How to use this Page

Fantasy meets reality in Off the Page, a romantic comedy written for the young adult audience by New York Times bestselling authors Jodi Picoult and her daughter and coauthor, Samantha van Leer.

Author Jodi Picoult has landed a 3-book deal with Random House, Inc.’s Ballantine Books imprint. The not-yet-titled first novel will be published in 2014.

Random House Publishing Group president Gina Centrello teamed up with Ballantine Bantam Dell publisher Libby McGuire to negotiate the deal with Laura Gross Literary Agency principal Laura Gross. Ballantine Bantam Dell editor-in-chief Jennifer Hershey will edit the books.

McGuire had this statement in the release: “Jodi’s ability to bring readers together and start conversations about her storytelling is very special. Even with her tremendous success, we believe her growth potential is enormous, and we look forward to bringing her forthcoming fiction to an even larger readership.”

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Top Picks from YA Bloggers in the Know, #3

By Nicki Richesin, The Children’s Book Review
Published: July 9, 2012

It’s summer reading time. We’re fortunate to have the talented Em, Nora, and Alicia of Love YA Lit here to share their current summer reading list with us. You’ll drift away with these white hot reads.

While only Nora has summer break these days (school is officially out for summer), all three of us still have a special place in our hearts for summer reading! Whether reading at the beach while catching some rays, listening to an audiobook while gardening, or taking a tourism break on a trip by diving into a story, we are excited to have some outstanding books as companions on these hot summer days. Here are a handful of books that we’re excited to check out this summer!

The Lost Girl

By Sangu Mandanna

Eva is a copy of another girl named Amarra. She spends her time studying everything about Amarra so that she is ready to replace her if she is ever to die. And die she does. Now Eva is expected to take her fifteen years of studying, move to India, and convince the world that Amarra is alive – that this other girl is her. In addition to an interesting concept, India is the big draw here. Em spent a semester of college in Bangalore, which is where the author grew up, and is drawn to books with Indian settings, which are few and far between. We have heard very little buzz about this title – positive or negative – and are curious to check it out for ourselves.

Ages 13 and up | Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers | August 28, 2012

Small Damages

By Beth Kephart

Kenzie is graduating from high school. While her peers are dreaming of prom and heading to college in the fall, she finds herself with bigger concerns: the loss of her father and the baby growing in her belly who her mother and her boyfriend don’t understand her desire to keep. The silver lining? She’s sent to Spain for the summer. The downside? She’s meant to live out her pregnancy working in the kitchen on a bull ranch and then give her baby up for adoption to a Spanish couple.  This book offers readers a chance to vicariously travel the world, but it might not be the vacation of our dreams. A big draw of the book is the setting, but the last thing we want to do is work on a bull farm and feel pressured about what to do with our bodies (and our babies). Hopefully there’ll be some gazpacho slurping and someone (not the pregnant teen) will get to drink some sangria.

Ages 13-17 | Publisher: Penguin Group (U