This week, Brandon Mull has a fantastical launch party; Barry Wittenstein and Jerry Pinkney pay tribute to Martin Luther King Jr.; Joelle Charbonneau extols the power of words; and Sandra Markle has a school tour that can’t be tricera-topped.
Dragons and Fairies and Satyrs, Oh My!
This past Saturday, Brandon Mull celebrated the release of Dragonwatch 3: Master of the Phantom Isle with matinee and evening performances of an original show at Skyridge High School in Lehi, Utah. Characters from Mull’s Fablehaven and Dragonwatch fantasy series starred in a 40-minute production, and sketch comedy troupe D.C. Comedy presented skits penned by Mull. More than 2,500 people waited in line for the post-performance book signings.
King’s Speech
On September 28, Barry Wittenstein (l.) and Jerry Pinkney, the team behind A Place to Land (Holiday House/Porter), served as panelists on the Great Picture Book Biographies panel at Books of Wonder in Manhattan. The duo’s historical picture book reveals the influences and journey behind Martin Luther King Jr.’s renowned “I Have a Dream” speech. Wittenstein and Caldecott Medalist Pinkney spoke about the book, discussed their respective processes, and fielded questions from the audience.
Words, Words, Words
Joelle Charbonneau visited Anderson’s Bookshop on September 23 in Naperville, Ill., to promote her most recent novel, Verify (HarperTeen). The YA dystopian story features a world of government-propagated historical negationism and censorship. When Meri’s mother is killed, she must question the “truths” she has been fed. A local school group wore “Words Have Power” T-shirts, printed to support Verify. Charbonneau continues her tour of bookstores and schools through November.
A Dino-mite Tour
Last week, prolific nonfiction author Sandra Markle visited 10 elementary schools in Michigan to present What If You Had T. Rex Teeth? And Other Dinosaur Parts (Scholastic), her latest title in the What If You Had… series. Markle engaged the students in interactive presentations and demonstrated science experiments.
