Three Graphic Novels Take Cybils Awards

The winners of the Cybils (Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards—should’t that be the CYABLAs?) were announced last week, and although there are only two graphic novel categories, three graphic novels took the honors.

The award-winners are…

A Trip to the Bottom of the World with Mouse, by Frank Viva (Toon Books)
This was the surprise winner, as it was nominated in the Easy Reader category. At Paste Magazine, Hillary Brown writes

Mouse and his human companion mostly focus on lists—kinds of penguins, things the motion of a boat makes it difficult to do, small things, things that swim in the water—and the action is minimal without feeling aggressively educational. Clear, cool, and beautiful, it belongs on your bookshelf even if you’re considerably older than four.

Giants Beware! by Jorge Aguirre and Rafael Rosado (First Second)
Giants Beware! took the honors for Best Graphic Novel in the Elementary and Middle Grade category. No surprise here, as this book has gotten a lot of kudos over the past year. Here’s Mike Pawuk’s take, from a review right here at GC4K:

Giants Beware! is non-stop humorous adventure written with a lot of attention to detail in creating a believable characters. Even throwaway characters like the farmers who come to rescue the kids have a lot of charm to them, and the monsters—who might terrify a 7-year-old since some of them are pretty spooky-looking—for the most part are sympathetic and have a reason for some of their actions.

Friends With Boys, by Faith Erin Hicks
This won the Graphic Novel award in the Young Adult category. Again, it’s no surprise. Here’s what Pamela Paul had to say in the New York Times:

Hicks excels at depicting adolescent emotion and the way feelings ricochet off the actions and reactions of others, each teenager suffering a constant and confusing onslaught of hurt and acceptance, infatuation and rejection, loneliness and relief. Her black-and-white panels, often wordless, are better at conveying these fleeting but deeply felt states than they are at depicting action, which is sometimes lost in the shuffle. She also shows flashes of clever humor, as when she labels an image of two brothers embracing “Manly Hug.”

Filed under: All Ages, Graphic Novels, Young Adult