The novel went on sale at the stroke of midnight, and devoted fans crowded hundreds of bookstores nationwide at late-night release parties. However, Breaking Dawn didn't meet the stratospheric expectations of every fan, and anguished and, in some cases, angry outcry has arisen this week—though the book appears to have no shortage of ardent defenders. The recently reopened message board on the Twilight series Web site has been very active, and on Amazon—where the novel remains ranked #1 in sales—the book has generated more than 1,600 reviews (nearly twice the reviews of the previous book, Eclipse) and more than 1,000 "customer discussions."

Since its inception, Geringer’s imprint has sold more than 50 million books, including picture books by William Joyce, as well as the seven-book If You Give A... series by Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond. The publisher has also worked with Avi, Lois Ehlert, Kevin Hawkes, Wendell Minor and Brian Selznick, among numerous other authors and illustrators. Geringer is leaving the company just a few months after Joanna Cotler, who stepped down from her own longtime eponymous imprint earlier this year.

Despite her background in children's book publishing, Cylin—who has worked in editorial at Knopf Books for Young Readers, HarperCollins and Aladdin, and has written several books for young readers—originally saw The Year We Disappeared as an adult title. Then she asked her friend, Melanie Cecka, publishing director of Bloomsbury Children's Books, with whom she had shared a cubicle at Random House, to weigh in. "The writing was frank and the details unsparing—they definitely hadn't written it with a young reader in mind," Cecka says. "But there was something equally resilient and wonderful about having this very ‘normal' child and father open a window into a world of violence that tends to be reserved for adult audiences—and glamorized." In the end both Cecka and Bloomsbury's then-publisher, Victoria Wells Arms, felt the book conveys a powerful message about violence and family, one that would resonate with young people.  

Bruce Coville. Photo: Jules.

Why the long time lapse between the second and third novels? Coville, who has penned more than 90 books and has won a dozen children's choice awards, blames the delay primarily on his preoccupation with Full Cast Audio, the audio book publishing company he founded in 2002. "That venture definitely diverted my energies," he says. "But another reason Dark Whispers took me so long to write was that it became a much bigger book than I anticipated, and as that world continued to grow in my mind, the story became more difficult to write."

"Stores really need to look at modern forms of publicity and marketing or they'll be at a competitive disadvantage," says NECBA co-chair Kenny Brechner, owner of Devaney, Doak & Garrett Booksellers in Farmington, Maine, who did much of the coding for the site. He sees NECBA's Web site as a way to bridge the gap between publishers and children's booksellers. The site contains links to NECBA's galley review project and holiday picks, and will soon have an interactive map showing where booksellers are located and each bookseller's strengths, to help publishers plan tours.