Cybils nominations start tomorrow - share your favorites!

The Cybils awards are given each year by bloggers for the year's best children's and young adult titles. Nominations for the 2012 Cybils open just after the stroke of midnight (Pacific time) as Sunday turns into Monday. Anyone can nominate and it's a really great thing to do. I'd love to encourage more families and kids to nominate their favorite books.

Anyone may nominate one book per genre between October 1st - 15th. This year, the Cybils organizers have tried to make the form mobile-friendly - from my beta testing, it works great! Sheila Ruth did amazing things creating this nomination form.

The Cybils Awards are given for books in the following categories (these links take you to the category description):

• Book Apps
• Easy Readers/Short Chapter Books
• Fantasy & Science Fiction
• Fiction Picture Books
• Graphic Novels
• Middle Grade Fiction
• Non-Fiction Picture Books
• Non-Fiction: Middle Grade & Young Adult
• Poetry
• Young Adult Fiction

Do you have favorites that immediately come to mind? I was just going over with my students the books they've read since the beginning of the year - it's such a great thing to do. Take a moment and reflect on all the reading you and your children have done this past year. Do any new books stand out? Nominate them!

What books are eligible for this contest? Any English or bilingual books published in the U.S. or Canada between the end of one contest and start of another. For 2012, that means books released between Oct. 16, 2011 and Oct. 15, 2012. Books must be specifically published for the children’s or young adult market.

Nominations run from October 1st to 15th for the public. Publishers have been asked to wait until after that to nominate any books that might have been overlooked. So head over to the Cybils site starting Monday, October 1st and nominate your favorite book that's been published in the past year.

Full disclosure: I am the Chair of the Book Apps Cybils Committee. I love this award and have been honored to be part of this organization. It's run by a dedicated group of volunteers who write blogs about children's and YA books.

Mary Ann