I’m on the nominating panel for the Cybil Award for Middle Grade Fiction. The Cybil Awards are blogger-nominated and blogger-chosen awards for children’s and young adult literature. This year is the second year for the Cybil Awards (2006 winners), and we’ve had a lot of books nominated in seven categories: Picture Books; Non-fiction Picture Books; Middle Grade fiction; Poetry; Young Adult fiction; Non-fiction (YA/MG); and Graphic Novels.

Anyone with an e-mail address may nominate one book per category. Then groups of bloggers get to work. First, a nominating committee reads ALL the titles in a given category. After nearly two arduous months, this committee winnows the nominees to five finalists. A second committee of bloggers considers the shortlist and, after much debate, chooses the best of the best for 2007. The nominations close on November 21. So if your favorite middle grade fiction book, published in 2007, is NOT on this list go over to the Cybils blog and nominate it. Or if you have a favorite 2007 book in another category, check to see if it’s been nominated.

As if I don’t have enough to read . . .

Annie’s War by Jacqueline Levering Sullivan.

Annie: The Mysterious Morgan Horse by Ellen F Feld.

Aurora County All Stars by Deborah Wiles. Semicolon review of The Aurora County All-Stars.

Bearwalker by Joseph Bruchac

Bird Springs by Carolyn Marsden.

The Broken Bike Boy & The Queen of 33rd Street by Sharon Flake. Semicolon review of The Broken Bike Boy and the Queen of 33rd Street.

Camel Rider by Prue Mason. Semicolon review of Camel Rider.

Cassie Was Here by Caroline Hickey.

Cat on the Mat is Flat by Andy Griffiths, illustrated by Terry Denton.

Celeste’s Harlem Renaissance by Eleanora E Tate. Semicolon review here.

Chess Rumble by G Neri.

Clarice Bean, Don’t Look Now by Lauren Child.

Class Favorite by Taylor Morris.

Cork & Fuzz: Good Sports by Dori J. Chaconas, illustrated by Lisa McCue. Betsy-Bee and Semicolon joint review of Cork and Fuzz.

Cracker by Cynthia Kadohata.

A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban.

Dear Jo by Christina Kilbourne.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney. Karate Kid reviews Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Edward’s Eyes by Patricia Maclachlan.

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis.

Ellie McDoodle by Ruth Barshaw.

Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree by Lauren Tarshis. Brown Bear and Semicolon joint review of Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree.

Freak by Marcella Pixley.

Friskative Dog by Susan Straight.

Greetings From Planet Earth by Barbara Kerley.

Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate. Semicolon review of Home of the Brave.

Honestly, Mallory! by Laurie Friedman

How To Steal A Dog by Barbara O’Connor. Karate Kid’s review of How To Steal a Dog.

If a Tree Falls At Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko. Brown Bear and Semicolon review If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.

The Isle of the Swords by Wayne Thomas Batson

Kiki Strke: The Empress’s Tomb by Kirsten Miller. Brown Bear’s review of Kiki Strike, the first book in this series.

Kimchi & Calamari by Rose Kent.

Leap of Faith by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley.

Leepike Ridge by Nathan D. Wilson. Karate Kid’s review of Leepike Ridge. Semicolon review of Leepike Ridge.

Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies. Karate Kid’s review of The Lemonade War. Semicolon review of The Lemonade War.

Letters from Rapunzel by Sarah Lewis Holmes.

Louisiana’s Song by Kerry Madden. Semicolon review of Louisiana’s Song.

Lucy Rose: Working Myself to Bits and Pieces by Katy Kelly.

Me and the Pumpkin Queen by Marlane Kennedy.

The Middle of Somewhere by JB Cheany Semicolon review of The Middle of Somewhere.

Middle School is Worse Than Meat Loaf by Jennifer Holm. Semicolon review of Middle Is Worse Than Meatloaf.

Miss Spitfire by Sarah Miller. Semicolon review of Miss Spitfire.

Moxy Maxwell Does Not Like Stuart Little by Peggy Gifford. Besty-Bee and Semicolon joint review of Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little.

My Last Best Friend by Julie Bowe.

Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Stewart. Semicolon review of The Mysterious Benedict Society.

No Castles Here by ACE Bauer

No Talking by Andrew Clements. Karate Kid and Semicolon joint review of No Talking.

Paint the Wind by Pam Munoz Ryan.

Penina Levine is a Hard Boiled Egg by Rebecca O’Connell.

Perch, Mrs Sackets, and Crows Nest by Karen Pavlicin.

The Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin.

Qwikpick Adventure Society by Sam Riddleburger

Reaching For Sun by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer. Semicolon review here.

Regarding the Bees by Kate & Sara Klise

Rickshaw Girl by Mitali Perkins. Semicolon review of Rickshaw Girl.

Rising Star of Rusty Nail by Lesley MM Blume. Semicolon review of The Rising Star of Rusty Nail.

Runaround by Helen Hemphill.

The Secret Identity of Devon Delaney by Lauren Barnholdt.

Seeing Sky Blue Pink by Candice Ransom.

So Totally Emily Ebers by Lisa Yee.

Social Experiments of Dorie Dilts: Duped by Popular Demand by PG Kain.

Someone Named Eva by Joan Wolf. Semicolon review of Someone Named Eva.

The Talented Clementine by Sara Pennypacker.

Tales of a Texas Boy by Marva Dasef.

Tall Tales by Karen Day. Semicolon review here.

The Thing About Georgie by Lisa Graff. Semicolon review of The Thing About Georgie.

Twelve by Lauren Myracle

Way Down Deep by Ruth White. Semicolon review of Way Down Deep.

Webb’s Wondrous Tales Book 2 by Mack Webb & Celia Webb (illus).

Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt.

What the Dickens by Gregory Maguire

When Heaven Fell by Carolyn Marsden

Wild Girls by Pat Murphy.