Booksellers and vendors alike described this year’s Heartland Fall Forum, which took place October 3–5, as one of the most efficiently run and productive trade shows in recent memory. Attendees raved, as they do every year, about the books on display, especially this time about children’s books from regional presses not known for their children’s offerings. Besides making unexpected discoveries in the exhibit area, attendees praised the show’s new format and the spacious feel of the exhibit area in a former train shed at the Historic Union Depot, with its wall of windows looking out over downtown Minneapolis.

Confessing that she initially had been skeptical about the show’s format, with one half-day devoted to education and the other half to the exhibit area on both days of the show, Cynthia Compton, owner of 4 Kids Books & Toys in suburban Indianapolis, said it worked out very well. “Half-day blocks of time are about as long as a good sales rep appointment,” she said, “and one’s attention span.” She added that after walking the floor on Thursday afternoon, and then having conversations with booksellers that evening about their discoveries, she was “excited to come back in with fresh eyes on Friday morning.”

Lanora Haradon, Midwest rep for University Press Sales Associates, said that she and the other exhibitors appreciated that there was no competition for booksellers’ attention from educational sessions while the floor was open, and that the author lounge and coffee station in the middle of the exhibit hall added to the sense of hustle and bustle. So did the appearance of Peef the Christmas Bear, as Tristan Publishing celebrated two anniversaries for the children’s series this year during Heartland: the 23rd anniversary of the first book about Peef, and the 20th anniversary of the second book. Peef will be a guest of honor this holiday season during Minneapolis’s annual Holidazzle celebration.

There were 290 bookseller attendees at this year’s show, on par with attendance figures for the past three years: 210 booksellers from 70 MIBA bookstores and 80 booksellers from 44 GLIBA bookstores, with 22 bookstores sending representatives to the show for the first time. Jody Everett, who is finalizing her purchase of Fundamentals Children’s Books, Toys, and Games in Delaware, Ohio, near Columbus, was a first-time attendee eager to learn the ropes of the business from veteran booksellers.

Explaining that she is purchasing the store because she and her family are longtime customers who wanted to ensure that the store remained open after its founder and outgoing owner Tami Furlong announced she wanted to retire after 30 years as a bookseller, Everett disclosed that she is a former speech therapist. “Language and literacy—it’s a good fit for me,” she said.

Several booksellers noted that this year’s demographic was noticeably younger than previous years. Sarah Krammen of Dragonfly Books in Decorah, Iowa, who attended her first regional five years ago, when she was 22, noted that it’s “great not to be the youngest person in the room anymore” at Heartland. “There’s an excitement in the industry that these younger booksellers are bringing,” she said.

On the vendor side, 230 individuals staffed 67 exhibits representing 147 companies. One longtime vendor, Wisconsin Historical Society Press, used Heartland as an opportunity to introduce the press’s “first classic” children’s book: Sport: Ship Dog of the Great Lakes written by Pamela Cameron and illustrated by Renée Graef, due out next spring. WHSP is also publishing in October the Ojibwe Traditions series of coloring/activity books containing stories, lessons, vocabulary words, and activities. The project is being done in collaboration with Northland College (Ashland, Wis.)’s Indigenous Cultures Center. The project coordinator, Cassie Brown, is herself Ojibwe.

Judith Kissner of Scout & Morgan Books in Cambridge, Minn., the inaugural Midwest Bookseller of the Year, named Mary Casanova’s picture book Hush Hush, Forest (University of Minnesota Press, Sept.), illustrated by Nick Wroblewski, as the book of the show. Kissner insisted that, although it is ostensibly a children’s book, it is the perfect gift for readers of all ages. “I’m a big fan of [Wroblewski’s] work,” she said. “We sell his cards. Hush Hush, Forest is the perfect marriage between Mary’s text and Nick’s beautiful woodcuts. Everyone of any age needs a copy for their home and also their cabin. This book is going to everyone on my Christmas list.”

Emily Hall of Main Street Books in St. Charles, Mo., was excited to discover Stand on the Sky (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Mar. 2019) by Erin Bow, a debut middle grade book about a Kazakh nomad girl who defies her family and the cultural norms of her society to become an eagle hunter. “This is going to be amazing,” Hall said. She also called “amazing” Ally Condie’s next YA novel, The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe (Dutton, Mar. 2019) and another YA novel, Warrior of the Wild by Tricia Levenseller (Feiwel and Friends, Feb. 2019). “It’s a Viking warrior coming-of-age story. I was on the panel that selected her first book, Daughter of the Pirate King (2017), for Indies Introduce,” Hall said, “I was so impressed with her debut. I am excited to see where she is going.”

Krammen of Dragonfly Books is excited about Speechless (Candlewick, Nov.), a middle grade novel about a 13-year-old boy who is asked to give the eulogy at his cousin’s funeral, but can’t think of anything nice to say about the deceased. “How do you grieve for someone you loved, but didn’t like?” she asked. “It’ll be good for kids experiencing grief, or dealing with the grief of others. It normalizes grief, and it’s preparing kids for real life—because their lives already are real.”

Disclosing that her own father died when she was 11 years old and that she read voraciously to process her grief, Krammen praised Candlewick and other publishers who are acquiring such stories, saying, “I’ve seen an uptick of books for kids going through difficult experiences. That’s a good thing.”

Shirley Mullin of Kids Ink in Indianapolis is excited about Poison in the Colony: James Town 1622 by Elisa Carbone (Viking, Mar. 2019), historical fiction for readers 8 to 12. The novel is a companion to Blood on the River: James Town 1607. “I read it on the plane and when the plane landed I wanted to sit there and finish reading it,” Mullin said.

Next year’s Heartland Fall Forum is moving east, and will take place at the Marriott Renaissance Hotel in Cleveland, October 2–4, 2019.