2021 Cybils Awards Finalists

The 2021 Cybils Awards winners will be announced Monday, February 14th. This year I've served as the Category Chair for Poetry and as a Round 2 Judge in Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction. While you wait for the winners announcement, here are the finalists in each category. 

Board Book Finalists

• Animals Go Vroom! by Abi Cushman
• Big Bear, Little Bear by Marine Schneider
• Caution! Road Signs Ahead by Toni Buzzeo, illustrated by Chi Birmingham
• Circle Under Berry by Carter Higgins
• Comparrotives by Janik Coat
• This Is Still Not A Book by Jean Jullien
• Turn Seek Find: Habitats by Ben Newman

Fiction Picture Book Finalists

• Arlo Draws an Octopus by Lori Mortensen, illustrated by Rob Sayegh Jr.
• Bodies Are Cool by Tyler Feder
• Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem by Amanda Gorman, illustrated by Loren Long
• Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn by Shannon Hale, illustrated by LeUyen Pham
• Someone Builds the Dream by Lisa Wheeler, illustrated by Loren Long
• The Midnight Fair by Gideon Sterer, illustrated by Mariachiara Di Giorgio
• Watercress by Andrea Wang, illustrated by Jason Chin

 

Easy Reader Finalists

• Chicken Little and the Big Bad Wolf by Sam Wedelich
• Fox at Night by Corey R.Tabor
• Geraldine Pu and Her Lunch Box, Too! by Maggie P. Chang
• Kitty and Dragon (Volume 1) by Meika Hashimoto, illustrated by Gillian Reid
• See the Dog: Three Stories About a Cat by David LaRochelle, illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka
• Yasmin the Librarian by Saadia Faruqi, illustrated by Hatem Aly

 

Early Chapter Book Finalists

• A Long Road on a Short Day by Gary D. Schmidt and Elizabeth Stickney,  illustrated by Eugene Yelchin
• Audrey L and Audrey W: Best Friends-ish by Carter Higgins, illustrated by Jennifer K. Mann
• Sydney and Taylor Explore the Whole Wide World by Jacqueline Davies, illustrated by Deborah Hocking
• Too Small Tola by Atinuke, illustrated by Onyinye Iwu
• Yasmin the Scientist by Saadia Faruqi

 

Elementary Nonfiction Finalists

• Bartali’s Bicycle: The True Story of Gino Bartali, Italy’s Secret Hero by Megan Hoyt, illustrated by Iacopo Bruno
• Code Breaker, Spy Hunter: How Elizebeth Friedman Changed the Course of Two World Wars
• by Laurie Wallmark, illustrated by Brooke Smart
• Mimic Makers: Biomimicry Inventors Inspired by Nature by Kristen Nordstrom, illustrated by Paul Boston
• Sakamoto’s Swim Club: How a Teacher Led an Unlikely Team to Victory by Julie Abery, illustrated by Chris Sasaki
• The Elephants Come Home: A True Story of Seven Elephants, Two People, and One Extraordinary Friendship by Kim Tomsic, illustrated by Hadley Hooper
• The Leaf Detective: How Margaret Lowman Uncovered Secrets in the Rainforest by Heather Lang, illustrated by Jana Christy
• We Are Still Here!: Native American Truths Everyone Should Know by Traci Sorell, illustrated by Frane Lessac

 

Middle Grade Nonfiction 

• Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer by Traci Sorell, illustrated by Natasha Donovan
• Mightier Than the Sword: Rebels, Reformers, and Revolutionaries Who Changed the World Through Writing by Rochelle Melander, illustrated by Melina Ontiveros
• The Curse of the Mummy: Uncovering Tutankhamun’s Tomb by Candace Fleming
• The Genius Under the Table: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Eugene Yelchin
• The World’s Most Pointless Animals: Or are they? by Philip Bunting
• Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Floyd Cooper
• Welcome to Your Period! by Yumi Stynes and Dr. Melissa Kang, illustrated by Jenny Latham

 

Elementary and Middle Grade Speculative Fiction Finalists

• Amari and the Night Brothers by B. B. Alston
• Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls by Kaela Rivera
• Kiki Kallira Breaks a Kingdom by Sangu Mandanna
• The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera
• The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy by Anne Ursu
• Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff

 

Middle Grade Fiction Finalists

• A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus
• Finding Junie Kim by Ellen Oh
• Flight of the Puffin by Ann Braden
• Linked by Gordon Korman
• Many Points of Me by Caroline Gertler
• Thanks a Lot, Universe by Chad Lucas
• Violets Are Blue by Barbara Dee

 

Poetry Finalists

• Call Me Athena: Girl from Detroit by Colby Cedar Smith
• Everywhere Blue by Joanne Rossmassler Fritz
• Me (Moth) by Amber McBride
• Red, White, and Whole by Rajani LaRocca
• Snow Birds by Kirsten Hall, illustrated by Jenni Desmond
• Starfish Lisa Fipps
• You Don’t Have to Be Everything: Poems for Girls Becoming Themselves edited by Diana Whitney

 

Elementary/Middle Grade Graphic Novel Finalists

• Borders by Thomas King, illustrated by Natasha Donovan
• Chunky by Yehudi Mercado
• Cranky Chicken by Katherine Battersby
• Jukebox by Nidhi Chanani
• Measuring Up by Lily LaMotte, illustrated by Ann Xu
• Salt Magic by Hope Larson, illustrated by Rebecca Mock
• The Legend of Auntie Po by Shing Yin Khor

 

Young Adult Graphic Novel Finalists

• Across the Tracks: Remembering Greenwood, Black Wall Street, and the Tulsa Race Massacre
• by Alverne Ball, illustrated by Stacey Robinson, Reynaldo Anderson (Contributor), Colette Yellow Robe (Contributor)
• Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms by Crystal Frasier, illustrated by Val Wise, lettered by Oscar O. Jupiter
• In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers: The Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Days, Weeks, Months, and Years after the 9/11 Attacks by Don Brown
• My Body in Pieces by Marie-Noëlle Hébert, translated by Shelley Tanaka
• My Last Summer with Cass by Mark Crilley
• Nubia: Real One by L.L. McKinney, illustrated by Robyn Smith
• The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag

 

High School Nonfiction Finalists

• Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask: Young Readers Edition by Anton Treuer
• In the Shadow of the Moon: America, Russia, and the Hidden History of the Space Race by Amy Cherrix
• Punching Bag by Rex Ogle
• The Power of Style by Christian Allaire
• The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks: Adapted for Young People by Jeanne Theoharis, adapted by Brandy Colbert and Jeanne Theoharis

 

Young Adult Fiction Finalists

• A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey
• Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas
• Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
• In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner
• Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
• The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe
• Why We Fly by Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal

 

Young Adult Speculative Fiction Finalists

• Bad Witch Burning by Jessica Lewis
• Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
• The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros
• The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna
• The Mirror Season by Anna-Marie McLemore
• The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He
• Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson