oh the nonfiction we will read – her life with books

Nominations do not open until October, but I already have Cybils on the brain. Last year, I did that thing that stupid newbies always do…. you know, the thing when you think you have plennnttttyyyy of time to complete A Really Ginormous Task so you’re just going to start by doing a little, you know, a few Xs and Ys a week, ease into it, blah blah blah. That’s bullshit. Worst idea ever. Come November, you’re little “ease into it” phase will warp into a blistering, blathering frenzy where you aren’t really sure how in the world you will finish your Really Ginormous Task, even if there wasn’t such a thing as Thanksgiving or Housekeeping or Other Various Tasks that Keep Food on Your Table.

So yeah, Cybils on the brain. But my brain might just have to run in circles for another week because it doesn’t seem that 2013 was the best year for YA nonfiction. Last year Bomb was on everyone’s minds, Titanic got a little buzz, and I read the Temple Grandin bio back in January. Russell Freedman had a new book, Dorreen Rappaport and Marc Aronson, too.

It doesn’t help that while last year we read middle grade AND YA titles and this year we will split. Once it comes time to select a short list this division will prove immensely helpful, I think; it is almost impossible to compare a book written for a 4th grade audience to a book written for a high school audience. Right now, though, as I mine through old School Library Journals and Booklists, I have no stinkin’ idea how this division will be made. So much juvenile nonfiction hits that 5th through 8th grade audience, or 6th through 9th, or 5th and up. This will make for an interesting reading period, definitely, but for now, I am flummoxed.

I did manage to find a handful of teen nonfiction to put on hold, in a desperate attempt to get even a week’s leg up on that Really Ginormous Task. I suspect that most of these will get nominations. If they don’t, I’m happy to have read even one extra book to help broaden my knowledge of this year’s nonfiction offerings.

That last line was a bald-faced lie. Oh, please just repeat that back to me at the end of November and watch me weep openly at the prospect of reading one more unmandated nonfiction book. Please.