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Yes, yes—I already mentioned that Jacqueline West’s THE BOOKS OF ELSEWHERE: THE SHADOWS garnered a second starred review in this post yesterday, but I then realized there were a few other pieces of ELSEWHERE news I wanted to share. One thing led to another and before I knew it, there was too much information to shoehorn into the previous post. So here we are, with a second post chock full of great Jacqueline West-related info!

First—and well worth repeating—is how thrilled all of us were to see THE SHADOWS hit the New York Times Bestseller list. We then received more great news when we learned the fine folks at Penguin were interested in extending the series. Now there will be three additional installments after next summer’s SPELLBOUND, the second in the series, bringing the total number of books in the series to five. Five times the books for five times the goodness!

But wait, there’s more!

In relatively minor but still very cool news, there’s the completely super dope website for THE SHADOWS, where you can solve puzzles, hear an audio excerpt, and wander around the scary McMartin household. And with the music, it’s seriously a little creepy. Not pee-your-paints creepy, but definitely make-sure-there’s-a-light-on creepy. Check it out!

And for all of you Germans out there wondering to yourself, “When can I enjoy the wonder that is THE SHADOWS?” or, perhaps more accurately, “Wo ist das pie ich am Dienstag verloren?” fear not! The long wait for the arrival of OLIVE UND DAS HAUS DER SCHATTEN is finally over! Check out the crazy old-school-yet-weirdly-awesome cover you guys have! One day I’ll post the covers from all the different countries that will be enjoying Olive’s adventures so we can compare and contrast, but for now, Genießen Sie diesen Hut von Würsten, dass ich für dich gemacht hat!

Finally, below you can read the complete second starred review for THE SHADOWS from The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books. They wrote:

The atmospheric old house is a new home for eleven-year-old Olive, and though she finds it fascinating, with its colorful contents that include a collection of arresting paintings, she also finds it creepy. Her instincts prove to be accurate: the vivid paintings are actually portals into other realms, accessible to her if she’s wearing the spectacles found in the house. Advised, albeit cryptically, by Horatio, a talking cat secretly still resident in the house, Olive dabbles in exploration of those realms, but she also unwittingly comes ever closer to enabling the evil trapped inside the house to break free. West creates a delightful concoction of quirky humor blended with a rumbling ominous undertone (“This house belongs to someone else,” Hor

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Photo from trekearth.com

Well hello there, friends. Long time no blog. I hope everyone had a wonderful end of the summer and you’re all ready for back-to-school for the parents, back-to-work for the teachers, or back-to-working-every-week if you’re like the rest of us working stiffs.

And yes, I include myself as someone who worked. “But what of your ‘break?’” you ask. Well, it wasn’t really a break. It was a chance to try (and fail) to catch up on the queries in my inbox (I’m almost through June as of this posting…I know, I’d hoped to do better), spend some time relaxing like in the scene pictured right (you can’t see me in the picture–I’m in the water on the other side of the boat about to be struck in the head by the oar), and read, read, read (Who read MOCKINGJAY? Omg text me K?). There may have been a mojito and some golf and some softball mixed in, but trust me, not much.

So what else happened this summer? I was lucky enough to see my client Jacqueline West’s THE BOOKS OF ELSEWHERE: THE SHADOWS hit the New York Times Bestseller List. It’s a terrific achievement for anyone, but especially a debut writer. THE SHADOWS also garnered two starred reviews, the first of which I wrote about here, and the second which just came from The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, who predict “this will be a hit with young fantasists ready for a measured helping of menace.” If all this isn’t enough to get you to check out the book, then I don’t know what will!

The summer also kicked off with the release of Shaun David Hutchinson’s THE DEATHDAY LETTER, an occasion Shaun celebrated by jumping out of a freaking plane. While he was up there watching the ground come up to meet him, VOYA was writing that main character “Ollie’s unabashed self-acceptance of his foibles makes him both a hilarious and a heartbreaking character,” and Booklist said “the reader is pulled along in Ollie’s grip, wrestling with the big questions of life (and afterlife) at a punishing pace…This first novel will appeal to male readers who care more about sex than philosophy.” I think they served donuts on the ground, too, which is pretty cool.

At the end of the summer came Matt Myklusch’s JACK BLANK AND THE IMAGINE NATION. What did the critics think? School Library Journal said JACK BLANK had “just the right amount of plasma blasts, fusion cannons, and major explosions” and that the “especially careful plotting that leads to an exciting and thought-provoking conclusion.” Publishers Weekly called it an “ambitious, no-holds-barred adventure” and that “the exuberance and anything-goes whimsy of this story–enhanced by a light, comic book sensibility along with questions it raises about fate, corpo

Although I typically blog about my authors’ books, today I am actually writing about my own.

On June 8^th, my second novel for teens, Crash Test Love, was released. I truly believe that having the firsthand experience of publishing a novel—finishing that elusive first draft, going through rounds of revision with a skilled editor, worrying about the cover, reviews, and all that jazz—only makes me a more insightful and skilled agent, and I am incredibly proud to share this novel with all of you.

I am happy to invite any Upstart Crow blog readers who live on Long Island to a reading I will be doing at the Barnes and Noble in Carle Place tonight at 7pm.

More details here: http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/event/67004

Enjoy!

Today I’m doubly excited to announce the release of not only two fantastic projects from Upstart Crow Literary, but also the first two books I personally sold long, long ago.

No longer do I have to tell editors, conference attendees, friends, and family that the books I’ve sold will come out “soon.” Now when someone asks what I do and I try to explain my job, I’ll have actual books I can direct them toward. So, as you can probably imagine, I’m super excited for two very talented authors.

First up is Jacqueline West’s amazing BOOKS OF ELSEWHERE, VOL I: THE SHADOWS, out today with Dial Books for Young Readers. Jacqueline was the first client I ever signed, and her debut surely doesn’t feel like one. Before writing for children, Jacqueline’s poetry and short fiction were published widely in literary journals. I could tell the first time I read sample pages in her initial query that Jacqueline was a seriously talented writer, and I’m ecstatic that the public will soon get to read her fantastic work themselves!

To learn more about the book, which is the first in a new series, head to the official website, check out Jacqueline’s author profile on the Penguin website or read what Publisher’s Weekly had to say about the project in their starred review.

If you follow me on Twitter, you’ve likely heard me raving about Shaun David Hutchinson’s THE DEATHDAY LETTER, which also comes out today from Simon Pulse. THE DEATHDAY LETTER, or DDL, as Shaun and I have been referring to it for nearly two years, is a hilarious, poignant story unlike anything many readers have experienced before. This was another story that grabbed me right from the query because the concept of a boy who receives a letter informing him he has 24 hours to live was so, well, whacked out and awesome.

Read more about Shaun on his blog, check out his page on the Simon and Schuster website, and go out and grab yourself a copy of this hilarious book!

I couldn’t be more excited for these amazing books. They represent two different aspects of my taste–in THE SHADOWS, a classic middle grade that could have been published 50 years ago and not felt much different, and in THE DEATHDAY LETTER a hilarious high-concept story that will delight teen readers.

Congratulations to both Shaun and Jacqueline, and I hope for much future success down the road!

To help count down to the release of Shaun Hutchinson’s The Deathday Letter, today we’re running a little contest on here, Facebook, and Twitter.

The Deathday Letter takes place in a world much like our own: the one difference? In this world, you receive a letter the day before you kick the bucket letting you know your croakage is happening within 24 hours whether you like it or not. When teenage Oliver receives his deathday letter, he embarks on an epic and hilarious last day full of risks, best friends, and pudding. Yep. Pudding. As the clock ticks down and Oliver’s staring the reaper in his surprisingly pretty blue eyes, he realizes it’s his last chance to make his mark, however small, on the people around him.

Sounds awesome, right? It is! So here’s the question I pose to you: What would your teenage self have done with 24 hours left to live? Stood up to the bully? Finally tried foie gras? 24-hour laser tag session?

Leave you answer in a comment (please limit to one sentence or less) or tweet your answer using the #MyDeathday tag. Everyone who participates will have their names entered to win a signed copy of The Deathday Letter.

Be sure to check out Shaun’s blog for other chances to win copies, news about the book, and a special surprise video coming soon of Shaun doing something crazy as his #MyDeathday moment. And if you want to buy the book, it hits stores June 15th!

If you’ve seen me speak at a conference, read my online interviews, or follow me on Twitter, you’ve likely heard me mention Jacqueline West’s THE BOOKS OF ELSEWHERE VOL I: THE SHADOWS.

The truth is, I love this book. Jacqueline’s story was the first project I ever signed as an agent, and I’ve been anxiously waiting two long years for it to come out so that everyone else could see what made me fall so hard in love with this story, these characters, and this remarkable writer.

I’m thrilled to share that the fine folks at Publisher’s Weekly loved the project enough to give it a starred review. They write:

The Shadows
Jacqueline West, illus. by Poly Bernatene, Dial, $16.99 (256p) ISBN 978-0-8037-3440-1
Poet West’s debut novel is a quirky and clever beginning to the Books of Elsewhere series. The Dunwoodys, “a pair of more than slightly dippy mathematicians,” and their 11-year-old daughter, Olive, have just moved into an old Victorian house. Olive has learned to be independent, given her parents’ aloofness (”Her persistently lackluster grades in math had led her parents to believe that she was some kind of genetic aberration”). She explores the house’s eccentricities and discovers that, by donning a pair of spectacles, she can enter the house’s many unsettling paintings. Inside one, she encounters nine-year-old Morton, who brings to her attention the secrets that the house and its late owner are keeping. With the help of three talking house cats, Olive works to patch together clues to save the painting-dwellers from their dark fate. The house is as much a character as are Olive, Morton, and her family, and a wicked sense of humor tempers the book’s creepiness. A suspenseful plot and insight into childhood loneliness–handily amplified by Bernatene’s moody and dramatically lit b&w illustrations–will have readers anxiously awaiting the next book.

Mark you calendars for June 15th, folks, to get your hands on this wonderful book!

When I first read Angie Frazier’s debut, Everlasting, I knew I had something special in my hands. Together, we worked diligently to revise and shape the manuscript prior to submission. To this day, I am still struck by what a phenomenal writer Angie is, and how she was able to transform an already fantastic manuscript to an even more glorious one. And this was all before she had guidance from her phenomenal editor at Scholastic!

Books are hard work. Everlasting is a prime example of a novel’s journey, from its initial draft to sale to finally hitting the shelves. It has been a long wait, but I could not be more thrilled that this novel is now available for readers to fall in love with as much as I have.

From the back copy:

Sailing aboard her father’s ship is all seventeen-year-old Camille Rowen has ever wanted. But as a lady in 1855 San Francisco, her future is set: marry a man she doesn’t love in order to preserve her social standing.

On her last voyage before the wedding, Camille learns the mother she has always believed dead is in fact alive and in Australia. When their Sydney-bound ship goes down in a gale, and her father dies, Camille sets out to find her mother and a map in her possession—a map believed to lead to a stone that once belonged to the legendary civilization of the immortals.

The stone can do exactly what Camille wants most: bring someone back from the dead. Unfortunately, her father’s adversary is also on the hunt for the stone, and she must race him to it. The only person Camille can depend on is Oscar—a handsome young sailor and her father’s first mate—who is in love with Camille and whom she is inexplicably drawn to despite his low social standing and her pending wedding vows.

With an Australian card shark acting as their guide, Camille eludes murderous bushrangers, traverses dangerous highlands, evades a curse placed on the stone, and unravels the mystery behind her mother’s disappearance sixteen years earlier. But when another death shakes her conviction to resurrect her father, Camille must choose what—and who—matters most.

Heartfelt congratulations to Angie from everyone at Upstart Crow. Visit her at www.angelafrazier.com and get swept up in the action-packed and über romantic adventure that is Everlasting!

I am terrifically excited to congratulate Danette Haworth on the release of her second novel, The Summer of Moonlight Secrets.

Aside from being a phenomenal storyteller, one of the reasons I admire Danette so much is her drive as an author—she constantly pushes herself to tell new stories and for each one of her novel’s to involve arresting settings, introduce different sorts of characters, and infuse her writing with a real sense of joy for the middle grade reader.

The Summer of Moonlight Secrets is a magical story that I know readers will love just as much as her acclaimed debut, Violet Raines Almost Got Struck By Lightning.

Here is the story from the back cover:

At The Meriwether, Florida’s famous antebellum hotel off of Hope Springs, nothing is quite as it seems. Secret staircases give way to servants’ quarters and Prohibition-era speakeasies make for the perfect hide-and-seek spot. Allie Jo Jackson knows every nook and cranny of The Meriwether—she’s lived there her whole life—and nothing surprises her, until the first time she spots the enigmatic and beautiful Tara emerging from the springs. Tara’s shimmery skin, long flowing hair, and strange penchant for late moonlight swims disguise a mysterious secret, and once Allie Jo and her friend Chase discover Tara’s secret, nothing will ever be the same.

Not only is the novel absolutely wonderful, the cover is truly delicious. Already, Kirkus has said: “the mix of fantasy and light mystery makes for an entertaining read.”

So, go out and pick up your copy today! And visit Danette online at www.danettehaworth.com.

Three writers from the Nashville area have set up a blog where they’ll be auctioning off prizes involving writers, agents, and editors, to help victims of the recent flooding. I’ve just added a 30 minute phone call consultation with an aspiring author as one of the things to bid on. Head over to their blog in the next few days to see the list of great items up for auction.

On a personal note, in the fall of 2009, I participated in the SCBWI Midsouth conference held in Nashville. I met loads of friendly and wonderful people, from the conference coordinators, to volunteers, to aspiring writers. I got to take in some local flavor at several terrific restaurants, embarked on a walking tour of the city, and sneaked into the Country Music Hall of Fame (pictured right) before heading out. Much of what I saw, including the Hall of Fame, is being severely damaged by the flood waters even as I type this.

Please head over to their blog and see what you can do to help.

Sometimes, books change lives. I’m not talking about self-help books, either. I’m also not talking about being on the subway and randomly getting accosted by a man with a knife, who launches the blade at your chest from across the aisle, but thankfully you’re reading the new Dan Brown book and the hardcover acts like a shield.

What I’m talking about is this: Occasionally, you read a book that is so beautiful and full of life that it makes you to stop to think about your own life: how you are living it, who you are living it with, and what’s important to you.

Sarah Ockler’s Twenty Boy Summer is one of those books. And May 1^st was the official release date of the paperback, which is just as good as the hardcover only adorned with wonderful blurbs and fantastic reviews.

Stealing liberally from Sarah’s blog (www.sarahockler.com), Why should you snag a copy? Well…

10 Reasons to Pick Up Twenty Boy Summer in Paperback:

1. The paperback has all the summery sea glass love of the hardcover at about half the price.
2. If you don’t have access to the real beach, Twenty Boy Summer will take you there from the comforts of your couch or cubicle, no sunscreen required.
3. Twenty Boy Summer was selected for the 2009 Kids IndieNext List and was just nominated for the YALSA Teens’ Top 10 and the YA Book Bloggers Debut Book Battle of 2010.
4. Do you know what that little red piece on the cover means? You have to read the book to find out!
5. Reading Twenty Boy Summer is just like visiting the ocean, only without the uncomfortable post-day-at-the-beach sand in your pants.
6. The paperback is super portable, leaving tons more room in your beach bag for important stuff like lip gloss, sunscreen, bottled water, gum, adorable flip-flops, and a few other fun summer reads!
7. Boys, nothing says “I’m smart, sensitive, open-minded, and looking for summer love” like a dude on a beach blanket reading a heart-covered book! Seriously, reading TBS is like wearing a pink shirt or holding a baby. It’s practically a love magnet!
8. Kirkus calls the book “a sincere, romantic tearjerker” and Booklist says its “lyrical writing will satisfy fans of Sarah Dessen,” the queen of summer YA stories!
9. Unlike bikini season, getting ready for book season requires no embarrassing public dressing room try-ons, contortionist shaving rituals, or last-minute crash dieting! And the best reason to pick up Twenty Boy Summer in paperback?

And—even though Sarah did not write this last one:

10. You will really, really, really love it.

So, congratulations, Sarah! Now everyone go get a copy! Or two!

Congrats to Josh Berk on his…

Unless you’re stuck under three tons of elephant, you should be on your way to the store to pick up your own copy of THE DARK DAYS OF HAMBURGER HALPIN.

From JoshBerkBooks.com:

THE DARK DAYS OF HAMBURGER HALPIN tells the hilarious story of Will Halpin, an overweight deaf teen who spends his first year at a mainstream high school looking for love, failing Algebra, unraveling the school’s social scene, trying to get invited to the greatest party ever … and, oh yeah, solving a murder.

After taking some time with family, friends, and secretly doing work when we were supposed to be on sabbatical, we’re firing the blog back up and (partially) opening up submissions once again. Please always check out our submissions page for the latest information about how to submit your work to us.

If you’re a writer who sent your work in prior to December 15th of 2009, please know we didn’t quite hit our goal of responding to every single query before the year was over, but rest assured that a response is on its way!

For now, we’re firing up our computers, cracking our knuckles, and grinding the coffee to make sure 2010 is a fantastic year. More to come!