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If you're hooked on Kid President then this month is your month for new release kids books. This month's selection of best new kids books includes Kid President's Guide to Being Awesome and Richelle Mead's conclusion to the Bloodlines series.

1. If you want to have a chance at winning one of my pre-holiday giveaways (i.e. books galore!) you need to be subscribed to my e-mail newsletter list. I try hard not to be annoying by offering fun contests and prize opportunities in every newsletter, and I only mail out six or fewer newsletters per year. In our fall newsletter I gave away 3 copies of The Unwanteds, a Wake Trilogy boxed set, a copy of Cryer's Cross, and an arc of my upcoming teen novel DEAD TO YOU. Who knows what awesome prizes await you in the holiday edition! The more subscribers I have, the more I give away, so tell your friends too.

2. I had a fun interview with BookPage recently where I talk about what happens in The Unwanteds: Island of Silence (Unwanteds #2).

3. Publisher's Marketplace announced my latest sale (yay!): NYT bestseller Lisa McMann's third book in the UNWANTEDS series, again to Liesa Abrams at Aladdin, for publication in Fall 2013, by Michael Bourret at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management. I have plans for seven books in this series, and I will be offering a different collectible postcard (signed & numbered) with each book featuring artwork drawn by my son Kilian, who did the first one (the Eliminators):



4. If you want autographed copies of any of my books for yourself or for gifts, you can order them through my local indies, Evermore Nevermore and Changing Hands. And I'll be doing a special event with Scottsdale bookstore Poisoned Pen in early December where you can order or stop by to get signed copies as well.

5. Did you sign up for my newsletter yet? It's easy, and I won't sell or give your email address to anyone. Just go here and fill out the info in the gray box on the left.

6. Hi! I love you!

Big plans in the works for my fall tour with THE UNWANTEDS, and I'm visiting lots of states! Here's the current list of stops. Always check here for up to the minute additions or corrections.

*August 30, 2011 -- THE UNWANTEDS (book 1) releases in North America. Here is the up-to-the-minute tour info!

*Tuesday, August 30, 2011 -- THE UNWANTEDS launch party
Changing Hands Bookstore
6428 So. McClintock
Tempe,AZ
7:00PM

*Sept 2-4, 2011 -- Decatur Book Festival

*Sunday, Sept 4, 2011
B&N Alpharetta, GA, 2pm with Margaret Peterson Haddix (yay!)

*Wednesday, Sept 7, 2011
QUAIL RIDGE BOOKSTORE with Margaret Peterson Haddix
3522 Wade Ave.
Raleigh,NC
5:00PM

*Thursday, Sept 8, 2011
THE VERO BEACH BOOK CENTER AND CHILDREN'S STORE with Margaret Peterson Haddix
2145 Indian River Blvd.
Vero Beach,FL
6:00PM

*Saturday, Sept 10, 2011
BOOKS & BOOKS with Margaret Peterson Haddix
265 Aragon Ave
Coral Gables,FL
3:30PM

*Wed, Sept 21, 2011
BOOKS & COMPANY
1039 SUMMIT AVE
OCONOMOWOC,WI
4:00PM

*Thurs, Sept 22, 2011
BOSWELL BOOK COMPANY
2559 N. Downer Ave.
Milwaukee,WI
4:00PM

*Friday, Sept 23, 2011
7:00 PM
LAKE VILLA DISTRICT LIBRARY (with Lake Forest Bookstore)
1001 E Grand Avenue
Lake Villa, IL 60046

*Saturday, Sept 24, 2011 -- 8th Annual YA Lit Conference w/ Anderson's Bookshop, Chicago. Details to come.

*Saturday, October 1, 2011
Tattered Cover
2526 East Colfax Avenue
Denver,CO
3:00PM

*Wednesday, October 12, 2011, 7:00 PM
B&N - Holland
3050 Beeline Road
Suite 50
Holland, MI 49424

*Thursday, October 13, 2011, 6:00 PM
SCHULER BOOKS
1982 Grand River Ave.
Okemos, MI 48864

*Saturday, Oct 15, 2011
Framingham, MI library event with Book Beat - details to come

*Friday, Oct 14 - Sunday, Oct 16, 2011 GLIBA convention, Dearborn, MI. More info to come.

*Saturday, Oct 29, 2011 Houston Area TWEENS READ Book Festival - Bobby Shaw Middle School in Pasadena, TX

Are you a little bit bored? Feeling wonky? Go read a few pages of THE UNWANTEDS for free.

If you like it, pre-order it. It's fantastically priced at the moment on various internet bookstore sites.

Don't forget to add it to your goodreads list, too.

If you'd like to have a chance to win a signed advance copy of THE UNWANTEDS or hardcover of CRYER'S CROSS, I will be running a contest in my next e-newsletter at the end of May. Sign up ASAP to get the scoop! Click here and fill in the info in the gray box on the left. I'll be doing more giveaways through my newsletter from now on, now that Facebook is buckling down on contest rules.

If you're tempted to sign up, but you kind of hate newsletters, you are not alone. I don't love them either, but they're one of the best ways to get bigger chunks of information to fans now that I have multiple books coming out each year. It may encourage you to know I only send out 4 per year. And there's always that unsubscribe button at the bottom.

In the newsletters I also recommend other great books that my family and I have read recently, and talk a little bit about what life is like over in the McMann house.

In addition to #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Mull's lovely blurb (on the cover in the post below), I received another today that made me a little misty-eyed.

"Reading Lisa McMann's THE UNWANTEDS was like discovering a brilliant, lost children's classic - except it's never going to be lost, because the readers will never, ever forget the magic they'll experience in its pages. Wonderful." - James A. Owen, author and Illustrator of HERE, THERE BE DRAGONS

To know that these two middle grade fantasy heroes of mine have read and enjoyed this middle grade fantasy newbie's book is so meaningful. If you haven't read these authors yet, Check them out -- Brandon's first book in the BEYONDERS trilogy is out now, or you can try his FABLEHAVEN series. James' HERE THERE BE DRAGONS is the place to start in his series, or, if you're looking for inspiration, check out his newly published non-fiction e-book DRAWING OUT THE DRAGONS, which will move you, I promise. Only $4.99.

NOTE: Publication date is now August 30, 2011.

THE UNWANTEDS
Author: McMann, Lisa

Review Date: April 15, 2011
Publisher:Aladdin
Pages: 400
Price ( Hardcover ): $16.99
Publication Date: September 20, 2011
ISBN ( Hardcover ): 978-1-4424-0768-8
Category: Fiction

The Hunger Games meets Harry Potter in this middle-grade departure from McMann’s string of paranormal mysteries with romance for young adults.

On the day of Purge in totalitarian Quill, which is run by the High Priest Justine, 13-year-olds learn if they are deemed Wanted to attend the university, Necessary to tend the land or Unwanted and purged by execution. Without a good-bye from his Wanted identical brother Aaron, Alex Stowe and the other Unwanteds travel to the Death Farm. Instead of death, they meet the lush and magical world of Artimè, kept secret from Justine by mage Marcus Today. In a third-person narration characterized by even pacing and whimsical inventions, Alex and his peers learn that their creativity threatened Justine’s power. Surrounded by talking blackboards, transporting tubes and such fantastical creatures as an octagator (with the head of an alligator and body of an octopus) for instructors, the teens hone their drawing, music and acting skills while also wielding paintbrushes for invisibility spells and iambic pentameter to stun attackers during Magical Warrior Training, in preparation for battle against the Quillitary. As the youths explore fear, responsibility and free thinking, their spells may be used sooner than they think when Alex’s twin bond is tested and rivals vie for Aaron’s new position in Justine’s government.

Blending elements from two popular genres, this is sure to be a double hit. (Dystopian fantasy. 10-14)