FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
	Kidlit awards grow out of bloggers' frustration

	CHICAGO, Illinois—Like all revolutions, this one started small, 
	with a single post on a blog devoted to children's literature. The 
	Newbery Medals seemed too elitist and the Quills, well, not enough 
	so. 

	Was there a middle ground, an annual award that would recognize both 
	a book's merits and popularity? 

	The answer: invent one! Within hours, this meme had circulated among 
	some of the biggest bloggers in the burgeoning kidlitosphere, the 
	cozy corner of the Web where children's books are given the same 
	regard as their grown-up counterparts. 

	Within days, the new awards had a name and a website: The Cybils, a 
	loose acronym for Children's and YA Bloggers' Literary Awards, at 
	www.cybils.com. Nominations quickly opened in eight categories, 
	from picture books up to Young Adult fiction and even graphic 
	novels. 

	In keeping with the democratic and unpredictable nature of the 
	blogosphere, anybody can nominate a book, so long as it was 
	published in 2006 in English. Yep, anybody: teens can log their 
	choices, authors can nominate themselves, random Googlers can leave 
	word too. 

	Nominations close Nov. 20. Then comes the literary part. Panels 
	comprised of bloggers with expertise in their category will cull the 
	lists down to five finalists (to be announced Jan. 1). After that, 
	judges step in to pick the winners. 

	Who are these smarty-pants panelists and judges? Some have 
	impressive bona fides, including, yes, a Newbery judge. Others are 
	your garden-variety librarians, teachers, homeschoolers, authors and 
	illustrators, parents and the kidlit-obsessed. 

	"Think of it as Wal-Mart meets Nordstrom over kids' books," said 
	Anne Boles Levy, a freelance writer who blogs at Book Buds Kidlit 
	Reviews. "Bedtime will never be the same."