The 9 Faces of Cybil(s)

Mmmm…smell that?

It’s the scent of rubber burning as life in the literary lane speeds up. Before you know it, there will be talk of Caldecotts, Printzes and Coretta Scott Kings. There is no better time to be an author than when the rubber meets the road and people are talking books.

Whew, I almost shed a tear.

But no time for that. Today, the window opened for Cybils submissions.

What are Cybils you say?

They’re web awards, nominated by you and decided by a panel of literary pundits and all-around lovers of kiddie lit.

Here’s the scoop on the process:

*Individuals may nominate books now through October 15th (hurry!!!)

*Only one nomination per person per genre

*There are nine genres: Easy Readers, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Fiction Picture Books, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade Novels, Non-Fiction Middle Grade/Young Adult Books, Non-Fiction Picture Books, Poetry, Young Adult Novels.

*The book must be published between Jan. 1 – Oct. 15 this year.

* English or bilingual books only (the second language doesn’t matter).

So you know what this means, right?

Go on over to the site and nominate a book either by an African American author or one revolved around the African American experience, which fits the criteria.

We pride ourselves, here at The Brown Bookshelf, on working with like-minded sources and organizations in the kidlit blogosphere. And The Cybils, much like ReaderGirlz, serve as an inspiration to us.

We want to make sure brown books are represented within the Cybils awards or among those books appealing to strong female readers of the Reader Girlz. We know you, our readers, feel the same way.

A good book is a good book no matter what.

So dig through your book stash and nominate those brown books you feel deserves a Cybils honor.