The Cybils Awards, Finally!

The winners of the Cybils awards were announced yesterday. I wasn't sure how I was going to get through the last day of waiting--and then I had a migraine and skipped ahead an entire day. If I hadn't, I would have predicted winners...and only been right about Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry.

I think I was the first person in the first-round panel to read the book--reluctantly, I might add, because it had a dead guy on the cover. It was one of the first books I read because I happened to have a copy on hand, and I was hooked. Now, off to strongarm some more readers into buying a copy.

I also think that it was a strong year for young adult fantasy and science fiction, in numbers and in content. There were about 150 books considered, and as I (think I) mentioned before, I would have loved to have had more room for finalists. I would have loved to honor another dozen or so books. A book by an author whose story structure isn't quite there yet, but whose voice is the heir to Diana Wynne Jones. A fairy tale that reminded me of warm places and spice and the sound of humming. A funny book about death. A con (almost) gone wrong. A superhero who isn't. One of the best techno-books I've read. A needling look at colonialism. A girl who defeats the most fearsome witch ever. A girl who just might be crazy. A couple of books I didn't like very much, but that I'd very much like to recommend to others. And that's not even mentioning the other finalists!

But that's the way awards go.

And I'm certainly not unhappy--Rot and Ruin has all of the elements I was looking for in a winner, and was the one I suspected had the appeal and elements I would have looked for in a winner: adventure, high stakes, pitch-perfect teen questioning, character diversity that's not a "message," romance, complications, samurai cowboy philosophy, drama. And zombies, but I didn't know I was looking for zombies.

Congratulations to Jonathan Maberry. Thanks to the many Cybils judges, administrators, and supporters.

You can see the books I read and wrote about here.

Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

I didn't want to read Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry (Simon & Schuster). The cover is really icky and scary looking and yes, I do judge books by their covers. And sometimes, I am so wrong, because this was an awesome read.

Benny Imura (half Irish, half Japanese) can't remember a time when the world wasn't pretty much taken over by zombies. He blames his older half-brother, Tom, for saving him and leaving his parents to be zombified during the zombiepocalypse, so he really doesn't want to be his brother's apprentice and become a zombie bounty hunter. He changes his mind when he sees that Tom wants to change the world: Tom isn't motivated by money, but by helping families and zombies get closure in their undeath.

When Benny is collecting zombie trading cards, he gets one of The Lost Girl, an almost mythical figure who's been living on her own in the Rot and Ruin outside the small, enclosed safe town where Benny and Tom live. Wondering about her isn't safe, though, because it draws the attention of other bounty hunters who are rumored to take kids into the Rot and Ruin for the Z Games, where Christians vs. lions has become kids vs. zombies for the pleasure of men who know that outside of the rare safe town, there is no law. And it draws attention to Nix, Benny's friend who's just learning to fight. Can Benny and Tom save her? Can she save herself? Or are they all destined to die?

I've never been particularly interested in zombies, but Rot and Ruin brought a lot more to the table. It felt pitch-perfect as a teen book, because sure, it's about zombies--but really it's about waking to what the big conflicts in the world are and deciding what kind of person you want to be. Just without the "The more you know!" ad at the end.

I read this book as a first-round judge for the Cybils Awards, which   means that I  may have received a review copy from the publisher (or not; I own a lot of the books in this category). I  read  some books  nominated for the YA fantasy and science fiction  category  in 2010 before  the nomination period, and may have already  reviewed  them or declined  to make a public review; these books might  not have a  Cybils post tag.  As a first-round judge, I was tasked with  helping  create a shortlist of  books. My personal reviews do not  reflect any  actions or discussions of the  judging committee.