Secrets & Sharing Soda's Books of the Year (2012)

It's the last day of 2012, so it's time to tally up the books I've read and choose my favorites.

First, the stats:

I read 1516 books this year (16 more than my goal, and 500 more than last year). They break down as follows:

• 23 books for adults (increase of 10 since last year)
• 79 board books, 14 of which I read at story time and class visits (increase of 39 since last year)
• 768 picture books, 300 of which I read at story time and class visits, and 256 of which I read for the Caldecott Challenge (increase of 228 since last year)
• 295 easy readers, 17 of which I read at story times and class visits, and 29 of which I read in my role as a Cybils panelist (increase of 168 since last year)
• 120 chapter books, 45 of which I read in my role as a Cybils panelist (increase of 13 since last year)
• 192 middle grade books (increase of 51 since last year)
• 39 young adult books (decrease of 9 since last year)

From these books, I have selected my favorites in the categories and genres that I regularly review. My criteria for selecting these books were: literary quality, kid appeal, personal enjoyment of the book, and potential use in story time/library programs. Titles link to my reviews.

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Favorite Young Adult Contemporary Novel 

Since You Left Me
by Allen Zadoff  

(Egmont USA)

Honorable Mention:
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (Dutton Books - Penguin Group)
Love and Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo (Knopf Books for Young Readers - Random House)
Nothing Special by Geoff Herbach (Sourcebooks Fire)

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Favorite Middle Grade Novel 

Flying the Dragon

by Natalie Dias Lorenzi

(Charlesbridge) 

Honorable Mention: 

The Boy on Cinnamon Street by Phoebe Stone (Arthur A. Levine Books- Scholastic)
Ruby Redfort: Look into My Eyes by Lauren Child ( HarperCollins Children's Books)
About Average by Andrew Clements (Atheneum Books for Young Readers- Simon & Schuster)

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Favorite Chapter Book

Stella Batts: Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
by Courtney Sheinmel, illustrated by Jennifer A. Bell
(Sleeping Bear Press) 

Honorable Mention: 

Hooey Higgins and the Shark by Steve Voake (Candlewick Press)
Ivy and Bean Make the Rules by Annie Barrows (Chronicle Books)
Calvin Coconut: Rocket Ride by Graham Salisbury (Wendy Lamb Books - Random House)

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Favorite Easy Reader 

Frog and Fly

by Jeff Mack
(Philomel Books - Penguin Group)

Honorable Mention: 

Bink and Gollie: Two for One by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee, illustrated by Tony Fucile (Candlewick Press)
Penny and her Doll by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow Books - Harper Collins)

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Favorite Picture Book

Otto the Book Bear

by Katie Cleminson

(Disney-Hyperion)

Honorable Mention:
Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen (Balzer + Bray- Harper Collins)
Faster! Faster! by Leslie Patricelli (Candlewick Press)
Lemonade in Winter by Emily Jenkins, illustrated by G. Brian Karas  (Schwartz & Wade  - Random House)

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Favorite Book in Graphic Format

Secret Diary
by Julien Neel

(Lerner Publishing Group)

Honorable Mention:
Her Permanent Record by Jimmy Gownley (Atheneum Books for Young Readers- Simon & Schuster)

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What were your favorite books of 2012? Did you nominate them for Cybils? Tomorrow, find out the names of the finalists in each category over on the Cybils blog.