This week, HarperCollins helps with how-tos; Tattered Cover opens a new chapter; Newbery Medalist Tae Keller celebrates; and Mari Mancusi and Samantha M. Clark keep Austin weird with an in-person event.
Picture This
HarperCollins Children’s Books is launching a new monthly YouTube series called “How to Middle School” for its middle grade online platform Shelf Stuff; the first episode, “How to Picture Day,” releases today. Each three-minute video of the animated six-episode series features fun and informative tips and tricks for rising middle schoolers. Upcoming episodes include “How to Decorate Your Locker,” “How to Be the New Kid,” and more.
Cover-ing More of Colorado
Colorado-based Tattered Cover, one of the largest indie bookstore chains in the U.S., recently opened its fifth outlet, Tattered Cover Kids—its first children’s-focused concept—inside Stanley Marketplace in Aurora, Colo. Pictured here: Tattered Cover CEO Kwame Spearman, dressed as the Black Panther, was spotted reading children’s books.
When You Trap a Newbery
On June 27, Random House Children’s Books hosted a virtual reception honoring Newbery Medalist Tae Keller (When You Trap a Tiger) with the 2021 Newbery committee (pictured), prior to the Newbery Caldecott Legacy Awards banquet. Middle grade novel When You Trap a Tiger interweaves contemporary Korean American life with fantastical Korean folkloric elements, featuring a biracial Korean American protagonist who must recover stolen stories from her ailing halmoni in order to fulfill a magical tiger’s ultimatum.
Middle Grade Mayhem
The Austin kidlit community celebrated a return to in-person events with middle grade author Mari Mancusi’s June 26 backyard launch for Dragon Ops: Dragons V. Robots (Little, Brown). Samantha M. Clark (Arrow, S&S/Wiseman) joined Mancusi (r.) for a joint signing, with copies for sale courtesy of BookPeople, Texas’s largest indie bookstore. Kevin, the neighborhood peacock, also made an appearance.
