Author Jonathan Safran Foer will release his first novel in more than a decade next September.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux will publish the new novel, Here I Am. The book is one of three titles the publisher recently acquired from the author, according to a report in The New York Times. The deal includes two novels and a work of nonfiction.
Here I Am is the story of a modern Jewish American family dealing with a family issues as a devastating earthquake hits the Middle East and Israel is invaded.
“You wouldn’t mistake any sentence of it for any other writer,” Eric Chinski, the acquiring editor at FSG told The New York Times. “It’s got this high-wire inventiveness and intensity of imagination in it, and the sheer energy that we associate with Jonathan’s writing, but it’s a big step forward for him. It’s got a kind of toughness; it’s dirty, it’s kind of funny, like ‘Portnoy’s Complaint,’ it exposes American Jewish life.”
So excited to share this news (from Publishers Weekly Children's Bookshelf):
Janine O'Malley of Farrar, Straus & Giroux has acquired world rights for Wish, a novel by Barbara O'Connor. Eleven-year-old Charlie Reese has made the same wish since fourth grade, hoping that someday it will come true. When her irresponsible parents cause her to be sent to the Blue Ridge Mountains to live with family members she doesn't know, she needs that wish to come true more than ever. Publication is planned for fall 2016; Barbara Markowitz of Barbara Markowitz Literary Agency did the deal.
Emperors of the Ice. Richard Farr. 2008. FSG. [Source: Review copy]
I have mixed feelings on Emperors of the Ice: A True Story of Disaster and Survival in the Antarctic, 1910-13. On the one hand, it is a fictional memoir based on an actual memoir. Much research was done to write this one. Perhaps just as much research as if it was a traditional nonfiction book. The author's love of the subject was evident throughout. The book is told primarily if not exclusively through the eyes of one of the men on the expedition, Apsley Cherry-Garrard. The exception being the few places where readers learn what happened to other members of the expedition. On the other hand, was it absolutely necessary to fictionalize a memoir in order to tell the story? I think there were things to be gained by such a decision, and, perhaps a few things lost.
Aside from the fact that this one doesn't really quite fit in as fiction or nonfiction, Emperors of the Ice was an interesting read. It was not quite as depressing as you might expect. I've read more depressing books on this subject certainly. The focus of this book is more on science and exploration than on the race to be first to the South Pole. This book argues that it was never about being first or being best. This book tells the basic story, but, it includes plenty of details. For example, I learned that one of the teams--science teams--went to the Antarctic to study emperor penguins. Their goal was to learn about the penguins and their eggs. It wasn't exactly learning by observation. Cherry was part of that team. I learned quite a few things.
© 2014 Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews
Greetings from Nowhere. Barbara O'Connor. 2008. FSG. 208 pages. [Source: Library]
Greetings From Nowhere is a charming book that I just love! It centers around Sleepy Time Motel in the Great Smoky Mountains. Aggie, the owner, is a widow. She is finding it difficult--really difficult--to keep the motel going. Sometimes months go by between guests. And the last time a guest came, it was by chance they stayed even one night. Financially, it makes sense for Aggie to consider selling. It is what she "needs" to do practically. But is her heart ready to let go of her dream? But this isn't Aggie's story. She is not the protagonist. This book has multiple young narrators. All end up at the Sleepy Time Motel. There is Kirby, the "troubled" boy, who is on his way to reform school; Loretta who is traveling in the Smoky Mountains with her parents; and Willow who has come with her Dad to inspect the motel before buying it. None of the guests are particularly happy-happy-cheerful. Not everyone is equally gloomy either. Every single person in the novel has recently undergone change or is about to undergo change.
Loretta, for example, perhaps the most "happy" of the bunch, has learned that her birth mother has died. She received a charm bracelet in the mail. She still knows so very little about her birth mother. Just the mystery of a bracelet, she's trying to puzzle together who her mother was, what she was like, what she liked, what she did, based on these charms. That is what has fueled this family vacation. They are following the trail of her birth mother.
Willow is perhaps the saddest. Her mother left her and her Dad. Nothing has been the same since she left. Her mother's name isn't allowed to be mentioned. There is something broken about her family. The Dad decides the family needs a HUGE change. Willow doesn't want a huge change; she doesn't even want a tiny change.
Kirby is perhaps the angriest or most hurt depending on your perspective. Does Kirby do bad things for attention? Yes. His mother. His father. His stepfather all seem to reject him, to want to be rid of him, to think that he's a big hopeless mess instead of a growing boy.
I liked this community-focused novel. I definitely recommend it!
I first reviewed Greetings From Nowhere in
May 2008.
© 2014 Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews
This is The Baby. Candace Fleming. Illustrated by Maggie Smith. 2004. FSG. 40 pages. [Source: Book I Own]This is the baby who hates to be dressed."No! No! Nooo!"This is the diaper, often a mess, that goes on the baby who hates to be dressed."No! No! Nooo!"This is the T-shirt, wrinkled a lot, that snaps over the diaper, often a mess, that goes on the baby who hates to be dressed."No! No! Nooo!"This is the sweater, itchy and hot, that covers the T-shirt, wrinkled a lot, that snaps over the diaper, often a mess, that goes on the baby who hates to be dressed."No! No! Nooo!"These are the jeans, stiff in the knee....I love this one. I do. I like
true picture books. Stories that reflect every day situations and struggles, stories that look at life realistically. The book is also fun and playful. I also like picture books that are repetitive or that have refrains, making it easy for little ones to join in during the reading.
In
This is the Baby, readers meet one stubborn mother and one just-as-stubborn baby. Who will win the battle?!
This one has a good twist on it, a bit predictable perhaps, but still fun! I would definitely recommend this one to parents who have little ones who like to wiggle and giggle free and undressed...
Text: 5 out of 5
Illustrations: 4 out of 5
Total: 9 out of 10
Dig! Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha. Illustrated by Marc Rosenthal. 2004. Harcourt. 32 pages. [Source: Book I Own]Mr. Rally drives a big yellow backhoe. It has a scooper and a pusher. Mr. Rally loves to dig in the dirt. So does his dog, Lightning. Mr. Rally buckles his overalls and pulls on his boots. He has five big digging jobs to do today. He counts them. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Job #1 up ahead. One is a bridge on the ridge. Dig is a fun picture book that I really enjoy. Readers meet Mr. Rally and his dog, Lightning.
Readers see the two get excited about digging in the dirt. This one has a repeating refrain: "Dig up rock and dig up clay! Dig up dirt and dig all day!" This refrain is repeated at all five jobs, as is the congratulating refrain of "Good job, Mr. Rally! Good job, Lighting!"
After a long day of work, you might think Mr. Rally would want to go home and relax. And he does, in his own way, I suppose. But at the end of his day, Mr. Rally can still be found digging alongside Lightning. He loves to dig for work and play, of course. He loves to dig at home in his garden.
Text: 4 out of 5
Illustrations: 4 out of 5
Total: 8 out of 10
© 2014 Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews
The Graphic Novel
by Madeleine L'Engle
adaptation by Hope Larson
FSG 2012
The classic middle grade book gets a solid graphic novel treatment by award winning artist Hope Larson.
The weird thing about graphic novel adaptations is that they tend to be much longer than their source material, and they rarely convey all the details and explanations in their retelling. Graphic novels conceived as
Guess what?
I’ve been holding my tongue for a few months now. Makes for awkward ice cream eating, but a man is supposed to suffer for his art, right? Thankfully, I’ve finally been given the greenlight to Paul Revere it through the cyber-streets hollering: New books are coming! New books are coming!
That’s right. My latest tales have found a home at Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Here’s what Publisher’s Weekly’s Children’s Bookshelf said about the deal:
Joy Peskin of FSG Books for Young Readers has acquired world English rights to Aaron Starmer‘s Riverman trilogy, about a girl who claims she is visiting a parallel universe, where a nefarious being called the Riverman is stealing the souls of children. The first book in the trilogy, The Legend of Fiona Loomis, will be published in winter 2014, followed by The Quest of Alistair Cleary in winter 2015 and The Myth of Charlie Dwyer in winter 2016. Michael Bourret of Dystel & Goderich did the deal.
Of course, I’m ridiculously excited by these developments. And I hope (I’m pretty sure, actually) you will dig these books. I hesitate to tell you much about them right now, but I can say that the first one, titled The Legend of Fiona Loomis, is the most personal and realistic thing I have written, while also being the most fantastical. A contradiction? Maybe not as much as you would think.
Let the record show that a few incredible people are fully responsible for this happening:
- Nova Ren Suma, author of the luminous novel Imaginary Girls, was beyond kind when she vouched for me and my writing. As advocates for artists go, Nova is without peer. And good god can she write the breath out of a room.
- Michael Bourret of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management is more than an agent. Honest, impossibly well-informed, and unrelenting in his support of his clients, he’s one of the people who’s daring the book industry to live up to its potential. I’m not sure how he treats his mortal enemies, but he’s a great man to have on your side.
- And finally there’s Joy Peskin, editorial director of Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers. When I first spoke to her about the project, I was astounded by her contagious enthusiasm and by the way she understood my story better than I did. Her reputation for shepherding projects that are both daring and entertaining cannot be exaggerated, but it’s her uncanny insight into storytelling that will truly guide The Riverman Trilogy from scrappy beginnings to a shiny spot on the bookshelves. Do you have a better editor? I’m not sure that you do.
So there you go. A new day, some new books. I’ll be updating you about the writing and revision progress and with other news as it comes in. In the meantime, to give you an idea of the tone, plot and themes of the first book,
The Legend of Fiona Loomis, I ask to listen to Daniel Johnston’s
Some Thi
By:
Becky Laney,
on 6/12/2012
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Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Authorized Adaptation. Ron Wimberly. Introduction by Ray Bradbury. 2011. FSG. 144 pages.First of all, it was October. A rare month for boys. Not that all months aren't rare. But there be bad and good, as the pirates say. Take September, a bad month: school begins. Consider August, a good month: school hasn't begun yet. July, well, July's really fine: there's no chance in the world for school. June, no doubting it, June's best of all, for the school doors spring wide and September's a billion years away. But you take October, now. School's been on a month and you're riding easier in the reins, jogging along. What makes a graphic novel adaptation work? I'm not sure I could say. For graphic novels are not in my comfort zone at all. I rarely pick up graphic novels to "review," for I don't feel qualified to comment. The graphic novels I tend to read are adaptations of novels that I've already read--for better or worse.
I recently read the official adaptation of Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes. What did I think of it? Well, it made me WANT to read the book, the "real" book. This story, in its adaptation, in its abridgment, just wasn't enough to satisfy me. I wanted more, needed more. That's not a bad thing at all. If every single reader of this graphic novel responds the same way I did--with the NEED or DESIRE to pick up the original Ray Bradbury novel, that wouldn't be a bad thing. Indeed, you might say it was a GOOD thing. For there is no replacing, no improving the original novel.
The magical wonder--the horror, the terror, the suspense--of this story is in the words, the phrases, the sentences. And this graphic novel adaptation is able to only capture a part of that wonder. Every reader will have to decide for himself (or herself) if the addition of the illustrations is worth losing a little something of the original. (For the record, only the cover has colored illustrations, the rest of the graphic novel is in black and white.) For me, the graphic novel just doesn't have that magical something of the original.
Read Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Authorized Adaptation
- If you're a fan of graphic novels
- If you're a fan of dark fantasy, horror, and suspense
- If you're looking for a dark(er) coming of age story
- If you're a participant of the R.I.P. challenge and are looking for an easy read you could finish in just an afternoon
- If you're a fan of Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, The Authorized Adaptation. Dennis Calero. Introduced by Ray Bradbury. 2011. FSG. 160 pages.One minute it was Ohio winter, with doors closed, windows locked, the panes blind with frost, icicles fringing every roof, children skiing on slopes, housewives lumbering like great black bears in their furs along the icy streets.Compared to the adaptation of Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes, the official adaptation which I reviewed above, this adaptation of The Martian Chronicles is very satisfying indeed! Now, here's where it becomes tricky, compared to the original novel by Ray Bradbury, it still is second best at most. (I haven't listened to it on audio, or any radio dramas of it, and I definitely didn't make it past th
By: Maryann Yin,
on 3/23/2011
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Graphic designer Rodrigo Corral (pictured, via) has been named creative director at Macmillan’s Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG). According to Unbeige, Corral actually worked at FSG from 1996 to 2000 following his graduation from the School of Visual Arts.
Here’s more from Unbeige: “He begins in his new post early next month and will continue to run Rodrigo Corral Design, the nine-year-old studio behind such memorable book covers as those for James Frey‘s A Million Little Pieces, a shelf of Chuck Palahniuk novels, Debbie Millman‘s smashing How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer, and Jay-Z‘s recent memoir-cum-lyrical codex, Decoded.”
Rodrigo’s work has appeared in New York Magazine, The Atlantic, and The New York Times Book Review. His art has also been seen on books published by Simon & Schuster, Penguin Group (USA), and W.W. Norton.
continued…
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Uncommon Reader. Alan Bennett. 2007. FSG. 128 pages.
At Windsor it was the evening of the state banquet and as the president of France took his place beside Her Majesty, the royal family formed up behind and the procession slowly moved off and through into the Waterloo Chamber.
What if the Queen of England became an avid reader? What if she almost always had a book in her hand? What if she were to start asking those around them what they were reading, if they'd read anything good lately? What if those around her hated the new 'passion' of the Queen? How divisive is reading anyway?
I liked this one. I did. It was a quick read. I think if you like reading then you may enjoy this one. Because it is all about the power of reading.
You don't put your life into your books. You find it there. (101)
'Books are wonderful, aren't they?' she said to the vice-chancellor, who concurred.
'At the risk of sounding like a piece of steak,' she said, 'they tenderize one.' (105)
© Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews
I'm on the back cover of FSG's Fall 2010 catalog!
And inside, a lovely two-page spread.
I am in total awe of those talented folks who write catalog copy:
"An amazing secret has tumbled off a freight train into Carter, Georgia, and Owen Jester is the only person who knows about it. If he can simply manage to evade his grandfather's snappish housekeeper, organize his two best friends, and keep his nosy neighbor, Viola, at bay, he just might be in for the summer of a lifetime. With her trademark wit and easy charm, Barbara O'Connor spins a fantastic fable of friends, enemies, and a superbly slimy bullfrog."
The Runaway Dragon by Kate Coombs. 2009. FSG. 304 pages.
At first Meg visited Laddy a lot, riding her horse from the castle through the Witch's Wood to Hookhorn Farm, where her friend Cam's sister lived. Meg would sit by the fire in the big farmhouse kitchen and talk with Janna, scratching Laddy behind his ears and then along his little scarlet-and-amber dragon back. Not that Laddy was so little anymore. He was growing quickly, feasting on sausages and stew chickens at Hookhorn Farm. If Meg's father, King Stromgard, hadn't made provision for Laddy's keep, the baby dragon would have eaten Janna out of house and home.
Runaway Dragon is the sequel to Runaway Princess. Our heroine, Meg, is back for another quest. Her baby dragon, Laddy, is all grown up. And he's escaped! He has been seen here and there. And the villagers are not happy about that! No, not at all. Even if this dragon prefers sausages to humans. Meg is determined to find her dragon, give him a proper grown-up name, and get to the bottom of why her dragon is so restless. But her father, the King, and her mother, the Queen, won't let their daughter go adventuring on her own. No, she'll need companions. Proper companions. And while a few of these are of her own choosing, her own liking--like Cam, Lex, and Dilly--there are plenty of people she'd just as soon lose in the Enchanted Forest. She is not happy that her father insisted on ten accompanying guards! This quest won't be easy, but it will be fun in a dangerous, thrilling sort of way.
There is much adventure to be had in The Runaway Dragon. And I loved it. I did. I think Coombs did a great job. I was happy to return to this fantasy world she's created. Loved the richness of it. The humor in it. Characters like Quorlock and Malison. And Spinach! (How could I forget about her!) Oh how I loved meeting these characters! I definitely recommend these two books!
© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
Animal Poems. By Valerie Worth. Illustrated by Steve Jenkins. 2007. FSG. 48 pages.
A collection of animal poems by Valerie Worth. All sorts of animals are covered within the book, everything from cockroaches to kangaroos and snails to elephants. No animal is too large or small. Each poem is complemented with illustrations by Steve Jenkins. (And these illustrations are fantastic!)
I don't know that I have a favorite poem exactly. But I'd probably go with the one about Kangaroos. Or Bears. Or Elephants. See, it can be hard to choose just one from a collection!
© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
Benjamin Franklin from Scientist to Diplomatby Joan Dashpictures by Dusan PetricicFrancis Foster / FSG 2006It seems impossible to make any part of Franklin's life as dull and lifeless as it is here. But I liked the pictures.You don't tend to find newer biographies among the books available at library sales, especially about characters from history who seem to be evergreen for younger readers.
Farrar Straus and Giroux brings another great new cover for a Madeleine L'Engle book.
This time, it's And Both Were Young
.
It's about Flip (aka Phillipa) who is sent to a Swiss boarding school. The way, you know, girls are, at least, girls in L'Engle's early books. It was published in 1949.
Flip doesn't get her own grown up book; but she, and her art, are mentioned in A Severed Wasp: A Novel
, the 1982 sequel to 1945's The Small Rain
.
L'Engle fans understand exactly what I'm talking about, and how fun it is to have characters pop up again and again.
By the way, last year, Camilla
was reissued with a sweet new cover.
Because I'm showing off, I'll remind you that the sequel to this 1951 novel is A Live Coal In The Sea
, published in 1996.
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by Barbara O'ConnorFSG 2009A small slice of life on a backroad of South Carolina with perhaps the most passive main character I've read in a long time.Popeye, so nick-named when a b-b gun left it's mark on his left eye, is the kind of quiet, withdrawn kid who would hunger for an adventure if he had the gumption to do so. So when a mobile home gets stuck in the gravel road in front of Popeye's
Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice. Phillip Hoose. 2009. FSG. 144 pages.
Claudette Colvin: I was about four years old the first time I ever saw what happened when you acted up to whites.
Have you heard of Claudette Colvin? Have you heard her story? Before Rosa Parks, there was Claudette Colvin. She was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery bus. Only 15 at the time, there wasn't a consensus in the community to support her, to rally around her, to make this incident the needed catalyst to fight Jim Crow laws. Yet, even though she may not be as famous as Parks, her story is important and significant. Because she did make a significant contribution to the civil rights movement.
What I enjoyed most about this one is hearing the story in Claudette's own words. The author conducted a series of interviews with Claudette Colvin (among others) and these frame the book well. I thought it was a good balance really. We hear from Claudette Colvin (and other eyewitnesses), yet we also have strong narration by Hoose to piece it all together. We see the big picture, yet, at the same time we get an intimate behind-the-scenes look.
Winner of the National Book Award. Also a Sibert Honor. And a Newbery Honor.
© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
The Champion of Children: The Story of Janusz Korczak. By Tomek Bogacki. 2009. [September 2009]. FSG. 40 pages.
On a rainy day in 1889, a boy wandered the streets of Old Town in Warsaw, Poland. The people he saw were very poor, and they all looked hungry. Many of them were homeless children dressed in rags. The boy wished he could do something to help them. If he were king--and he imagined himself on a white horse--he would create a better world for these children, a world where no one suffered. This is the story of Janusz Korczak, a remarkable man who dedicated his life to helping children.
In this beautifully illustrated picture book biography, readers are introduced to the life and work of Janusz Korczak. It's definitely a book for older readers. (Not a picture book you'd grab for story time.)
What did I like about this one? Well, I thought the illustrations were amazing. They really drew me into this one. And the story itself while heartbreaking is oh-so-compelling. I mean it is the story of a child growing up with a dream... realizing that dream...and following it through to the oh-so-bitter end. It's a bittersweet story no doubt. Because the world isn't fair. Because not everyone gets happy endings. But it's an inspirational story as well of a man who dedicated his life to others. The book sums it up like this, "his insistence that children have the right to be loved, educated, and protected has continued to inspire people all over the world."
© Becky Laney of Young Readers
My blog post is up on MacKids Blog (MacMillan's new blog).
Scroll to Friday, January 15.
By:
Becky Laney,
on 10/30/2009
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Frost, Helen. 2009. Crossing Stones. FSG. 184 pages.
You'd better straighten out your mind, Young Lady.
Loved, loved, loved this verse novel by Helen Frost. It's historical fiction. A drama following the lives of two families. The Jorgensens and The Normans. The year is 1917 (and 1918). We've got many narrators (both male and female), many stories. Emma and Frank Norman. Ollie and Muriel Jorgensen. Frank loves Muriel. (Does she love him like that though?) Ollie loves Emma.
But war has its own role to play in the lives of these two families. It changes everything. It changes what should be and what could be. It confuses everyone, taints everything. Will anyone be the same after it is all over?
Women's suffrage. World War I. Spanish influenza. Muriel, Ollie, and Emma are coming of age at a difficult time in American history. Muriel is arguably the strongest narrator of the bunch. She believes in peace, hates that American soldiers are getting involved in the war, hates the fact that the men in her life--Frank and Ollie--are wanting to go to war, enlisting. She's a suffragist--in her dreams at least. She supports the cause. Even though she's not actively involved in marches and protests and such. Like her aunt.
The book examines how war--this war in particular--shaped the men and women of that generation.
What did I love about this book? Just about everything! I loved the setting. Felt it very rich in detail. Loved the feeling of losing myself in another time and place. I loved getting a look at what life was like (or what it could have been like at the very least) during this time period. So much of what I read--when it comes to war--is set during World War II, so it was refreshing to see this one about World War I. It was interesting to me. Compelling. The poetry was great. Loved the different voices--each narrator was unique, and I appreciated all the different perspectives. I loved that it made me think, really think. It's one that I'd definitely recommend to those in my life that can't get enough historical fiction.
© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
By: Becky,
on 10/12/2009
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Ferber, Brenda A. 2009. Jemma Hartman, Camper Extraordinaire. FSG. 215 pages.
Tammy said we'd be best friends forever, and I believed her. I was standing on her driveway, squinting in the August sun. The moving truck had left, and Tammy's parents and older brother were already in their minivan. Tammy and I did our secret handshake, complete with butt bump and shimmy. We hugged and promised to call. Then Tammy climbed into the van, and they drove away. The Eriksons were moving to Chicago, only thirty minutes away by car from our life here in Deerfield. But when you were about to start fifth grade, anything further than a bike ride was another world.
It's almost been a year since Jemma said good-bye to her best friend, Tammy. Now the two are getting ready to go to summer camp together. And everything will be perfect again, right? Two girls, two best friends, everything falling
exactly into place, right? After all, how much can a girl change between fourth grade and sixth grade? Yes, these two sixth-graders-to-be are getting ready to reunite...but is Jemma ready for the new Tammy?
Six young girls in a cabin together for four weeks. What can go wrong?!
Jemma's summer may not be going according to the way she had planned it. But can Jemma learn to deal with life, to make the best of every circumstance?
I really liked this one. Jemma is not a perfect heroine. She makes mistakes now and then. But she's a heartfelt girl. And I could feel her pain and confusion. I understood her jealousies and insecurities. I felt like I could completely relate to her as a character. And I thought the other characters: Annie and Kat, Delaney, Brooke, and Tammy were all well-done too. Perhaps not as fleshed out as the heroine herself. But certainly more than two-dimensional.
© Becky Laney of
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by Natalie BabbittFSG 1974 Ten little short story gems concerning the Devil himself and his inability to corrupt good souls or fully control bad ones.I stumbled onto this (as with many older titles these days) in an sales alcove at my local library. Discarded, withdrawn, and donated books are in constant rotation, and with prices between twenty-five cents and a dollar it's impossible to resist.
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I believe you're right - if they've read the graphic novel, most kids won't track down the original novel, but it could happen - after all, there have been occasions when my kids have tracked down a novel after seeing a movie adaptation, sure that some of the "good stuff" got lost along the way. It seems more likely that kids who love the original novel might, however, track