Cybils KidLit Challenge review #3

A day late (and usually many dollars short), but I'm back in the game for my participation in the Cybils KidLit Challenge that we're hosting over on 5 Minutes for Books, and I'm chugging right along toward my goal of reading the twelve winners across all the Cybils Awards categories. In my first review, I tackled the winners in the Fiction Picture Book, Easy Reader and Middle Grade Fiction categories, and my second round-up included Short Chapter Book, Poetry and Nonfiction Picture Book winners.

This month, I challenged myself to pick up the titles in two categories that I would not normally ever approach on my own: Graphic Novels. This category has two winners- one in the elementary/middle school age range, and one teen selection.

Meanwhile, written and illustrated by Jason Shiga, blew my mind. This is a graphic novel version of the "Choose Your Own Adventures" books from back in the day... but on steroids!! Because I'm old and apparently feeble-minded, it took me a couple tries to figure out how to navigate this book, but once I got the hang of it, I was flying through scenario after scenario, intrigued by the sci-fi angle of the story and all the time wondering how in the world Jason Shiga got this all mapped out! Incredible. I'm going to pass this along to ten year old JAM to see what he makes of it, but I predict he's going to have a lot of fun with it, too. I just hope he doesn't get as caught up as I did, just like when I read the CYOA books as a kid, making sure that I covered each and every scenario, because it is a HUGE task with this incredible book.

Transitioning from that graphic novel to the winner in the teen section was a somber experience. G. Neri's Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty is serious and heavy and hugely affecting. Somehow I remained oblivious to the story of Robert "Yummy" Sandifer in the summer of 1994, even though I was technically an adult at the time. After reading the short Wikipedia entry on him, I read through this YA graphic novel in one quick session, with my heart racing and aching at the same time. What an all-around tragic story of pain, abuse, and an awful environment for children to grow up in. Randy DuBurke's illustrations match the tone of this graphic novel- stark and sharp and filled with emotion. This is a powerful telling of a horrific true life story, and while JAM is definitely too young to read this right now, it will be one that I'd love for him to read in a few years, because it's a story that makes readers think.

If you've been reading some Cybils nominated or winning books lately, we'd love to hear what you thought. Link up with us or comment on our Cybils KidLit Challenge!

In awe of the power of a book,