Recently an author celebrated hitting a milestone, authors shared a launch event, a local festival welcomed writers with haunting stories, an author made his picture book debut, a sold-out crowd welcomed a writer to the stage, and an author-illustrator duo discussed their latest collaboration.
Happy Birthday, Percy!
On August 18, author Rick Riordan celebrated the 20th anniversary of his Percy Jackson middle grade series with an in-conversation event for fans and special guests at the Hudson Theater in New York City. At the event, Riordan spoke with Lisa Cabello, host of the D23 Inside Disney Podcast about the milestone and was surprised by a video from the Percy Jackson cast of the Disney+ adaptation. The talk was followed by a birthday party where guests received an anniversary edition of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.
Making It in Middle Grade
On September 6, James Ponti (c.) and J.A. Dauber (r.) came together for a dual launch presenting their new books Hurricane Heist and Press 1 for Invasion (both S&S), respectively. The event took place at An Unlikely Story in Plainville, Mass., where the authors appeared in conversation with bookstore owner and Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney (l.). The event concluded with an audience q&a and book signing.
House of Haunts
Skyla Arndt made an appearance on multiple panels at the Salem Lit Festival on September 6. The annual festival takes place each fall, bringing together local and regional authors with readers for a week of readings, writing workshops, and panel discussions. Here, (from l.) authors Rory Powers, Shveta Thakrar, and Arndt take part in the “Fantasy with Teeth” panel at San Pedro Episcopal Church in Salem, Mass., where Arndt discussed her new YA novel House of Hearts (Viking). The “horrormance” follows teen Violet’s investigation into her best friend’s murder as she joins the elite boarding school crowd her friend left behind.
Spinning a Classic
Patrick Horne celebrated the release of his debut picture book Bear and the Three Goldilocks (Holiday House) with a launch event at Barnes & Noble in Round Rock, Tex., on August 23. Illustrated by Dan Yaccarino, the picture book gives a new spin on the classic story by following a bear that breaks into a family’s home. Horne gave a storytime and held a signing for attendees.
Cracking the Case
On September 7, John Patrick Green made an appearance at Plainville, Mass. bookstore An Unlikely Story to launch his tour for Case Files (First Second), book nine in his InvestiGators graphic novel series. The new book, written with Steve Behling and illustrated by Chris Fenoglio, follows special agents Mango and Brash as they take on a new slate of cases. Green held a conversation with Cathy G. Johnson for a sold-out, 200-person crowd, after which Green led a drawing demonstration. The event closed with a q&a and book signing.
Match Me If You Can
Country Bookshelf in Bozeman, Mont. welcomed author Chris Barton (r.) and illustrator Sharon Glick (c.) on August 26 for an event presenting their recent picture book We Match! (Astra). In the dog-centric story, readers are introduced to match concepts such as Venn diagrams via comparisons of dog interests and qualities. Guests received decks of the dog- and ferret-character trading cards found in the picture book.
