Armchair Cybils November 2013 Linky

Here’s what I’ve read and reviewed so far this year for the Armchair Cybils:

Fiction Picture Books:

• Abe Lincoln’s Dream by Lane Smith
• Ah Ha! by Jeff Mack
• Chu’s Day by Neil Gaiman
• The Dark by Lemony Snicket
• Knit Your Bit by Deborah Hopkinson
• Mister Wuffles! by David Wiesner
• My Name Is Ruby by Phillip C. Stead
• Steam Train, Dream Train by Sherri Duskey Rinker
• This Is Our House by Hyewon Yum
• Train by Elisha Cooper

Of these fiction picture nominees, I’d give my nod to Ah Ha! by Jeff Mack.  The DLM loved, loved, loved Ah Ha!  Who can argue with the literary opinion of a 3 1/2 year old boy?  There are a bunch of good ones, as always, in this category.

Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction:

• Becoming Babe Ruth by Matt Tavares
• Helen’s Big World by Doreen Rappaport
• Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors? by Tanya Lee Stone

I think this might be the hardest category of all to pick for me, which is ironic since I was a second round panelist last year in this very category.  Really, I love all of these books, and I still love the book I nominated for the category (see below) just as much as I did when I nominated it.  I’ll have to think about this category some more.

Middle Grade Fiction:

• The Center of Everything by Linda Urban
• Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
• Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein
• Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool
• Paperboy by Vince Vawter
• The Thing About Luck by Cynthia Kadohata
• The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes

I love Counting by 7s, Navigating Early, and Paperboy.  Of these, I think Paperboy is the most sophisticated story, so it’s my top pick.  I’m not sure this makes it the most kid-friendly story, though. Anyway, all three are good ones.

Young Adult Fiction:

• Nobody’s Secret by Michaela MacColl

I have an uneasy relationship with YA fiction; it’s mostly too racy and raw and edgy for my taste.  The only title I read this month, though, is none of those things, and I enjoyed it immensely.  I’m not sure if that disqualifies it for a Cybils, though.  😉

Here’s a list of the books I nominated for the Cybils, all of which I read earlier in the year:

• The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail by Richard Peck (Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction)
• That Is NOT a Good Idea! by Mo Willems (Fiction Picture)
• Odette’s Secrets by Maryann MacDonald (Middle Grade Fiction)
• Miss Moore Thought Otherwise by Jan Pinborough (Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction)
• Hattie Ever After by Kirby Larson (Young Adult Fiction)

LInk up your Armchair Cybils posts below!  Happy reading!