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2007 Cybils nominations are now closed. I am thrilled to be on the nominating committee for the MG/YA Non-Fiction category. While I haven't read all of these books yet, these books were nominated because someone really enjoyed them. I'm sure a few of these books will make it to my Great Books for Girls & Cool Books for Boys lists (Both lists are in serious need of some updating).

In case you haven't seen it yet, here is the list of nominated titles for the middle grade and young adult nonfiction category. Thank you, Jen, for putting together the code.

1607: A New Look at Jamestown
written by Karen Lange
National Geographic
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Across the Wide Ocean
written by Karen Romano Young
Harper Collins (Greenwillow)
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

America Dreaming: How Youth Changed America in the 60's
written by Laban Hill
Little, Brown
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Another Book About Design: Complicated Doesn't Make It Bad
written by Mark Gonyea
Henry Holt and Co.
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Artist to Artist: 23 Major Illustrators Talk to Children About Their Art
written by Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
Philomel
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Astrobiology (Cool Science)
written by Fred Bortz
Lerner
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Black and White Airmen: Their True History
written by John Fleischman
Houghton Mifflin
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Dangerous Book for Boys, The
written by Conn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden
Collins
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Daring Book for Girls, The
written by Andrea J. Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz
Collins
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Dinosaur Eggs Discovered!: Unscrambling the Clues
written by Lowell Dingus (and others)
Twenty-First Century Books
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Face to Face with Grizzlies
written by Joel Satore
National Georgraphic
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

From Slave to Superstar of the Wild West: The Awesome Story of Jim Beckwourth
written by Tom DeMund
Legends of the West Publishing
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Grief Girl
written by Erin Vincent
Delacorte
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Halloween Book of Facts and Fun, The
written by Wendie Old
Albert Whitman
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Jeannette Rankin: Political Pioneer
written by Gretchen Woelfle
Calkins Creek (Boyd Mills
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Let's Clear the Air: 10 Reasons Not to Start Smoking
written by Deanna Staffo
Lobster Press
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Marie Curie: Giants of Science #4
written by Kathleen Krull
Viking Juvenile
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Math Doesn't Suck: How to Survive Middle-School Math Without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail
written by Danica McKellar
Hudson Street Press
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Morris and Buddy: The Story of the First Seeing Eye Dog
written by Becky Hall
Albert Whitman & Company
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Muckrakers: How Ida Tarbell, Upton Sinclair, and Lincoln Steffens Helped Expose Scandal, Inspire Reform, and Invent Investigative Journalism
written by Ann Bausum
National Geographic Children's Books
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

My Feet Aren't Ugly
written by Debra Beck
Beaufort Books
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Ox, House, Stick: The Story of Our Alphabet
written by Don Robb
Charlesbridge
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Periodic Table: Elements With Style!, The
written by Adrian Dingle
Kingfisher
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Pocket Babies and Other Amazing Marsupials
written by Sneed B. Collard
Darby Creek Publishers
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Real Benedict Arnold, The
written by Jim Murphy
Clarion (Houghton Mifflin)
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Red: The Next Generation of American Writers--Teenage Girls--On What Fires Up Their Lives Today
written by Amy Goldwasser
Hudson Street Press
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Secret of Priest's Grotto: A Holocaust Survival Story
written by Peter Lane Taylor
Kar-Ben Publishing
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Smart-Opedia
written by Eve Drobot
Maple Tree Press
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Sneeze!
written by Alexandra Siy
Charlesbridge
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Snow Baby: The Arctic Childhood of Robert E. Peary's Daring Daughter, The
written by Katherine Kirkpatrick
Holiday House
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Social Climber's Guide to High School, The
written by Robyn Schneider
Simon Pulse
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Superfood or Superthreat: The Issue of Genetically Engineered Food
written by Kathlyn Gay
Enslow
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Tasting the Sky: a Palestinian Childhood
written by Ibtisam Barakat
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Titanic: An Interactive History Adventure, The
written by Bob Temple
Capstone Press
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Tracking Trash
written by Loree Griffin Burns
Houghton Mifflin
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Ultimate Interactive Atlas of the World
written by Elaine Jackson (and others)
Scholastic
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain, The
written by Peter Sis
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

We Are One: The Story of Bayard Rustin
written by Larry Dane Brimmer
Calkins Creek (Boyd Mills
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Whale Scientists: Solving the Mystery of Whale Strandings, The
written by Fran Hodgkins
Houghton Mifflin
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

What's Eating You?: Parasites--The Inside Story
written by Nicola Davies
Candlewick
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Who Was First
written by Russell Freedman
Clarion
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Wildly Romantic: The English Romantic Poets: The Mad, the Bad, and the Dangerous
written by Catherine M. Andronik
Henry Holt
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

World Made New: Why the Age of Exploration Happened and How It Changed the World, The
written by Marc Aronson
National Geographic
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!: The Beatles, Beatlemania
written by Bob Spitz
Little, Brown Young Readers
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

You Can Write a Story
written by Lisa Bullard
Two-Can Publishing, Inc.
Buy from Amazon Buy from BookSense (your local independent)

Here are links to the nomination lists in the other seven categories:

• Nonfiction Picture Books



• Fantasy and Science Fiction



• Graphic Novels



• Middle Grade Fiction



• Young Adult Fiction



• Fiction Picture Books



• Poetry

If you have a blog, please think about installing the Cybils widget from JacketFlap, with which you can display a new Cybils-nominated title every time your blog is refreshed. I've got mine set to show the MG/YA Non-Fiction Nominees. You can also customize colors and genres. Special thanks to Tracy Grand for providing this lovely widget free of charge for the Cybils.

Please note that if you purchase any of the Cybils titles by clicking through to Amazon or BookSense from any of the nominations posts (including this one) or from the Cybils widget a small commission will go to the Cybils organization. Proceeds will go towards prizes for the winners. Thanks for supporting the Cybils.

I just finished reading the final book of Harry Potter's incredible adventures. All I can say is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is perhaps the best ending to a series of books I have ever read. Ever. I was getting worried there with Book 4. That was somewhat painful to read. But, J.K. Rowling got it together with Books 5 and 6. And Book 7...what an amazing finish.

Boys and girls are going to love, love, love this series. The Harry Potter books are classics and will surely be much loved for years to come.

Now I must go and dispose of all these tissues.

We're already halfway through September and hopefully by now, all the children out there have adjusted to the school routine. Earlier this week, I reposted my book list for Cliques, Friendships and Self-Esteem. Today, I have some more books that would be great for boys as well. Keep in mind that adults should read these books first, and then use them as tools to help their children.

The Unwritten Rules of Friendship: Simple Strategies to Help your Child make Friends by Natalie Madorsky Elman and Eileen Kennedy-Moore: This book describes the different ways children interact with their friends, along with guidelines for parents to help their child understand their strengths to help nurture friendships.

Raise Your Child's Social IQ: Stepping Stones to People Skills for Kids by Cathi Cohen: This book is based on social skills training programs to help with social skills and awareness.

The Bully, The Bullied and the Bystander: From Preschool to High School -- How Parents and Teachers can break the Cycle of Violence by Barbara Coloroso: Learn how the bully, the bullied and the bystander all feed into each other's reaction; how to identify signs; and how each type of child can be taught to change their part in this destructive cycle.

Some light hearted books to read with your children:

Cliques, Phonies and other Baloney by Trevor Romain, ages 9-12: This easy to read book keeps it silly while exploring a tough subject for kids.

If you're looking for a good action-packed adventure book with sword wielding monks, high speed car chases, lots of blood and gore, sweeping helicopter rides, and an unexpected hero who gives you a few laughs and manages to save the world from destruction, look no further. Alfred Kropp is here. Oh, yeah.

This fifteen-year-old oversized underachiever, who is self-admittedly "not too quick on the uptake," will make you smirk and cheer as his bumbling ways turn into pure heroics through chance and necessity.

Rick Yancey, author of Book 1: The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp (2005) and Book 2: Alfred Kropp: The Seal of Solomon (2007), has written entertaining books boys are just gonna love to read. The cool thing was I felt like I could be watching these books in a movie...these books clip along at a fast pace with definitive action. Reluctant readers, awkward teens and dreamers will be encouraged by the "cinematic" thrill of Alfred's adventures and heroics. I was a little shocked when I first started reading the descriptions of the gruesome gore, but once I got past that, I realized much is still left to the imagination.

I have to admit, I couldn't wait to read The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp, once I found out that Arthurian legend would be infused throughout the book. I loved King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table as a kid. How cool is it that Alfred, a fifteen-year-old oversized "loser", is the one who easily manages to get Excalibur, King Arthur's magical sword, out of a secure location. You just know he's destined for something big, whether he's ready for it, or not.

Book 2, Alfred Kropp: Seal of Solomon, is not for the faint of heart. Even though Alfred saved the world in Book 1, he's considered to be a crazy misfit in school. Luck is on his side when a beautiful girl befriends him in school. Unfortunately for Alfred, he gets kidnapped and thrust into the center of a world crisis. The Seal of Solomon has been stolen. Demons, cooped up for thousands of years in the Holy Vessel, are released and ready to annihilate the world.

I have to say, despite the violence in both books, I enjoyed reading them. Alfred's wisecracks, his hearfelt sincerity and his willingness to go above and beyond to do right by his blunders, make Alfred an endearing and cool hero. Yes, these books are a little over the top and at times the storyline falters, but, overall, what boy wouldn't love to visualize being the hero who makes specially trained adults look like idiotic buffoons, and while he's at it, saves the world from total destruction? Oh, and by the way, on his way to saving the world...becomes a great sword fighter, finds out he's the last son of Sir Lancelot, inherits a gazillion dollars, drives the fastest car in the world, hurtles at break neck speed in a death defying sky dive...each adventure is just as thrilling as the next. Reluctant readers, hero wannabees, boys and some girls will enjoy reading Alfred Kropp's adventures. And really, isn't that ultimately what we want for our children? To enjoy reading?

And that is what Rick Yancey does well. He draws the reader into the total reading experience, so the action unfolds right before your very eyes. Who wants to read hum drum books, if you can read a fun, action-packed adventure book? James Bond, make some room...Alfred Kropp is here to stay.


The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp
Author: Rick Yancey
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books (September 15, 2005)
Recommended for Ages: Grade 8 and above
Reading Source: Borrowed book from the library

Alfred Kropp: The Seal of Solomon
Author: Rick Yancey
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books (May 1, 2007)
Recommended for Ages: Grade 8 and above
Reading Source: Borrowed book from the library

I finished reading The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke. I liked this book much better than Funke's book, Inkheart. Five-year-old Bo and twelve-year-old Prosper are two brothers on the run from their Aunt and Uncle, the Hartliebs, who only want to adopt little Bo and leave Prosper to a life of foster homes. The brothers are unwilling to be separated, and go to Venice, a magical city their mother loved.

The boys soon encounter The Thief Lord, a thirteen-year-old named Scipio, who helps them and other runaways, even though he cannot help himself. The Hartliebs commission Victor Getz, a detective, to locate Bo. Add to this story a young girl named Hornet, who loves to read; Riccio and Mosca, young boys who are anxious to prove themselves able to The Thief Lord; stealing from the rich to survive; an interesting assignment; a couple of kind hearted adults; and a dishonest antiques dealer named Barbarossa...and you've got an interesting Oliver Twist/Robin Hood type storyline.

Cornelia Funke is a German author, and I'm wondering whether something is lost in the translation. Especially since Cornelia Funke is an award winning author. While I enjoyed reading The Thief Lord and liked the characters, I found the plot and pacing disappointing at times. So I'm wondering, is it the translation, the book, or my reading tastes? Hmmm.

I put The Thief Lord on my list, since I think children will enjoy the adventures in this book and imagining what it would be like to answer to no one but themselves. Children ages 9-12 will probably appreciate the book the most.