The Cybils: 2007 finalists (part I)

As promised, the finalists in the first four categories have been announced. As you can see, the nominating panels had a little trouble narrowing the choice to just five finalists - two lists include seven books, one contains eight, and the fourth was actually split into two lists of five books each.

Finalists in the other four categories (Non-Fiction Picture Books, Young Adult Fiction, Graphic Novels and Middle-Grade/YA Non-Fiction) will be named on 6 January.

The four links below take you to the announcements at the Cybils site, which have brief descriptions of the books, along with further links to each books pages at Amazon and Booksense (and in some cases, to reviews of the books).

Fiction Picture Books:
Pssst! - by Adam Rex
Go to Bed, Monster! - written by Natasha Wing, illustrated by Sylvie Kantorovitz
The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County - written by Janice N Harrington, illustrated by Shelley Jackson
Leaves - by David Ezra Stein
Four Feet, Two Sandals - written by Karen Lynn William and Khadra Mohammad, illustrated by Doug Chayka
Knuffle Bunny Too - by Mo Willems
The Incredible Book-Eating Boy - by Oliver Jeffers

Middle Grade Fiction:
A Crooked Kind of Perfect - by Linda Urban
Cracker: The Best Dog In Vietnam - by Cynthia Kadohata
Emma Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree - by Lauren Tarshis
Leap of Faith - by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Leepike Ridge - by Nathan D. Wilson
Louisiana's Song - by Kerry Madden
Miss Spitfire - by Sarah Miller
Wild Girls - by Pat Murphy

Fantasy and Science Fiction (Elementary/Middle-Grade):
The Chaos King - by Laura Ruby
Into the Wild - by Sarah Beth Durst
The Land of the Silver Apples - by Nancy Farmer
Skulduggery Pleasant - by Derek Landy
The True Meaning of Smekday - by Adam Rex

Fantasy and Science Fiction (Teen/YA):
Book of a Thousand Days - by Shannon Hale
Incarceron - by Catherine Fisher
Northlander - by Meg Burden
Repossessed - by A M Jenkins
Skin Hunger - by Kathleen Duey

Poetry:
Animal Poems - written by Valerie Worth, illustrated by Steve Jenkins
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village - written by Laura Amy Schlitz, illustrated by Robert Byrd and Trina Schart Hyman
Here's a Little Poem: A Very First Book of Poetry - edited by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Polly Dunbar
Poems in Black and White - written and illustrated by Kate Miller
This is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness - written by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski
Twist: Yoga Poems - written by Janet S Wong, illustrated by Julie Paschkis
Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath - written by Stephanie Hemphill

Well. Neither Un Lun Dun nor Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows made the cut. There's still hope for Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature, though....