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July 9, 2009

In This Issue

From the Editors

Many of you are currently on your way to Chicago, to attend the ALA’s annual conference. We hope everyone has a wonderful time; look for our photo-essay of authors and events at ALA, in next week’s issue of Children’s Bookshelf!

In the News

  • New CPSC Head Promises to Make CPSIA a Priority
    Last Friday's Senate confirmation of Inez Tenenbaum as the new head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission has given many in the publishing industry hope that some of the issues surrounding the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act may finally be resolved. In her prepared remarks before the U.S. Senate’s Commerce Committee on June 16, Tenenbaum noted that the implementation of the Act will be her highest priority. more » » » 
  • Hammond Starts Picture Book Line  
    Hammond Publishing will start a line of children's picture books this fall. Themes of the new line will center around self-awareness, the importance of personal choices and social awareness. Six titles are set to be released in the debut list. The new picture book line follows the introduction earlier this year of illustrated nonfiction books for adults and children by Hammond, which is best known as a publisher of maps and reference material. more » » » 


  • “Children’s Book Authors for $1,000, Alex...”
    The answer: “This 30-year-old kids’ book writer just appeared on Jeopardy! and won $44,200.” The question: “Who is Tui Sutherland?” She is the author, under both her own name and four pseudonyms, of more than two dozen novels, including This Must Be Love, the Avatars trilogy, and her Pet Trouble series. And last month, TV viewers saw her win big on the long-running game show hosted by Alex Trebek. more » » » 

  • Capstone Turns to Sports
    Capstone Publishers is teaming with Sports Illustrated Kids to publish three lines of sports books for children. Fiction and nonfiction titles containing sports themes will be produced for elementary and middle-grade readers in three different formats: high/low informational, graphic novels, and illustrated chapter books. The partnership will continue through spring 2012, with a total of 82 titles scheduled for release over the course of the next three years. more » » » 

Blogs

Book News

  • Sisterhood of the Traveling ARCs?
    Plenty of authors go on road trips, meeting fans at bookstores and other venues. Mary Pearson, however, is taking it a step further. Four advance reading copies of her latest YA novel, The Miles Between, headed out last week on a cross-country road-trip – without the author accompanying them. The four galleys began their odyssey on May 28, and are scheduled to wind up on the desk of Pearson's editor, Kate Farrell, in the Flatiron Building by September 1. more » » » 
  • Author Throws Online Party to Benefit School
    Children’s author Cynthea Liu believes in putting her money where her mouth is. And she’s succeeded in encouraging others to put their money down for a good cause. Liu, a native of Oklahoma and author of The Great Call of China, launched her second book for middle-grade readers, Paris Pan Takes the Dare (Putnam, June), with an online "slumber party," featuring an auction to benefit a Title I school in an impoverished and crime-ridden area in Oklahoma City. more » » » 

In the Media

  • From the New York Times:
    In a column about the importance of keeping children interested in reading over the summer, Nick Kristof listed what he called the 10 "Best Kids' Books Ever."

    His column generated more than 2000 comments, which can be viewed on Kristof's blog; many readers wanted to add their own favorites, while others, as Kristof wrote in a followup blog post, "pointed out that New York Times readers are probably the last people who need the advice to get their kids reading. And the kind of books that I and others mentioned (classics, white middle class protagonists, or animals that behave like middle class white families) may not resonate quite as much among poor kids who need to read." more » » » 
  • From the Guardian:
    The recent publication in the U.K. of Tender Morsels, a YA novel by Margo Lanagan, is drawing some controversy because of graphic scenes in the book, highlighting recent calls to label the age ranges on books for children. more » » » 
  • From School Library Journal:
    A school librarian wrote an open letter to book publishers with her top 10 list of suggestions for them, including “Better editing,” “Give that cover a makeover,” and “Stop changing the title in different countries.” more » » » 
  • From the New York Review of Books:
    In an essay on the wilderness of childhood, novelist Michael Chabon wonders, Are kids getting enough real-life adventure to feed their imaginations? more » » » 
  • From PublishingPerspectives.com:
    Macmillan Education has a YA series, Island Fiction, dedicated to publishing books written specifically for the Caribbean islands. Click here to read more.

    Click here to see our full list of In the Media stories.more » » » 

In Brief

  • Don’t Let the Pigeon Touch the Keyboard!
    He hasn't tweeted so much as a peep just yet, but Mo Willems's Pigeon already has 350 followers (and counting) on his brand-new Twitter feed. Willems will be in Chicago this weekend attending ALA's annual conference, and Pigeon will be tweeting throughout the show. In addition to his ALA appearance on Sunday, Willems is scheduled to appear at the Art Institute of Chicago on Friday to read from Knuffle Bunny Too. Artwork from that book is on display at the museum's current exhibit "Picture Perfect: Art from Caldecott Award Books, 2006–2009," which runs through November 2010. more » » » 
  • Lin’s Latest
    Author Grace Lin's new middle-grade novel, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (Little, Brown, July), was celebrated last month at a launch party at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Mass. Lin baked cookies and made gift bags for the event; the latter included cupcakes featuring Chinese characters. Certain cupcakes also had coins underneath—readers who found them will have their "name or likeness" used in Lin's next book. The author also engineered some fun for fans who weren't at the event: the book's Web site offers Facebook quizzes Lin created (such as "What dim sum are you?") as well as a book trailer, activity kit, audio excerpt and more. more » » » 

Q&A

  • Q & A with Michael Grant
    Q: Gone’s initial premise seems like a much more extreme version of Lord of the Flies. Was Golding’s book a major influence on you? 
    A: You know what’s weird? I didn’t realize at first that I was writing something influenced by Lord of the Flies. I was about halfway through the book, and I turned to my wife and said, "Hell, I’m writing Lord of the Flies."  more » » » 

Featured Reviews

  • Trouble Gum
    Matthew Cordell. Feiwel and Friends, $16.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-312-38774-7 Working with a stripped-down palette of black, white, red and bubblegum pink, Cordell's (Mighty Casey) first solo effort evokes irrepressible boyhood with laughs throughout. Stir-crazy on a rainy day, older brother Ruben and his little brother, Julius, two piglets at loose ends, are given some gum by their Grammy, but not without a reminder from Mom about the bubblegum rules (“Don't swallow your gum. Don't play with your gum. And don't blow big, sticky bubbles with your gum”). Unsurprisingly, they can't resist the temptation to do all these things and more…. more » » » 
  • The Word Snoop
    Ursula Dubosarsky, illus. by Tohby Riddle. Dial, $16.99 (272p) ISBN 978-0-8037-3406-7 Using word puzzles, codes, puns and a wealth of information, Australian author Dubosarsky (The Red Shoe) explores the enigma that is the English language. The eponymous Word Snoop leads an entertaining adventure that researches the peoples and influences that have shaped English over the past 1,500 years (“I sometimes think English is like a big old wall that people have been scribbling on for centuries,” quips the snoop). Beginning with an overview of early writing and alphabets before moving on to the ins and outs of English, the snoop's reader-directed narration offers playful and engaging explanations of punctuation and silent letters among other elements of language… more » » » 

  •  






Rights Report

Nic Sheff, whose memoir about surviving his meth addiction, Tweak, was published around the same time as his father's memoir of the same experience (Beautiful Boy), has sold a new memoir, We All Fall Down, to Elizabeth Bewley at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. It will pick up where Tweak left off, detailing his relapse and struggle to get sober. Amanda Urban at ICM sold North American rights; the pub date is scheduled for spring 2011.

Julie Strauss-Gabel at Dutton won North American rights at auction to Nova Ren Suma's YA debut, Imaginary Girls. The novel, tentatively slated for summer 2011, follows two sisters, one of whom is shunned by their town after they discover a dead body in the local reservoir. Suma has ghost-written more than 17 YA books. Michael Bourret of Dystel & Goderich was the agent.

People

Ruth Katcher has been named editor-at-large at Egmont USA, which launches its first list this fall. Katcher was most recently an executive editor at HarperCollins Children's Books, and has held editorial positions at Random House and Simon & Schuster.

Pamela Sader has been named v-p of sales and marketing for the Heinemann-Raintree imprint of Capstone Publishers. Sader will lead Heinemann-Raintree's U.S.-based business efforts. She has worked in educational publishing for 18 years, most recently as senior
v-p of sales and marketing of Gareth Stevens Publishing, and v-p of marketing at Scholastic Library Publishing.

Casey McIntyre has been promoted to associate publicist for the Penguin Young Readers Group. She joined the publicity department two years ago, as publicity assistant.

On-Sale Calendar

Alphas, 'Ologies and Ranger's Apprentice are just a few of the series that are growing this August. Also on deck is the latest 39 Clues book, The Black Circle by Patrick Carman, as well as Michael Rex's latest picture book parody, The Runaway Mummy. Click here to read about these and other major August titles in our exclusive on-sale calendar.

Mark Your Calendar

On the heels of the release of the latest Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, ABC will air J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life, a documentary about the author, which was filmed as she completed the final book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The film first aired in the U.K. in late 2007. The air date here is set for Thursday, July 16, at 8 p.m. EDT.

Contact Us

Dear Bookshelf Readers,
Hope you enjoyed this week's issue. We'd love to hear your comments and suggestions—please drop us a note here.
 


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PW Children's Bookshelf
Editor: Diane Roback
Associate Editor: John Sellers

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