For those navigating the booths of children’s publishers today, here is a preview of new books on display, authors doing signings, and giveaways being offered.
Harlequin Teen welcomes a hefty crew of YA authors to booth 1238 during the show. Today, 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m., Julie Kagawa will be on hand to autograph copies of The Eternity Cure, the second book in her Blood of Eden series. Tomorrow, 10–11:30 a.m., the publisher will hold a group signing by Kagawa and 11 other authors: Katie McGarry (Dare You To), Elizabeth Scott (Heartbeat), Amanda Sun (Ink), Jason Mott (The Returned), Susan Mallery (Just One Kiss), Pam Jenoff (The Ambassador’s Daughter), Linda Lael Miller (Big Sky Summer), Mira Lyn-Kelly (Once Is Never Enough), Michelle Willingham (To Sin with a Viking), Rochelle Alers (Forever an Eaton), and Heather Graham (The Night Is Watching).
At booth 2657, AMP! Comics for Kids has several author visits scheduled. Today, 1–2 p.m., syndicated cartoonist Mark Tatulli will sign galleys of Desmond Pucket Makes Monster Magic, the publisher’s first illustrated novel, due in October. Pens and sticky notes are among the giveaways tying in to this book. Tomorrow, Lincoln Peirce will be on hand to sign copies of his April release, Big Nate: Game On!, 10–11 a.m., and to talk up his October book, Big Nate: I Can’t Take It! The publisher is also promoting the July release of Stephan Pastis’s Beginning Pearls, a collection of Pearls Before Swine comic strips created especially for kids.
Zest Books’ editorial director, Daniel Harmon, is wearing two hats at the booth of the company’s distributor, HMH (1657). Harmon will sign copies of his Super Pop! Pop Culture Top Ten Lists to Help You Win at Trivia, Survive in the Wild, and Make It Through the Holidays today, 3:30–4 p.m. The publisher is also giving away copies of new additions to its True Stories series and How Not to Be a Dick: An Everyday Etiquette Guide by Meghan Doherty.
Bunker Hill Publishing will host several authors at the Midpoint Trade Books booth (1426–1427) today. The author-illustrator team of Robert Sullivan and Glenn Wolff, whose A Child’s Christmas in New England is due in October, will be on hand to sign copies of this memoir of growing up in Massachusetts, 10–11 a.m. From noon to 12:30 p.m., D.M. Cataneo will sign galleys of Eggplant Alley, a novel about a Bronx teen coping with change in 1970. And Charles F.D. Egbert will autograph galleys of The Story of Princess Olivia, a fable illustrated by Kathie Kelleher, 12:30–1 p.m.
St. Martin’s Griffin will host Rainbow Rowell, author of the YA novels Eleanor & Park and this fall’s Fangirl, at booth 1557 today, 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m., when she autographs ARCs of her new book.
Big Bird fans will want to wander over to the Kar-Ben booth (2456), where a life-size cutout of this Sesame Street character is available for photo ops. The publisher is promoting its fourth collaboration with Sesame Workshop, I’m Sorry, Grover: A Rosh Hashanah Tale. Also featured at the booth is Sammy Spider’s First Book of Jewish Holidays by Sylvia A. Rouss, illus. by Katherine Janus Kahn, the first board book starring this character. Visitors to the booth can also view a plush toy based on Sammy Spider, who celebrates his 20th anniversary this year. On hand tomorrow is National Jewish Book Award–winning author Ann Redisch Stampler, who will sign copies of her new book, The Cats on Ben Yehuda Street, 10–10:30 a.m.
Eerdmans is holding a drawing in booth C1379 for a complete set of Eerdmans Books for Young Readers’ 2013 releases. Visitors can enter the drawing for the 14 titles at the booth; the winner will be announced at a to-be-determined date in June. Tomorrow morning, 10–11 a.m., Marisabina Russo will sign copies of her November picture book, Peter Is Just a Baby, a story about adjusting to the arrival of a new sibling. Booth giveaways include a poster promoting Satoe Tone’s The Very Big Carrot, a mini-poster for Little Naomi, Little Chick by Avirama Golan, and postcards and bookmarks based on various other upcoming books.
Those feeling a bit peckish should make their way to booth 632 at 3:30 p.m., when David R. Godine staffers are serving pizza to promote Pizza in Pienza, a bilingual English-Italian picture book by Susan Fillion, due in June. Booksellers can pick up a copy of the publisher’s new, large-format edition of Richard Adams’s Tyger Voyage, illus. by Nicola Bayley.
Lerner welcomes YA author Meagan Spooner to booth 2456 tomorrow, 11 a.m.–noon, when she will autograph ARCs of Shadowlark, the second installment of her dystopian Skylark trilogy from Carolrhoda. The publisher is also giving out ARCs of two upcoming Darby Creek books, The Dojo by Patrick Jones and The Dario Quincy Academy of Dance by Megan Atwood.
Creston Books, in Berkeley, Calif., is debuting its launch list at the PGW booth (1327). Publisher and author Marissa Moss reports that copies of four fall titles will be given away: How to Be Human: The Diary of an Autistic Girl by Florida Frenz; Cozy Light, Cozy Night by Elisa Kleven; Lola Goes to Work by Marcia Goldman; and Rotten Pumpkin by David Schwartz, photos by Dwight Kuhn. Booksellers can enter a drawing for an Amelia kit featuring a copy of Moss’s My Notebook (With Help from Amelia), an Amelia doll, markers, and a necklace; the winner will be notified by phone. Iron-on Amelia patches are also available at the booth.
At booth 1125, C+T Publishing is celebrating the launch of its children’s imprint, FunStitch Studio, whose tagline is “Stitch Your Art Out.” The company, which turns 30 this year, plans to issue six how-to books annually under the imprint, aimed at sewists, quilters, and embroiderers ages 8–14. Featured at the booth are ARCs of FunStitch Studio’s fall releases: A Kid’s Guide to Sewing: 16 Fun Projects You’ll Love to Make & Use by Sophie Kerr with Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr; Creature Camp: 18 Softies to Draw, Sew & Stuff by Wendi Gratz with Jo Gratz; and Girls Get Stitching: Personalize Your Clothes, Your Room & Your Stuff by Shirley McLaughlan.
Chronicle Books welcomes actress Julianne Moore to booth 739 this morning, 11 a.m.–noon, when she will sign mini-posters promoting her September picture book, My Mom Is a Foreigner, but Not to Me, illus. by Meilo So. To celebrate its 25th year of publishing children’s books, Chronicle is giving away anniversary posters and cookies. Other giveaways include company tote bags and ARCs of two fall novels, The Clockwork Scarab: A Stoker & Holmes Novel by Colleen Gleason, and Ellis Weiner’s The Templeton Twins Make a Scene, illus. by Jeremy Holmes.
At the National Book Network booth (1120), Taylor Trade is hosting author and illustrator Linda Kranz, who will sign copies of Love You When…, You Be You, and Only One You today, 10:30–11:30 a.m. The publisher is distributing postcards promoting Kranz’s My Nature Book, a journal due in September.
Magination Press is giving out copies of Lauren Rubenstein’s Visiting Feelings, illus. by Shelly Hehenberger, today, 11 a.m.‑noon, at the American Psychological Association booth (2233). Also featured at the booth are the press’s other fall releases, School Made Easier: A Kid’s Guide to Study Strategies and Anxiety-Busting Tools by Wendy L. Moss and Robin Deluca-Acconi; Oh No, School! by Hae-Kyung Chang, illus. by Josee Bisaillon; Learning to Feel Good and Stay Cool: Emotional Regulation Tools for Kids with AD/HD by Judith M. Glasser and Kathleen Nadeau, illus. by Charles Beyl; and A Happy Hat by Cecil Kim, illus. by Joo-Kyung Kim.
At the F+W Media booth (1947), first-time exhibitor Merit Press is featuring The After Girls, an April YA novel that addresses teen suicide. The author, Leah Konen, is attending BEA. Also present at the show is Alison Ashley Formento, whose Twigs, a coming-of-age novel of self-reliance and forgiveness, is due in September.
Free Spirit Publishing is celebrating its 30th anniversary at booth C1281, where it will host a signing by author Erin Frankel and illustrator Paula Heaphy today, 12:30–1:30 p.m. The collaborators will autograph copies of novels in their Weird series, Weird!, Dare!, and Tough!, which address the issue of bullying.
At booth 1102B, staffers from Minneapolis-based Coffee House Press are giving away galleys of the house’s inaugural YA publication, Angel de la Luna and the 5th Glorious Mystery by M. Evelina Galang, a November release. Set against the backdrop of the 1986 Philippine People Power Revolution, the novel centers on a teen who must look out for her family after moving from Manila to Chicago.
