We’re getting into the thick of summer now. Both the BEA and ALA conferences have come and gone. Folks are beginning to get a grip on the fall season. So before we go any further I’m going to provide you with a bit of a sneaky peek at Harper Collins and what all they have ah-brewing for the future. It’s a rather lovely line-up. When this preview took place I was at my pregnant-ist. Muy pregnant. Back pain, gargantuan girth, the works. I think I may have given birth two days later, so take that into account if the occasional note here sounds a bit wonky.
The room was lovely and the desserts plentiful. It was also a very full room so each switch to a table played like a game of musical chairs. But once we got ourselves in some kind of a working order fun was to be had.
Table 1
First up, a table sporting the irrepressible Balzer & Bray. Our little sheets also suggested that editor Jordan Brown would be there but alas twas not the case.
Louise Loves Art by Kelly Light
We dove right into this one. HC is quite charmed by debut author/illustrator Kelly Light. You could be forgiven for thinking, at a mere glance, that this was illustrated by Tony Fucile. A fellow former animator, Light was inspired to write this book when her daughter’s art classes at school got cut. In this book Louise and her little brother Art attempt to create art (lowercase) together. Louise is fixated on creating a new masterpiece while Art is fixated on impressing his big sister. And he does get her attention . . . just not in the way she’d prefer. The cat was my personal favorite in this book. Wouldn’t mind seeing it star in a book of its own. Just sayin’. Look for Louise and Art to crop up in a whole series of I Can Read books in the future, by the way.
Tap to Play by Salina Yoon
After years of wondering at last I have my answer. Author/illustrator Salina Yoon, who has probably graced more baby and toddler homes than there are stars in the sky, lives in San Diego. I always wondered where she was! This book is a marked change of pace for the woman. It’s sort of Yoon meet Tullet. Hoping to appeal to a whole generation of young parents that grew up with Q*bert (guilty here), the book follows a little noseless hero by the name of Blip that needs the aid of the reader. You help him win the game by bouncing, tapping, tickling, etc. It’ll be paper over board, much like Press Here. Alongside Richard Byrne’s This Book Just Ate My Dog (seen at a recent Macmillan preview) we’re seeing an uptick in creatively interactive picture books this fall. I wonder what accounts for that.
Lion, Lion by Miriam Busch, ill. Larry Day
Now this is interesting. Here you have a book that reminds me not a little of Jerry Pinkney and Julius Lester’s Sam and the Tigers. In this book a small boy yells for a lion. Then things take a distinctly Pierre-like turn (consider this foreshadowing for something that comes later in this preview). It is rather nice to see a small African-American boy on a picture book. Rare enough, anyway, that it’s notable which, when you think of it, is a problem right there.
I’m Brave by Kate McMullan, ill. Jim McMullan
Alternate Title: How the Heck Have the McMullans Not Written This Yet? At least that was my first thought when I saw this book. Considering they’ve covered trains and garbage trucks and even dinos over the years, it took quite a surprising bit of time before firetrucks made their appearance. Interestingly, this book spends a great deal of time concentrating on some extensively research tools used by firefighters. Cool!
Creature Keepers and the Hijacked Hydro-Hide by Peter Nelson, ill. Rohitash Rao
They’re baaaaack! Remember Nelson and Rao? These two charmers (and they are, if you ever meet them) were behind the lovely but too little lauded Herbert and the Wormhole series a couple years back. I’m pleased to see that Harper Collins believes in them, though. In this particular book a boy moves to Florida for the summer. There, in the swamp behind his grandpa’s house, he finds a group of kids determined to protect some rare creatures like the swamp ape, the Jersey Devil, etc. Then Nessie goes missing. It reminded me a bit of the Suzanne Selfors Imaginary Veterinary series. Sounds like they’d pair well together.
The Zoo at the Edge of the World by Eric Kahn Gale
For half a second there I got confused and thought that this was part of the Brian Chick Secret Zoo series (same publisher, after all). But this is entirely different and by the same guy who did that awesome Bully Book last year. In this story our hero is the son of a famous explorer turned curator of a zoo at the edge of the world. The boy suffers from a severe stutter so no one really knows him except his dad and the animals in the zoo. When it turns out that there’s a jaguar in the zoo that the boy can communicate with, things get interesting. I was reminded of a nonfiction picture book out this year called A Boy and A Jaguar by Alan Rabinowitz, ill. Catia Chien that also concerns a kid with a stutter and a jaguar. I love funny connections like that.
Guys Read: True Stories, edited by Jon Scieszka
I love any cover done by Brian Floca, but if I had to change this one I’d probably turn old George Washington there into a grinning Jon Scieszka. Am I crazy? Of all the Guys Read books out there I confess that this is the one I want to read the most. There are a number of reasons for this. First off, this 5th book in the series is entirely nonfiction. Second, the content is from folks like Steve Sheinkin, Candace Fleming and Nathan Hale. Nathan Hale!!! Want want want.
Meet the Dullards by Sara Pennypacker, ill. Daniel Salmieri
There are about five or six books hidden in this preview that are coming out, not in the fall of 2014 at all, but early 2015!!! This is the first. Slated for release around April 2015 (wowzah!) I was surprised to see that Daniel Salmieri is creating books now with folks other than Adam Rubin. This book was described as “The Stupids with boring people” which may be my favorite catchline of the day. The book, without saying too much too early, shows the subversive ways in which the kids in this family declare that being boring is not for them. Best line: “Please. No exclamation marks in front of the children.”
Table 2
With a ring-a-ding-ding we move on to our next table. And here we find the stylings of Rosemary Brosnan (not there that day, alas), Karen Chaplin, Margaret Anastas, and Nancy Inteli. Onward!
The Graveyard Book Graphic Novel: Volumes 1 & 2 by Neil Gaiman, ill. P. Craig Russell and others
Yea verily do I salivate over these. I was intrigued to see them split the original book in twain. Guess they didn’t want too high a page count in the end. In any case, the first GN covers chapters 1-5 and the second covers the rest. #1 is slated to release in the summer and #2 in the fall. Now it looks at first like P. Craig Russell, the guy who illustrated the Coraline graphic novel, has done this one as well. In truth, however, each chapter in these books is illustrated by a different artist. This solves the problem of many a book-to-comic adaptation (Wrinkle in Time, City of Ember, the aforementioned Coraline, etc.) where the art fails to capture any real originality beyond the source material. Want to see this, I do I do!
Writer to Writer by Gail Carson Levine
Years ago, best beloved, Gail Carson Levine wrote a little book called Writing Magic: Creating Stories That Fly. It came out around 2006 or so and was purchased by systems in need of writing advice from Newbery Honor winners. Now she’s back, baby, and her latest book is a writer how-to. Filled with exercises and advice, some of it culled from her blog, its publication will come out at the same time as the newly repackaged (and aforementioned) Writing Magic. Apparently Writer to Writer is slated for early 2015 so don’t go digging about for it quite yet. Special Note: Gail is currently working on her MFA in poetry which, for those of us who were fans of her Forgive Me, I Meant to Do It: False Apology Poems is good news.
Eighth Day by Dianne K. Salerni
Ah HA! One I’ve actually read! Not sure if this one was out yet when they presented it but it certainly is now. I think when I initially saw this book I assumed that it was science fiction. It certainly presents itself that way at the start, but soon you get clear on where it’s truly headed. A sort of Percy Jackson meets King Arthur tale, in this story a boy discovers that for some people, when they reach the right age, there’s an extra day wedged in between Wednesday and Thursday. Salerni has taught 5th grade for over twenty years so she knows how to keep a kid’s interest. With it’s Arthurian roots it reminded me a bit of that Adam Rex series (Breakfast of Champions is the most recent). Though it stands entirely on its own, another one is slated to be released next year. FYI!
Goodnight, Already! by Jory John, ill. Benji Davies
That Benji Davies, man. He’s having a bit of a banner year. First we learn at the Macmillan preview that he has the lovely The Storm Whale coming out, and then this. You’re not in Bizzy Bear territory anymore, man (though we haven’t strayed too far since he’s still doing bears, it seems). This book lets Davies stretch his style a little alongside the author of the book All My Friends Are Dead. Remember that book? Here it is in a viral photo that’s been making the rounds lately:
Get it? Anyway, this book is a bit different. In it an overzealous duck annoys to no end an exasperated bear who just wants to tuck in for a good night’s rest. The cover alone will sell it wherever it goes. I was reminded too of A Splendid Friend Indeed by Suzanne Bloom. Granted, in that case it’s a white goose rather than a white duck, but the similarities remain.
Aw, Nuts! by Rob McClurkan
Well I’ll be hornswaggled! Looks like Connie Hsu was right when she said at the recent Little Brown preview that “Nuts are the new legume.” Granted she was talking about The Nuts: Bedtime at the Nut House by Eric Litwin, illustrated by Scott Magoon, but the odds were good that there’d be at least one other nut related book this season and here it is! Bringing to mind that little squirrelly character in the Ice Age movies (albeit with better footwear), this is an interactive picture book. The “Aw, Nuts!” refrain is meant to be yelled by the audience. And yes, by looking at the art you’d be correct in assuming that Mr. McClurkan is yet another refugee from the animation world. This book also marks, to my mind, another trend for 2015. Squirrels! Clearly Flora and Ulysses is to be credited (I joke, but barely).
Our Solar System by Seymour Simon
The initial excitement of the television show Cosmos has worn off a tad, but that doesn’t mean its popularity has ebbed and waned. What better time then to update this Simon classic? Goodbye, Pluto! Consider yourself excised from the record. And happily, we learn that this will be the first in Mr. Simon’s reprinted series plus we’ll be seeing four all new titles as well. Woot!
Harlem Renaissance Party by Faith Ringgold
Remember when I did that post the other day on authors and illustrators who walk away from making any more children’s books? Well if I hadn’t already known about this book I might have included Faith Ringgold on that list. Her Tar Beach is a NYC classic as far as we’re concerned, and if you go to The ABC of It exhibit at NYPL (still going on!) you’ll see that a whole wall has been dedicated to her. Now we learn that in February of 2015 we’re going to get a picture book glimpse at the Harlem Renaissance. Good news for me! I purchase for Harlem libraries! The hero of the book is Lonnie, a kid who has appeared in other Ringgold titles as well. In this book he goes back in time to meet some luminaries like the usual suspects as well as Marcus Garvey (and where is HIS picture book bio, I might ask?). There’s a glossary and a bibliography as well as a further reading section. Backmatter! Love it!
Table 3
Lemme see, lemme see. Now we’re at a table of Jen Klonsky, Alyson Day, and Kristen Pettit. A very YA table, which is a genre I don’t tend to write up, but that isn’t to say there weren’t a couple that caught my eye. For example . . .
Positive by Paige Rawl
I think I’ve had this vague sense that ever since they invented the HIV cocktail all the prejudice surrounding AIDS just magically dissipated into the ether. Not exactly. This YA memoir is the story of Paige, a kid who was born HIV positive but who, thanks to the aforementioned cocktail, has never been sick. So really it wasn’t an issue until, at a middle school lock-in, she tried to comfort a friend by confiding her own illness. Big mistake. Next thing she knew she was being called “PAIDS” and each and every adult around her failed to stop the bullying. At one point she took fifteen sleeping pills and when she survived she found a new sense of purpose. Paige lobbied her state congress to make school administrators track bullying and make a plan when it happens. Written in a very close first person p.o.v. Paige has since gone on things like The Today Show to talk about what happened. There is also a Resources section in the back for kids going through similar struggles.
This next little guy might look familiar . . .
Why mention him again (I brought him up when discussing Lion, Lion earlier)? Because I was very pleased to discover that all the books in The Nutshell Library, from Alligators All Around to Chicken Soup With Rice to One Was Johnny and, of course, Pierre will be rereleased as board books this month! Too long overdue, this move. In celebration I present a video in which the animated Pierre is set to Amanda Palmer’s rendition of the song:
Watch Out Hollywood! by Maria T. Lennon
Here’s a fun fact you might not know: Author Maria T. Lennon lives across the street from the Houdini mansion in L.A. If that were me or you it might do something seriously wacky to our brains. In her case, she simply worked it into the plot of her latest Middle Child book. In this book our heroine Charlie Cooper is back. Her father is working on the Houdini house and when Charlie saves a friend from the house’s tunnels she inadvertently becomes famous. No surprise, it goes to her head.
The Keepers: The Box and the Dragonfly by Ted Sanders
Love that cover. Ain’t it a beauty? Well, what we have here, ladies and gentlemen, is the first in a four book series. It stars an average boy who one day spots a very strange sign. Which is to say, it has his name on it. Literally. Soon he meets a secret society and gets sucked into the world of Keepers vs. Makers. All the magic in this book is based on real physics so that it’s all potentially possible. You know what that means, don’t you? Common Core!! I ain’t kidding.
DING!
Table 4
Now we come to my publishing imprint (remember?). Greenwillow Books and seated here are Virginia Duncan and Martha Mihalick. And to begin . . .
Cabinet of Curiosities: 36 Tales Brief and Sinister ill. Alexander Jansson
Ah yes! So I see a lot of middle grade fantasy in a given year and sometimes it’s a good idea to leave that stuff up to the professionals. And by professionals I mean librarian Stephanie Whelan who has a very keen sense of what fantasy is good, what is bad, and what is particularly noteworthy. I always trust Stephanie’s opinions in these matters (and so can you if you visit her blog Views from the Tesseract which recently had a great post about the 1982 book Clone Catcher) and she’s read this book and deems it great. So I’m in. You should be too. Coming out simultaneously in both hardcover and paperback, the four authors Stefan Bachmann Katherine Catmull, Claire Legrand, and Emma Trevayne, met online and started a blog together. They would then write short stories on different themes (love, cake, fairies, etc.) while their editors edited their longer stuff. Calling themselves The Curators of Curiosities, this is their collaboration.
Circle, Square, Moose by Kelly Bingham, ill. Paul O. Zelinksy
Interestingly enough this was the only picture book being discussed on the Greenwillow fall list. A sequel to Z is for Moose, it returns to the dynamic duo of moose and zebra and covers shapes for the first time. One interesting question that came out of all of this: Are there any squares in nature? Your answers are appreciated. There was some talk of there being another book trailer for this book, but I haven’t been able to find it. In lieu of that, here’s that AMAZING trailer for the previous book Z is for Moose. Because of this trailer I now cannot read these books without the voice of Brian Floca standing in for the zebra.
The Turtle of Oman by Naomi Shihab Nye
Remember Ms. Nye? In terms of her novels for kids she was last seen writing the excellent Habibi. That was published in the last century, however. The time has clearly come for a new book. With that in mind, here is the story of a boy who is slated to move from Muscat, Oman to Ann Arbor, MI (yay, Michigan!). The catch? He does NOT want to go. In a form of protest he refuses to pack his suitcase, so the book focuses on his mother attempting to persuade him to do so. It’s all about the suitcase, baby. I like a lot of things about this book, but mostly I really like that the experience of moving is universal. No kid wants to do it, doesn’t matter where you live.
Nuts to You by Lynne Rae Perkins
“Incredible Journey with squirrels.” Need I say more? That was how the latest Perkins title was described to me. With art on every spread, this definitely struck me as yet another Flora and Ulysses companion novel. It has has some darkness. When a squirrel is picked up by a hawk his companions see this and think they see him get away. With that in mind they set out to find him. Said Greenwillow, it’s a book about storytelling and stories . . . and trees.
A New Darkness by Joseph Delaney
It’s not just a new darkness for Delaney. It’s a new cover look altogether. Fans of Delaney’s Spook’s Apprentice series will be pleased to see that in this book Tom Ward is now 17 and his own spook. The tale is told with two perspectives, his own and that of a 15-year-old 7th daughter of a 7th daughter who wants to be his apprentice. The book stands on its own so you need not have read the previous books in the series to understand it. It’s also part of a three book arc. Naturally I wanted to know when the movie of the first Tom Ward book was coming out. The date? February 6, 2015. Woohoo!
Poisoned Apples by Christine Happermann
I saw this at a Greenwillow event about half a year ago and I was very struck by its loveliness. I then promptly forgot its title and for months afterwards was at events involving photography in children’s literature trying as hard as I could to recall it. So, in a way, it’s a massive relief to see it finally coming out. A book of poetry, this is punctuated with eerie photographs very much in the vein of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. However, while I thought originally it had a single photographer, apparently it instead has photos from a range of up and coming artists. Like the Graveyard Book graphic novels, it’s not afraid to include more than one creative person within its pages.
Red by Michael Hall
Okay. I know this is coming out in February 2015. My head is aware of this fact, but my heart wants it now now now now now!! On the surface it may look like it was inspired by The Day the Crayons Quit. Not by half. If anything, this is a story about how appearances can be deceiving. A blue crayon is accidentally packaged in a red wrapper. So everyone insists that it draw red things, and yet it just can’t, not even after Scarlet tries to give it a pep talk. They say it’s a tale about coming to terms with you really are, and it is. But in another way this is the first picture book I’ve seen that would be perfect to hand to anyone who has come out as transgender. The metaphor is effortless. And there’s a final line in this book that’ll knock your socks off. Cannot WAIT for this to be released!
DING!
Table 5
Table 5, and it’s great to be alive. Here we find ourselves in the company of Erica Sussman, Alex Arnold, and Katie Ginell with Tara Weikum now relocated to Hawaii. Nice work if you can get it, Tara! Additionally we saw Anica Rissi and Katie Bignell of Katherine Tegen Books.
Endgame: The Calling by James Frey
Not the kind of book I usually cover in these round-ups but this Frey/Johnson-Shelton collaboration has an odd little twist. Remember Masquerade by Kit Williams? No? Hmmm.. Well how about The Clock Without a Face by Mac Barnett? In both cases these were books with real world treasure hunts attached. Moves of this sort are awfully gutsy on the author/publisher’s part. The understanding is that the riddle of the book is so difficult that only a very small segment of the population is going to have the willingness (and brains) to solve all the clues. And though adults tend to be the ones solving the puzzles, the books are almost always published for children. Now, for the first time that I know of, someone is doing the same thing on the YA side. In each book in the Endgame series there is a different puzzle to be solved and a different prize to be found. Don’t ask me to clarify since that’s all I really know. That and the fact that the final puzzles will only appear in the final copies of these books and NOT in the galleys. Clever ducks.
The Scavengers by Michael Perry
Tara Weikum, the editor who I may have mentioned is now all about Hawaii, grew up in a very small town. As an adult she read author Michael Perry’s Visiting Tom (I think) about that very thing. So when Perry reached out to her about writing for kids, she was game. In this dystopian middle grade we’re hearing folks compare it to City of Ember. The environment has been destroyed and most people are living inside giant bubbles. Not our heroine Maggie (who has renamed herself Ford Falcon). She and her family live outside the bubble. Then things take a distinctly Mad Max turn. Blurbs are in from Wendy Mass, Leslie Connor, and Katherine Applegate. Oh, and my librarians really like it. I’m hearing it may be one of the best science fiction books for kids for the year. FYI.
Listen, Slowly by Thanhha Lai
Before I say anything else about this book I should reiterate that the cover art shown here is by no means final. Just FYI. Now it is mighty exciting to see that Ms. Lai, last seen winning a Newbery Honor for Inside Out and Back Again, has a second novel on the horizon. Slated to release in March 2015, this book is written in prose and set in Orange County. There, a girl lives with her Vietnamese parents and grandmother. When she finds out that she’s stuck visiting Vietnam with said family she’s less than thrilled. Apparently her grandfather was lost in the Vietnam War years ago and her grandma is determined to go back and find him. So basically we have a contemporary Vietnamese middle grade. Score!
TodHunter Moon, Book One: Pathfinder by Angie Sage
Behold! It’s a spinoff series to Sage’s Septimus Heap books. Set seven years after the original, this trilogy is meant to please old fans and new. Alice TodHunter Moon is a fisher who discovers her own magic when she goes to the castle. Folks who know the series will know what that means. And yes. Septimus is in the book.
The Swap by Megan Shull
I was saddened to hear of the recent passing of Mary Rodgers, author of that classic work of children’s fiction (and multiple Disney adaptation) Freaky Friday. Mary sort of pioneered the switching bodies genre in children’s books, so hat tip to her. Her influence continues long and strong with books like this one here. In it, a mean girl switches bodies with the most popular boy in school. Wowzah! You don’t usually get to see boy/girl swap books. Scieszka himself provides the cover blurb here, as you can see. That says something.
Balance Keepers #1: The Fires of Calderon by Lindsay Cummings
An epic fantasy middle grade trilogy with a cover that bring back happy memories of my mother’s old 1970s/80s fantasy novel paperbacks? Don’t mind if I do! Selling this one as “Journey to the Center of the Earth for the Percy Jackson generation”, the book is by YA author Lindsay Cummings of The Murder Complex n’ such. In this book a boy follows a map into the forest and then under the forest. His job? To keep the balance between the below and the above. If he fails fires will destroy New York City. So, y’know. No pressure. And lest you think this book is YA as well, it’s meant to hit squarely into the 8-12 age range.
Clariel by Garth Nix
Oh man. This brings me back. When I was in library school I decided I needed to read all the important YA novels as well as children’s (this was before I decided to specialize solely in the kiddo area). On my list of must reads? Sabriel by Garth Nix. A great book, and one that has its fans, most certainly. The Abhorsen trilogy is well regarded but we haven’t seen a book in the series in a long long time. Now Nix is back (he never really went away) with a prequel to Sabriel. He’s about to make some librarians out there very very happy.
And that’s all she wrote, folks. Except we simply cannot forget about the “meets” as I call them. In some ways, they’re the best part of any preview. Here are the ones I caught this time around!
Best Meets:
- “The Breakfast Club with a body count” – Get Even by Gretchen McNeil (shouldn’t that be The Breakfast Club meets Heathers then?)
- “Graceling meets The Selection” – The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
- “The Great Gatsby meets Looking for Alaska” – Even in Paradise by Chelsey Philpot
- “Downton Abbey meets Cassandra Clare” – Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White (the book sounds like Rose for the YA set)
- “The Breakfast Club set in a grocery store” – Top Ten Clues You’re Clueless by Liz Czukas (or, alternatively, maybe The Breakfast Club meets Empire Records)
Many thanks to Patty Rosati and & Co. for the invite, the tasty treats, and the books!
Oh the previews are here, they’re here, they’re here,
The wonderful previews are here
Time to go out, go out, go out,
Go out and order a . . . . beer? No, no . . .
From that catchy little tune (working on it) I hope you realize that preview season is upon us yet again. Time to sit down and hear what is in store for the future. Will 2013 completely and utterly stop any and all supernatural romances dead in their tracks (which is to say, are vampires finally over?)? What picture book idea will spontaneously manifest itself at two entirely different publishers without rhyme or reason? And what, the heckedy heck, is up with fuzzy blue giants? Why are they so awesome?
Yes. It’s finally happened. The pandering. The blatant self-promotion. The self-satisfied mugging. You thought I was insufferable when I wrote my ALA Editions textbooky thing a couple of years ago? Brother, you ain’t seen nothing until you’ve seen my fiction side in action.
So it is that we begin today’s Harper Collins Preview at the Greenwillow table. As you may recall, Harper Collins is one of those publishers that allow you to sit at their tables, eat their bagels and muffins, and hear their editors tell you face-to-face about their upcoming season. Sure, they could do a boring PowerPoint to a big room, thereby saving themselves some sanity, but the fact that they take the time to talk to us in this intimate fashion makes them one of the better previews in town. It’s the personal touch that counts, y’know? Plus I’m far more likely to remember a book when the editor has taken my questions about it firsthand than if I’m dozing in a big audience with a bunch of other folks, later desperately trying to remember why one teen novel with a flowy gown on the cover is different from another teen novel with a flowy gown on the cover when it’s time to do my ordering.
In any case, the clock is ticking, there are books to be discussed, so we begin with Greenwillow.
Actually we begin with me. They didn’t. I’m just mucking with the order of presentations here because I’m so pleased to announce my pretty little Giant Dance Party picture book. It comes out on my birthday (April 23rd), and isn’t THAT a lovely present to receive? Brandon Dorman is the illustrator behind it, and a nicer fella you couldn’t hope to find. You may know his book covers on everything from Savvy to the more recent Goosebumps novels. As you can see, the title is self-explanatory. The tale follows young Lexy, a girl who can cut a rug better than most her age. That is, if she’s dancing for her parents or herself. Put her onto a stage and you might as well be staring at a frozen ice pop in the shape of a young girl. When Lexy decides the answer to her problem is to teach rather than perform, she finds that no one wants to have a kid as her teacher. No one, that is, except a herd (is that the best term for it?) of benign furry blue giants. All seems to go well until the day of their recital when Lexy discovers that maybe she’s not the only one with stage fright problems out there.
Don’t let the cute nature of the cover fool you. Is it cute? Yeah. Guilty as charged. But there are some slammin’ moves to be found inside and, as I may have mentioned in a previous post, this is the first picture book I have encountered that includes krumping. I kid you not. Expect me to come up with some kind of video to accompany this soonish. Suggestions are welcome. I’m slightly stumped since Dan Santat created the world’s greatest dance-related picture book trailer three years ago for Tammi Sauer’s Chicken Dance. More to come about this in time.
And there are apparently other books coming out in 2013 as well! Did you know that? I was stunned! For example, they have decided to republish the original picture book edition of Amelia Bedelia for one and all to see. Not an easy book, mind you, but a full picture book sized title with all the art reproduced full and some in-depth backmatter at the end. And you know I love me some backmatter. I guess the success of the young Amelia Bedelia picture book series gave the idea the extra push it needed. In any case, look for this soon.
Speaking of the younger version of AB (Amelia Bedelia), the new title coming out in the spring with be Amelia Bedelia’s First Library Card. Otherwise known as the picture book hundreds of children’s librarians will be using for first-time library users visiting their branches. In a new twist, they’ve also noticed that those early chapter book Fancy Nancy books have been doing rather nicely. As a result, you can expect some early chapter books of young AB as well. It makes me think that if these also sell a whole world of possibilities opens up. What if they did longer Nate the Great or Cam Jansen books? What if they made an Amelia Bedelia middle grade novel? Or teen! Lord knows I’d pay good money for an Amelia Bedelia supernatural romance novel. A penny to anyone who gives me a serviceable plot to go with it.
Shadow boxes. There is nothing cooler on this globe than shadow boxes. I’m sure there are art students in colleges across the country that would agree. Yet for the most part you don’t see them used in children’s books all that often. Sometimes here and there, but it’s not consistent. In Stardines Swim High Across the Sky we definitely see some in action. A kind of follow up to Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant by Jack Prelutsky, illustrated by Carin Berger, this is yet another wordplay rich book of poems by Mr. P. The particular draw, however, is how Ms. Berger chose to do the art. But why describe the style when I can simply show you?
Caldecotty! Best of all, you’ll get to see a display of this art at ALA in Chicago this coming June.
This next book is a bit of a riddle: How do you resist a tiptoeing bear? Answer: Why bother? Anything big that tries to be small and quiet is instant picture book gold. In Tiptoe Joe by Ginger Foglesong Gibson (illustrated by Laura Rankin) a bear in sneakers highs himself hence on sneaky sneakered feet. The book’s a simple cumulative tale with readaloud potential. Put it on your preschool readaloud radar then.
Harper Collins is the publisher that seeks out self-published authors of picture books more often than other publishers I’ve seen. And since old Pete the Cat has paid off very very well for them indeed (catchy songs are ALWAYS a plus) it seems natural that they’d take everything a step further and look into self-published apps/ebooks that convert to the picture book format. That apparently is the case with Axel the Truck: Beach Race by J.D. Riley, and illustrated by MY illustrator Brandon Dorman. What’s interesting about this book is the fact that it’s more of an easy book than anything else. Perhaps the first self-published app turned easy book out there. Interesting.
All I will do for Penny and Her Marble by Kevin Henkes is write down some of the descriptive direct quotes the editors tossed about when describing the easy book. Ahem.
“The great American novel in I Can Read form.”
“Gut-wrenching.”
There you have it, folks. Need more be said?
Now it’s cover art comparison time!!!
Of the two I think I prefer Jeff Baron’s upcoming I Represent Sean Rosen. And not just because of the Christoph Neimann art either. The kid just seems more appealing. Basically, this is just your average story about a kid hitting it big. Like The Toothpaste Millionaire but without the business angle. You see, Sean Rosen is a kid with a great idea, but he’s not gonna tell you what it is because clearly you’d steal it. Whatever it is, it’ll change the entertainment industry. Sean decides to sell the idea to Hollywood instead but runs into the problem of not having an agent. The solution? Meet fake agent Dan Welsh (one trip to the fridge will tell you where Sean got that name). Author Baron’s a playwright himself, so he’s been working up some “podcasts” of Sean’s. Podcasts/YouTube videos. Here’s the first.
Anna Was Here by Jane Kurtz is a PK middle grade novel. Those of you in the know will be aware that PK = Preacher’s Kid. And frankly, I don’t see a lot of those. We see a lot more army brats in a given year than preacher kids. Wonder why that is? In this case, the story is about Anna’s move from Colorado to Kansas (I was this close to writing Cansas). Even more interesting is the fact that the book discusses without fanfare a family where the Bible is just a regular part of the day to day. Apparently not in a strident way or anything either. Just a way of life. We’ll check it out.
New series, new series! Now this preview happened pre-Sandy, but you just know that had it happened afterwards this next book would have had an evident tie-in. The Lightning Catcher by Anne Cameron (all similarities to The Lightning Thief title-wise or the lightning bolt letters on all the American Harry Potter book jackets are strictly coincidental, you betcha, uh-huh, uh-huh) is the first in a four book series. In this debut young Angus is whisked to The Exploritorium for Violent Storms. Turns out his parents are two of the world’s greatest living lightning catchers, keeping the world safe from wild weather. When the parents are kidnapped, that’s when the rubber meets the road. It follows in a definite trend of weather-related middle grade novels like Eye of the Storm by Kate Messner and The Storm Makers by Jennifer E. Smith, but to name but a few.
I’ll be eschewing most of the YA stuff today, as per usual, but I will say that I’m thrilled to see the eleventh book in The Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney is due to come out. Slither is the first book in the series to be told from the p.o.v. of one of the creatures. Fans will be happy to hear that Rimalkin is in it but sad to hear that Tom is not. FYI: The movie is definitely slated to come out in October of 2013! It’s called Seventh Son and will star folks like Julianne Moore (Mother Malkin!), Jeff Bridges (when he isn’t working on The Giver, apparently), and Ben Barnes a.k.a. Hot Prince Caspian as Tom Ward.
DING!
That’s enough from Table Four. Onward to Table Five with big time folks like Barbara Lalicki, Rosemary Brosnan, Tara Weikum, and Erica Sussman. I see that at this point in my notes I’ve turn philosophical, writing stuff like “In many ways previews break down to a variety of people telling you all kinds of stories.” Oh aye?
First up, the book Adam Rex was tweeting about long ago when it was first arranged. His first collaboration with Neil Gaiman. Chu’s Day follows a sneezy little panda and the havoc he creates thanks to an itchy nose and distracted parental units. Apparently it was inspired by a trip to China, and indeed if you see an F&G or final copy of this book you will encounter a jacket photo of Gaiman with a panda on his lap. Rex, insofar as I can tell, has never done pandas much before. But back in early 2011 he did a series of posts where he drew different types of pandas (seen here and here and here and here). Now you know why.
You can read the real reason Gaiman wrote the book here (long story short, he’s trying to get printed in mainland China for once). And there is, naturally, a book trailer. As Rex says of it, “Fun fact–Gaiman wasn’t available to make this video, so I played him wearing a Neilsuit a la the British ‘pantomime’ tradition.”
I’m sure the process was very much like the old Black Books skit. Dylan Moran even looks like Gaiman (though Rex, happily, has few similarities to Manny).
You know, go to enough of these previews and you begin to get a sense of which editors you really trust. The ones that crank out books you can’t get enough of. Rosemary Brosnan fits that category. Often I’ll compliment someone at HC for a book and then find it’s one of hers. You may know her best from editing Rita Williams-Garcia’s marvelous, miraculous One Crazy Summer. Well, hold onto your hats, ladies and gentlemen. The sequel, P.S. Be Eleven, is due out this May. As Rosemary said, she can’t stop smiling about it. And, she pointed out, she signed Rita up for it long before the first book won those four shiny shiny medals that now grace its cover. Kudos to Ms. Rita, it’s more than a little daunting to follow-up any book that got as much attention as her first did with a sequel of any type. In this book anyway Delphine is tall, dad is betrothed, there are crushes, Panthers, and a 6th Grade dance. The jacket, as you can see, matches the art of the paperback edition of the first book. And yes, folks. Number three is in the works.
You’ve gotta kind of respect a middle grade novel that begins with the heroines convinced that they’ve just watched their guidance counselor killing someone only to find that she was merely making pickled beets. Sophie and Grace have their own spy club in The Wig in the Window by Kristen Kittshcer but beets or no beets there is indeed something sinister going on. The sequel is already slated with the title Tiara on the Terrace.
Here’s some more exciting reissue news, particular for those of you looking to get some summer reading paperbacks on your shelves. All the Ramona Quimby books are about to be repackaged with interior and exterior art by one Jacqueline Rogers. Eight titles in all, they’re coming out simultaneously in hardcover and paperback just in time for Ms. Cleary’s 97th birthday. And if these catch on they may do the same with other Cleary titles too. An excellent idea. High time we had some new art.
I was surprisingly taken with Ms. Tui T. Sutherland’s novel this year. I don’t know if you read Ms. Sutherland’s Wings of Fire which Scholastic put out, but for a talking dragon novel it wasn’t too shabby. Now she’s got a book out with HC called The Menagerie which she wrote with one Kari Sutherland. In it a boy moves a small Iowa town and, once there, finds a griffin cub under his bed. Turns out there’s a magical menagerie in the town, and the boy must find the other griffins and uncover a big time mystery.
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai will indeed be out in paperback this January (I’ve already ordered my copies) and as we speak she is working on a second book. Meanwhile Molly Moon and the Monster Music, the sixth and final Moon title, by Georgia Byng is out this March, and should be well-timed with that MM movie in the works.
DING!
Now a flip around and a walk to Table 1. Here we have the good mistress Alessandra Balzer and sweet mistress Donna Bray. And Jordan Brown, of course. He’s not mistress of anything.
Mo Willems is back, baby! Not that he really went away but while his Elephant & Piggie books have been consistently primo, his picture books have merely been amusing. All that may change with the publication of That is NOT a Good Idea! In it, Willems stretches himself a little further. Becomes a bit more subversive and strange, but in a thoroughly good way. Channeling himself some Hilaire Belloc we have a silent film inspired presentation. Fox (or is it a wolf?) meets chicken. Chicken meets fox/wolf. Romance and possibly dinner (eek!) ensue. And all the while you’ve this steadily increasing Greek Chorus of chicks pooh-poohing the characters’ decisions. I’m thinking big time readaloud potential on this one. Can’t wait to see the final product.
Bob Shea returns as well with Cheetah Can’t Lose. In it an overly self-confident, not to mention obnoxious, cheetah finds himself at odds when he crosses two adorable little kittens. Hilarity, not to mention Shea’s copyright customary sympathy for bullied bullies, ensues.
Just the other day I went and reviewed one Michelle Markel’s remarkable picture book bio called The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau. Well the woman is keeping busy, now coming out with Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909. Aside from the cool nonfiction picture book subject matter (Yiddish Clara went on to lead the longest walkout of women workers in American history) the illustrations are by none other than Melissa Sweet. And Ms. Sweet, aside from winning a Caldecott Honor for A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams, won a Sibert last year for the fantastic Balloons Over Broadway. In this book she’s worked in time cards and sewing into her art. I can’t help but wonder if with the rise in interest in strikes (the folks in Wisconsin and Chicago come to mind) we’ll be seeing more of these union-centric titles in the coming years. It just makes sense.
“This is our Core toe book, I like to say.” As a mom of a toddler I admit that I now view with great interest any and all picture books that adapt nursery rhymes and simple songs into a written and illustrated format. And quite frankly This Little Piggy by Tim Harrington fits the bill. It starts with the usual five and their mildly disturbing desire for things like road beef and then goes onto the second foot as well. Why on earth have I never heard of anyone doing that before? The other foot! It’s obvious when you say it. By the way, as more toes get involved they seem to have a lot more occupations to work with. In some cases they’re selling hotdogs (what IS it with the meat and these hungry piggies?). And in the vein of the aforementioned Pete the Cat there will be an accompanying song with this online. Clever piggies. Of course, I should probably mention that Tim Harrington is the lead singer of Les Savy Fav and you can see what he looks like here. Sort of a pseudo-celebrity. I tell ya, man. Eventually everyone comes to my world. Eventually.
“Little Women with wings featuring Tinkerbell’s little sister.” I keep beginning these write-ups with quotes but c’mon. Can you blame me? And I admit that though I love Julia Denos (the illustrator on these books) I wasn’t really sold until I saw the author. The new Fairy Bell Sisters series may be more of the fairy same, but the author is Margaret McNamara a.k.a. former Harper Collins editor Brenda Bowen. Donna Bray then whipped out her history chops by quoting the great long dead editor Ursula Nordstrom. “If I can resist a book, I resist it.” Ooo. Well played, madam. Ratchet it all up another notch and we were told that these books echo classics and act as gateway drugs to books like The Secret Garden and Little Woman AND they’re great readalouds to boot. Geez o’ petes. If you’re gonna sell librarians on a new fairy series, you may as well pull out all the stops, eh?
Jarrett Krosoczka is convinced that this little blog o’ mine (I’m gonna let it shine) was the first place to debut the cover of his upcoming Platypus Police Squad series opener The Frog Who Croaked. I told him I just lifted it wholesale from Barnes & Nobles. Okay, so there are a lot of reasons to love what’s going on here. I think it’s fair to say that you guys are just as sick of the nursery rhymes-meet-noir detective novel style books as I am. Sometimes I feel like we see one a year. There’s just too much faux noir out there. I’m sick of it. But buddy cop children’s books? Dude . . . I can’t think of any. So it is that we get “Frog and Tad meets Law & Order” (I usually leave all the “meets” until the end of this post, but this one I could resist including here). In his first full-length novel Krosoczka presents a heavily illustrated tale of a hotshot rookie and a grizzled old timer as they fight crime. Said his editors, “It marries his love of buddy cop films with his love of platypuses”. Sold. There will be four books in the series altogether and please note that the hotshot rookie on the cover is pulling a boomerang out of his black leather jacket. Suh-weet.
My notes at this point read “Jenny Lee – writes for Shake It Up”. But I don’t know what that means so I Google it. Ah ha. Shake It Up. A television series that has so far run from 2010 to 2012 on the Disney Channel and is about the following: “Two Chicago teens attempt to realize their dream of becoming professional dancers by landing spots on a popular local show.” Gotcha. Well, in any case we see a couple television writers crossing over to make children’s books but they tend to write for adult fare like The Daily Show. Elvis and the Underdogs was sold as marrying literary quality with fun. Fair enough. Benji, our hero, is a sickly kid whose best friend is a male nurse. Naturally, he’s bullied quite a bit and in the course of things gets himself a therapy 
dog. A 200-pound Newfoundland of a therapy dog named Elvis with the personality of Fraiser Crane (he was supposed to go to the President of the United States, thank you very much). So there’s that and a mystery as well. Oh, and the dog talks. I think you had me at Fraiser Crane, anyway, though.
As titles go, my favorite this season (from Harper Collins anyway since I still think Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made is mildly brilliant) has gotta be The Girl from Felony Bay. Now THAT gets a person’s attention! Written by J.E. Thompson and set in rural South Carolina (so hand it to fans of Three Times Lucky) the book was described as “Carl Hiaasen rummaging through Margaret Mitchell’s closet”. In this book a dad is framed so our heroine and her buddy have to go through some serious Southern heritage to clear his name.
Editor Jordan Brown could sell you flaming cheese in Hell. The man is just that good. So good, in fact, that I have to put my guard up when he starts talking because otherwise this preview will turn from a sane and sober What’s Coming Out Next Year into a wild free-for-all encapsulation of Jordan Brown’s Greatest Hits. In this particular case we hit upon Kevin Emerson (The Lost Code)’s The Fellowship for Alien Detection. As Brown tells it, this middle grade novel is sci-fi for non-sci-fi readers. In this book two kids travel about with some folks who investigate possible alien sightings. Brown called it a Men in Black type book that will please many a Joss Whedon fan.
With The Laura Line I am very pleased to see the return of Crystal Allen. Her debut with How Lamar’s Bad Prank Won a Bubba Sized Trophy was an excellent middle grade a year or two ago (I recall reading it on a plane and having a flight attendant grill me about what it was about). Allen is one of the very few authors out there writing about contemporary middle grade African-American kids. In this particular book our overweight protagonist is convinced that she is about to be humiliated. Her teacher has just organized a field trip to the slave shack that sits on her property. I don’t know much more about it, but you can bet that this will be one of the first books I read for next year when I get my hands on it.
Sidekicked by John David Anderson was described as “A mash-up of what you’d get if you asked Louis Sachar to write an Avengers novel.” Which, naturally I now want to do. In lieu of that plan, this book is about a kid who develops super powers but ends up being super sensitive as a result. It’s a clever idea. We’ll see how the final product tackles this not-often-seen metaphor.
There would be lots of ways to sell Director Chris Columbus as a co-author on a book like House of Secrets. The smartest way for this particular book? Goonies. Yeah, break out the Goonies connection (he wrote the screenplay) because secretly that’s what every children’s librarian secretly wishes they could find in a book. Alongside co-writer Ned Vizzini (no stranger to the movie world himself what with his It’s Kind of a Funny Story hitting the big screen a year or so ago) House of Secrets is the first of a three book series that promises a new installment every spring. It follows the Walker family and its three kids consisting of an eldest boy and two younger girls. Sorta like The Emerald Atlas, I guess. When their surgeon dad moves them into a creepy house in San Francisco, they discover that they are part of a secret legacy. Add in some giants, witches and skeleton pirates and you have, what they were calling, “An American Cornelia Funke”.
Finally, one of the cleverest sequel titles I’ve seen. Did you like The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom? Me too. I just keep meaning to review that puppy. Well, hopefully I’ll be able to do so before I read The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle, due out in April. Can I just praise that title a little more? I mean, how smart is it to reference The Princess Bride like that? Very smart. The book series would certainly be enjoyed by Princess Bride fans, that’s for certain, so by invoking the name you do yourself many favors. Plus, from what I can tell the cover sports all four princes. I remember the kids really were upset that only two princes made the front cover of the first book with the other two princes on the back. This time, all four. Awesome.
DING!
Next table, Table #2. With the honorable Katherine Tegen, Maria Modugno and Molly O’Neill presiding.
First up.
Yep. All I really need to say about that. It’s Nelson Mandela by Kadir Nelson and editor Katherine Tegen had the idea for the book four years ago when it was Mandela’s 90th birthday. Now it’ll be out in time for his 95th. Considering that he and the aforementioned Beverly Cleary are both celebrating their 90-something birthdays with HC books, those crazy kids should have a joint birthday party. (Now imagining what the guest list for a Beverly Cleary/Nelson Mandela birthday party might consist of.)
Katheryn Fitzmaurice returns with the middle grade novel Destiny, Rewritten. In it, a girl named after Emily Dickinson hides a secret desire. Though her mom would love her to be a poet, what she REALLY wants to do is become a romance novelist. Um . . . that is awesome. She then goes in pursuit of a lost book and finds ways to stand up for herself. The book is set during Poetry Month, which is clever, and includes a series of one-sided letters written by Emily to Danielle Steele. The good Harper Collins folks did send a copy to Ms. Steele to let her know about this book but as of this preview had not heard back. Pity. It’d be a helluva blurb.
Big news here! At long last the Septimus Heap saga is reaching its end in a grand finale with Fyre! Every single character of significance will make an appearance in this last book, clocking in at 544 pages if Amazon is to be believed, 750 pages if the preview is. Can’t say which one is true, but it’ll be complete, you can bet on that!
New illustrator alert! When shopping for a new artist of picture books, it can be a good idea to hand them a classic text and see what they do with it. So when newbie Mike Austin was given The Color Kittens by Margaret Wise Brown, the results were a fresh new approach. Now he does a helluva monster. Now you probably already know Mike from over at Blue Apple Books where he’s done work on A Present for Milo and other stuff. Monsters Love Colors is his first Harper Collins title. One has to wonder if there will be an app for it as well someday. Who knows?
If you think 123 Versus ABC looks very Adam Rex you’re not alone. As far as I can tell, that’s a good thing. We need more Rexian art out there. Plus, let’s face it, this is a remarkably good idea for a children’s book. Written and illustrated by Mike Boldt, this eyebrow-rific title shows what happens when numbers go to war with letters. “They’re refrigerator magnets come to life.” Note to self: Buy refrigerator magnets for child. Those things are awesome.
See, the thing about Fancy Nancy is that she’s ain’t half bad. As a librarian you always have this instinctual gut-reaction when you see one of her books. Your innards want to say they’re just cheap pinkness meant to lure in unsuspecting little girls. But the doggone things have substance, and that kills me. They are written well and the art is lovely each and every time (at least, if it’s Robin Preiss Glasser actually doing it). The newest FN title is Fancy Nancy: Fanciest Doll in the Universe. When Nancy’s younger sister puts a permanent ink tattoo on her fancy doll’s previously fancy tummy it is not a happy household. Yet when the time comes for Nancy to pick her doll out of an identical line-up, guess who doesn’t have any difficulty? Sounds like it would make a perfect companion to Barbara McClintock’s Dahlia. Love that book. There is also a new addition to the Fancy Nancy early chapter book series, Nancy Clancy, Secret Admirer.
DING!
One final table to go and it sports Anne Hoppe and Phoebe Yeh.
Now first and foremost, here’s a book that I could have easily have passed over had I but thought it was that most unfortunate of literary genres, the eco-thriller. Something about the very term screams “didacticism” to me. Fortunately, Jinx by Sage Blackwood has been read by a couple folks I trust and though you could conceivably slap that moniker on it, it’s so much more. The first in a trilogy, the book is recommended to fans of Angie Sage, though Anne said the writing adhered more to Diana Wynne Jones. She also said it had “The best first chapter of anything I’ve published.” All I care is that it sounds like a good companion to The Mostly True Story of Jack, has a villain called The Bonemaster, and contains were-chipmunks. Honest-to-god were-chipmunks. Love.
From the author who brought you The Princess Curse a year or two ago comes Merrie Haskell’s next standalone middle grade title Handbook for Dragon Slayers. According to her editors, Haskell’s strength lies in her ability to conjure up complex girls coming of age and determining what their role in society will be. Noted.
At this point Phoebe Yeh mentioned that 2012 was a hard year for great authors. We lost two, Maurice Sendak and Jean Craighead George, almost simultaneously. As such, we’re seeing some of their books coming back into print where once they were gone from our shelves. In terms of Maurice two books of his are due this spring. One is a reprint and one a new title never seen before. The older book is the Caldecott Honor winner The Moon Jumpers. Apparently the art for this was still available so they re-separated it and reshot it to get the full effects. Sendak even signed off on the proofs before his death.
The other title is Sendak’s last book (or perhaps penultimate if that nose book ever comes out from Scholastic) and one of his most personal. Called My Brother’s Book, it focuses on Sendak’s older and much beloved brother. Tapping into the man’s deep and abiding love of Blake, this is being marketed as an adult title but is recommended to those high school teachers who do work with Shakespeare as well. There are, I should note, more than a few Shakespearean references inside.
The Jean Craighead George book is a new picture book by the name of A Special Gift for Grammy. George was apparently in the middle of two picture books when she died.
Next up, one of the best pushed and marketed books I’ve seen in a while. When KidLitCon was held at NYPL this year there was a moment when I saw a young man really talking up and pushing copies of this next title at my attendees. I’m not certain if that young man was a Harper employee or author Eric Kahn Gale himself but whoever it was it got my attention. Right off the bat we were told that this is a controversial little sucker because it’s a book that in the course of its story outlines how one goes about becoming the perfect bully. In this tale a kid who is bullied decides to handle the situation on his own. Told through both journal entries and the aforementioned bullying rules, the book taps into some serious black humor. They mentioned Jack Gantos as a possible comparison. Apparently Gale wrote the book after meeting with some of the bullies of his own youth only to find they’d grown up to become nice and decent people. I like to call that The Facebook Effect. It’s the moment when a person who made your life a misery in school Facebook friends you. We talked about this a bit in a recent Children’s Literary Salon at NYPL. Good stuff. In any case they’re going all out for this book, giving it a 3/4 jacket (something they haven’t done for a title since Walter Dean Myers and Monster).
Next up, a guy who was in the same screenwriting program at Columbia as my husband. I don’t know Mr. Soman Chainani myself but Matt tells me that he was a very nice guy and did often speak about this book of his being published with Harper. The School for Good and Evil sounds like nothing so much as Wicked with a twist (and less Oz). Two best friends are kidnapped and sent to different schools. One is a school for evil and the other for good. Thing is, they sort of get the wrong schools. At least that’s what I gathered from the cover. Still a little unclear but it looks fun.
Next up, a book that will make for an excellent nonfiction companion to Simon & Schuster’s Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle. Alex Ko: From Iowa to Broadway, My Billy Elliot Story is one of those stand up and cheer books, but good for kids with Broadway dreams. Raised in Iowa with a dad that didn’t want him to have a life on the stage (then died of cancer), Alex had his chance to live his dream thanks to older siblings who were willing to do extra jobs to help him out. And as luck would have it he really did have a chance to become Billy Elliot on Broadway. Then, on the first night of his performance, he hurt himself and needed therapy to recover. Happily he returned and all was well and these days he performs with the New York City Ballet.
Here’s a tip to publishers: Want me to want a book instantly? Do as How to Read Literature Like a Professor: For Kids by Thomas C. Foster did. All you need to do really is get Kate Beaton, the woman behind the wonderful Hark, A Vagrant webcomic, to do the jacket. I will buy anything she touches. Seriously. Love love love love this.
I eventually got almost all the references, even the Lord of the Flies one, but the lion still stumps me a little. Suggestions on that one are welcome. Best I could come up with was Pyramus and Thisbe.
Not entirely certain how a Zits illustrated novel by syndicated cartoonist Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman could be YA (they’re suggesting ages 13 and up?!?). Pity since if it were middle grade (like the actual comic strip) you could add it to the trend of syndicated cartoonists writing books for kids in 2012 (The Odd Squad and Timmy Failure respectively). Maybe there’s some sex and stuff in it? The mind boggles.
That, as they say, is it. Except . . . .
On with the Meets!!!
Best Meets
“The Natural History Museum meets Tim Burton” – Not sure if someone said this or I made it up myself (I suspect the former) but that’s a description of Carin Berger’s work on Stardines Swim High Across the Sky by Jack Prelutsky
“Storm Chasers meets The Mysterious Benedict Society” – The Lightning Catcher by Anne Cameron
“The Artist meets Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus” – That Is NOT a Good Idea! by Mo Willems
“Life is Beautiful meets The Walking Dead” – That’s actually my description of it, but I don’t think I’m too far off. That’s for The End Games by T. Michael Martin
“13 Reasons Why meets Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” – Wild Awake by Hilary Smith
“Ender’s Game meets Hogwarts in space” – Vortex by S.J. Kincaid
“Roald Dahl meets Lemony Snicket meets Gregory Maguire” – The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani
10 Comments on Librarian Preview: Harper Collins (Spring 2011), last added: 11/19/2010
Hrms. With a 7 and almost-3 year old at home I’ve never heard of this Salina Yoon person.
But this book looks quite interesting!
Dear MotherLydia,
I have a few out!
I probably wouldn’t have heard of me either if I wasn’t, well… Salina Yoon! I hope your almost-3 yr old and 7 yr old will get acquainted with my books soon!
And. . .
Dear Elizabeth,
Thank you for this amazing preview list, and including TAP TO PLAY! So many fabulous books to look forward to! I CANNOT WAIT!!! I don’t even feel worthy to be posting here… but I am beyond flattered that you included my book. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! *bowing and walking backwards towards door as elegantly as possible, hoping I don’t trip or step on…. “SQUEEEE!!!” “ooops… that was a rubber ducky! Or, me! Sorry! And thank you!” Shuts door. Takes deep breath.*
And CONGRATULATIONS to you and Baby!!!
All my best,
Salina
Aw. This is neat. Honestly, Salina, I’ve been a huge fan of yours for years but since I never ran into you at events I had this vague sense that you existed on another corporeal plane than this one entirely. How delightful to hear from you then! I’m such a fan. Can’t wait to see this one and the many others you have. You’ve been scoring big time with my librarians with your Penguin books, FYI. We’re going to have to get you out here one of these days.
I am GIDDY, Elizabeth, to hear from you! You are a fan?!? (I am having a serious OMG moment!!) Yes, you are right. I have not gone to any ALA event and pretty much stayed hidden from conferences (and people!) until the last year or so (and I could explain why when we meet one day!), but I will be at BEA in 2015! Perhaps we will meet then, and I’ll have you sign something. How does one sign a blog? Maybe you’ll just have to sign my shirt (sleeve)… or my library card… or…something! I hope you carry a Sharpie–or you could borrow mine! Thank you for the work that you do! You are so fun to read.
—Salina
Thank you sooooooo very much.
Salina Yoon’s book Penguin in Love has the penguin knitting with the needles Held CORRECTLY!!!
Dear Alison,
You must be a knitter! Thank you for noticing.
Love,
Penguin
I am TOTALLY a knitter and upside down knitting drives me nuts (Extra Yarn, The Hueys’ New Sweater, et al)
Hmmm. That would be a good blog post. The Scourge of Upside Down Knitting. Then I could highlight all the books that got it right. If you think of any additional titles, tell ‘em to me. I know the new Lauren Castillo book about the Grandma in New York gets it right. Who else?
And don’t start us on spinning wheels that work by throwing straw at the wheel (most of them.). Paul Zelinsky got it right, though…