CYBILS Winners 2022

Everyone loves a winner and I had such a good time reading the finalists for elementary/middle grade and YA graphic novels this year! And the discussion with my fellow judges was fun; what a bunch of intelligent and interesting women who care about youth and books and particularly graphic novels and all that they bring to reading. And a number of us were in the graphic novel group last year so it was fun to see some familiar faces.

For a complete list of the CYBILS winners, check out the CYBILS Blog. I have listed the winners for my category below with my thoughts. I'll post reviews of all the books I read over the next few days.

Elementary/Middle Grade

I was really torn between this one and Swim Team, but we all agreed that this graphic novel had wonderful art work and an important story to tell. We loved that the novel seamlessly incorporated both English and Spanish on every page, that identity figured large, and that the ideas of the unhoused, belonging, and friendship were strong.

Young Adult

The competition was fierce this year and I would have been satisfied if Victory Stand! or Numb to This had won. But, we all agreed that Messy Roots had it all: awesome art work, timely topic, strong characters, and an important message about identity, family, and knowing what matters to yourself.