sprite writes
broodings from the burrow

December 5, 2012


cybils update: early december
posted by soe 2:51 am

It was asked last month what the process is for the Cybils, and I never got around to answering. I thought I’d share a brief outline now:

We started out in early October with 191 nominated titles in our young adult fiction (non-fantasy or science fiction) category, which we each went through and marked whether we’d read any of them already. I had read two. Most (everyone else?) had read more.

Each book gets at least two readers from our seven-judge panel. More are allowed, but not mandatory, but you quickly learn to prioritize your reading. We then share amongst ourselves our top reads based on quality and appeal to the intended teen audience. Everyone tries to read all these titles.

You’ve already seen my top 15 and my top 10. (Apparently I was unknowingly breaking rules by sharing these with you. I have made these posts invisible for the time being and may make them public again after our committee’s work is done if it doesn’t seem like it will be problematic.) As I finish reading a new book, I compare it to what I’ve already read and rated. In order to add a new novel to the list, I’ll have to eliminate one from it. And later in the month, I’ll have to narrow down everything I’ve read to a top five. Then we fight amongst ourselves (during the week of Christmas!) to get our list of 5-35 books (it’d only be 35 if no one agreed on any of the titles) down to the ultimate 5-7 titles we hand off to the short list committee, who’ll pick the ultimate winner.

I’m over the 40-book threshold, but with three weeks to go am well below where everyone else is. As such, I’ll be digging in to try to push through with a bunch of books this week.

Cybils nominees on this week’s agenda:

  • The List (read yesterday)
  • Amelia Anne Is Dead and Gone (finishing tonight)
  • Code Name Verity (tomorrow’s book, since it’s due back at the library on Thursday

Finish these books, all of which are in progress:

  • Fingerprints of You
  • The Children and the Wolves
  • King Biscuit
  • Dodger
  • Nothing Special
  • Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
  • The Wicked and the Just

Begin these books:

  • Why We Broke Up
  • Shadow on the Mountain
  • Graffiti Moon
  • Endangered

As always, this list is subject to whim and may change without warning.

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