-
What's New in YA? Mashups
YA bookshelves still groan with dystopian novels, and teens continue to guzzle paranormal fantasies, but the category is pushing the envelope in search of the next crowd-pleasing genre – whether a hybrid of styles or a subversion of tried-and-true formulas.
-
Self-Styled Successes
It's always heartening – for writers hoping to get published, editors on the lookout for new talent, and anyone appreciative of a happy ending – to hear tales of self-published writers landing contracts with well-known publishers. Spotlighted here are a quartet of children’s authors, each of whose success stories has its distinctive twist – and happy ending.
-
'Diviner' Inspiration: Author Libba Bray
On September 18, Libba Bray embarked on a month-long tour in support of The Diviners, her new paranormal novel set in Jazz Age New York City, which Little, Brown pubbed on that same date with a 200,000-copy first printing. Up next in her 14-city road trip will be Chicago, Salt Lake City, San Francisco and finally, New York City.
-
Jessica Shirvington's 'Embrace' Heads to Television
The CW Network, along with Amblin Entertainment and CBS Television Studios, is developing ssica Shirvington's Embrace, and its follow-ups, into a weekly TV series.
-
Random House Lends Its Support During National Bullying Prevention Month
October is National Bullying Prevention Month and in support, Random House Children's Books is unveiling a month-long campaign inspired by R.J. Palacio's Wonder (Knopf, Feb.). The middle-grade novel stars Auggie, a fifth-grade boy with a severe facial deformity who is attending a mainstream school for the first time.
-
Jumpstart's Read for the Record Gets Senate Stamp of Approval
October 4, 2012 is Jumpstart's Read for the Record Day, per U.S. Senate Resolution 584, adopted on September 21. Jumpstart, a national organization promoting early childhood education, launched this annual literacy initiative in 2006, in partnership with Penguin and the Pearson Foundation.
-
Points of Sale: Tips for Children's Booksellers
A few years ago bookseller listservs were clogged with complaints about too much packing material and unwanted posters and other collateral. No more. Not only are publishers employing greener shipping practices, using more e-galleys, and letting booksellers order the promotional materials they want, but enterprising booksellers have found a way to repurpose what they do get.
-
MeeGenius Joins the Sesame Street E-Book Roster
Sesame Workshop has added to its list of digital partners for the Sesame Street brand, signing MeeGenius to distribute six e-book titles on iOS and Android platforms, as well as online.
-
Quirk Books Ventures into Middle-Grade Fiction
Professor Gargoyle is the first installment in the Tales from Lovecraft Middle School series, which Quirk Books associate publisher and creative director Jason Rekulak both conceptualized and authored, under the pseudonym Charles Gilman. Gargoyle is the first middle-grade novel from the indie house, which is best known for its offbeat bestsellers like Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.
-
On Cat Paws, Feiffer and di Capua Dance Back to FSG
"Who says you can’t go home again?" asks Michael di Capua, who in his 50th year in publishing will return to the place he got his start – Farrar, Straus and Giroux – to publish a new book by Jules Feiffer.
-
Bookstores Celebrate Hobbit Day
Wednesday’s release of the movie trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, based on the J.R.R. Tolkien classic, is boosting the excitement surrounding this year’s Hobbit Day, which will be celebrated worldwide this coming Saturday, Bilbo Baggins’s birthday. Also, Friday marks the 75th anniversary of the publication of The Hobbit, and some booksellers have already gotten in the party mood.
-
A Sneak Peek at David Wiesner's Next Picture Book
Three-time Caldecott Medalist David Wiesner gave a preview of his latest picture book, Mr. Wuffles! (Fall 2013), at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Boston offices to staff and a few media friends earlier this week. The story about tiny aliens crash-landing on Earth, only to be threatened by a cat – the Mr. Wuffles of the title, who thinks their space ship is a toy.
-
More Than Half a Million Children and Teachers Make Their Mark on Dot Day
The fourth annual International Dot Day, inspired by Peter H. Reynolds’s The Dot (Candlewick), drew nearly 620,000 participants at more than 15,000 events worldwide on Saturday, September 15. As a result of the interest, the Dot Club Web site was relaunched earlier this week as a year-long resource for educators and families to support "creativity with a purpose."
-
Q & A with Jill Abramson and Jane O'Connor
Two publishing luminaries who happen to be sisters – Jill Abramson, executive editor of the New York Times, and Jane O’Connor, v-p and editor at large of Penguin Young Readers Group and author of the Fancy Nancy series – have teamed up to write a picture book, Ready or Not, Here Comes Scout!.
-
In Brief: September 13
In brief this week, Niall Leonard (husband of Fifty Shades of Grey author E.L. James) talks up his YA novel on the Today show; the seventh annual Princeton Children's Book Festival; and author events with Kenneth Oppel, Erin Fry, and Joan Holub.
-
The Return of Captain Underpants
He may not have worn his character's signature red cape – or visible underwear – but for the more than 500 fans who flocked to the Vernon Area Public Library in Lincolnshire, Ill., on September 10 to meet Dav Pilkey, the author was every inch the superhero.
-
YA Authors Dare to Promote a Colleague's Debut
In celebration of Jeanne Ryan's September 13 YA debut, Nerve, about a dangerous game of dares that are broadcast online, one community of first-time authors officially challenged another to a Dare-Off, the video results of which will be unveiled on the two communities' blogs.
Browse archive by date:
