leave China.
Strengths: Interesting use of the myth of the Weaving Maid and her festival to set all of the stories,and good details about what daily life would have been like during each of the eras.
Weaknesses: There is more discussion of the silk making process than will interest many students; Parks's Project Mulberry is one that I can't get students to read. I was hoping for something more like Dragon Road.

Christopher, Lucy. Flyaway.
nominated for the Cybils by Kelly Jensen. (Who, by the way, is sort of like the person running directly in front of me in a 5 k. Every time I read three books, she reads four. I know, I know; the Cybils is not a contest to see who can read the most, but Kelly is reading way more than I am!)

Isla and her father love to watch the swans near their home, but are very disturbed when new power towers cause the death of three swans and the grave injury of another. Isle wants to nurse the other back to health, but runs into trouble because her father is suffering from a heart condition that is becoming more and more serious. Beset by dreams about the plight of the swan, Isla decides that for a school project she will try to get the lone swan to try to migrate, going so far as to take apart a stuffed swan and try to fly with it's wings. Her family is brought closer together as her father's condition worsens, even though her grandfather hates hospitals because her grandmother died in hospital, and tries to take hope from the progress of the swan.
Strengths: Lyrical writing is very effective and sad.
Weaknesses: Again, probably more about swans than the average reader cares to know.

Tuesday

Woods, Brenda. Saint Louis Armstrong Beach.
Nominated for the Cybils by Nancy Paulsen.

Saint (whose name forms the title) is happy in his life in New Orleans in the summer of 2005. He is an avid clarinet player saving for a new clarinet, he has a neighborhood dog for whom he cares, and his network of family and neighbors is strong. When hurrican Katrina approaches, his family is late leaving town because of his mother's work in a local hospital, but his family has an evacuation plan. So does Saint, and it includes rescuing Shadow, the dog. When he can't find the dog, he runs off to look for him and also finds that an elderly neighbor, Miz Moran, has stayed behind. As the storm rages and the water rises, Saint helps Miz Moran deal with her health problems and survive. After Miz Moran is evacuated, Saint is taken to the area of the Superdome, where Shadow is instrumental in helping him reunite with his worried family.
Strengths: This is a good story of Katrina, especially the parts of Saint's life before the storm hits. I don't think that students in my area have a good idea of how the culture in that town is different from our Northern one.
Weaknesses: It would have been good to have a bit more action. I am going to look at Hurricane Song (2008) by Paul Volponi, which I had somehow missed.

Hilmo, Tess. With a Name Like Love.
Nominated for the Cybils by Amanda Snow.

Ollie's father is an itinerant preacher in 1957, and his last stop lands the family of five girls in Arkansas. They set up their tent and go around the town passing out flyers. Ollie meets Jimmy Koppel, whose mother has been accused of murdering his father. Ollie quickly learns that Jimmy's mother was abused and probably did not kill anyone, and enlists her family to help her prove this. The locals are not thrilled with this, killing Jimmy's frogs and setting fire to the family's tent, but some are nice. Mrs. Mahoney takes the family in and even offers the father an abandoned church in which to set up a local ministry. The family stays on long than planned, and do help to set things right for Jimmy's family.
Strengths: A little bit of a mystery, and a strong family support system make this fairly interesting.
Weaknesses: Rylant's A Fine White Dust (1986) and Tolan's Save Halloween (1993), the two books with religious themes that came to mind first, have very few circulations in my library. Other libraries might have more call for books on this topic.

Marsden, Carolyn. Starfields.
Nominated for the Cybils by Sarah Wones Tomp.

Rosalba lives in a traditional Mayan community in rural Mexico. When scientists come to the area to investigate why frogs are dying of fungus, she makes friends with the daughter of one of them. Alicia tells Rosalba about the ancient prophecy that the world will end in 2012, and the two believe that this is somehow tied to the death of the frogs. When the construction of a road further endangers the frogs, Rosalba is convinced that it must be stopped. She has been having dreams about a boy from 600 AD who suggests that if she can stop the frogs from dying, she can stop the world from ending. The boy is used in his time by the shaman's to deliver visions after being drugged; he also sees Rosalba in his visions. When Rosalba's visions work their way into her weaving, the elders in her village are alerted to the trouble and attempt to stop the road.
Strengths: Like this author's other works (Take Me With You), this book covers a unique place in the world. Ancient Mayan civilization is part of our 6th grade curriculum.
Weaknesses: I know that differentiating between fantasy and reality is difficult, but this one may come down more heavily on the side of fantasy. If Rosalba had only dreamed about the boy, that would be one thing, but someone the boy dreaming also about her made it seem more like fantasy.