Children's Bookshelf
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October 29, 2009

In This Issue

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In the News

  • What Do Teens Want?
    In an industry without a lot of good news to report, the one consistent bright spot has been publishing for teens. While adult trade sales are expected to fall 4% this year, juvenile and young adult sales are expected to increase 5.1%, according to the PW/IPR Book Sales Index. Although it's impossible to completely break out juvenile from young adult, it is possible to look at expected growth rates for different categories... more » » » 
  • The Gen Z Reader: Finding Profits in an Elusive Market
    Kristen McLean, executive director of the Association of Booksellers for Children, presented a detailed outline of the technological challenges facing the teen book market at the fall meeting of the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association on October 24. After commenting on the proliferation of teen Web sites, blogs, and social networks and how they are transforming the way books are read... more » » » 
  • Mazer's Legacy Honored; Memorial Date Set
    Family, friends, and colleagues are honoring in their own ways Norma Fox Mazer, who died of cancer on October 17. Remembrances of Mazer include a memorial scheduled for next weekend and the establishment of a scholarship fund by her family, to which several of her former students and other writers are pledging the royalties from a recent anthology. The memorial service will be held on November 7 at 2 p.m in the Vermont College of Fine Arts chapel... more » » » 
  • Bookfest in Boston
    When the Boston Globe Children's Book Festival announced earlier this year that it was canceling its seventh book fair, the inaugural Boston Book Festival, which was held last Saturday, upped its children's programming. Even with short notice the BBF was able to fit in a number of activities just for kids, from a tea with Catie Copley, the Labrador that inspired Catie Copley's Great Escape... more » » » 

Blogs

Book News

  • Guys with Books Rock the Road
    Two authors. Two illustrators. Four books. Dozens of appearances. And, by all reports, immeasurable hilarity. These were some of the key components of the Guys with Books author tour that recently sent four creators of new Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers titles on the road. On board were collaborators Jon Scieszka and David Shannon, (Trucktown Truckery Rhymes and Robot Zot!) and author Mac Barnett and illustrator Adam Rex (Guess Again! and The Brixton Brothers... more » » » 
  • Hands-On Promotion for Lupica Novel
    Life imitates art in a kid-pleasing promotional campaign Penguin has scheduled for Mike Lupica's Million-Dollar Throw, due out on November 3. In the novel, a young football fan gets the chance to win $1 million if he makes an accurate toss of a football. Next month, youngsters attending the publisher's Million Dollar Throw Challenges at six bookstores across the country will have the opportunity to compete for a $1000 prize by successfully throwing a football through a target... more » » » 

In the Media

Q & A

  • Q & A with Amy Astley
    Q: What were you hearing from your readers that gave you the idea for this book? 
    A: I'm always around high school and college-age girls, and they all ask me the same questions: How do I get an internship? What should I study in college? Should I go to design school? What kind of education do I need for different jobs? I thought, We need a book that encapsulates advice about how to break in, how to stand out... more » » » 
 

In Brief

  • Roker's December Pick
    Grace Lin's middle-grade novel Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is the latest pick for Al Roker's book club on the Today Show. Roker made the announcement at the end of last Friday's segment for Angie Sage's Septimus Heap: Magyk. Lin is scheduled to appear on the show on December 4. To read more on Grace Lin, see this School Library Journal story. more » » » 
  • Stine Gives Goosebumps Over the Web
    On Wednesday Scholastic hosted a live "Get Goosebumps" webcast with R.L. Stine to students and teachers across the country, hosted by New York Times reporter Brian Stelter. Early estimates projected that more than 150,000 schoolchildren and teachers tuned in live; Stine announced a writing contest through which one student and school will win a Goosebumps prize package… more » » » 
  • A Truck-tastic Party for 'Otis'
    In honor of Otis, Loren Long's tale of a tractor that befriends a baby calf, The Bookworm in Omaha, Neb., threw an Otis party last week during its regular storytime hour. Besides listening to Bookworm staffers read Otis and Drive My Tractor by Jan Dobbins and David Sims, the attending toddlers drove trucks and tractors on a duct-tape track with a cardboard bridge that wound its way through the store's autographing area… more » » » 
  • On the Road with Chima
    Cinda Williams Chima's tour for The Demon King brought her to Barnes & Noble in Oceanside, Calif., this past Monday. The Demon King is the first in a high fantasy trilogy called The Seven Realms. Here Chima (l.) stands with B&N's Lisa Haynes, who is dressed as a Clan Matriarch from the book… more » » » 

Featured Reviews

  • The Gingerbread Pirates
    Kristin Kladstrup, illus. by Matt Tavares. Candlewick, $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-7636-3223-6

    A boy makes a gingerbread pirate crew on Christmas Eve; his mom leaves most of the pirates for Santa, but the boy takes the captain to his room. As the boy sleeps, the captain—sporting a ruffled shirt made of icing and a toothpick peg leg—makes his way downstairs ("Where's my crew? he wondered. And who's this Santa Claus who wants to eat them?"). Luckily, Santa ends up being a friend who gives the pirates a ship of their own. Swashbuckling gusto and a poignant finish should make this a new favorite… more » » » 

  • How to Say Goodbye in Robot
    Natalie Standiford. Scholastic Press, $17.99(288p)ISBN 978-0-545-10708-2

    By the time she's a senior, Beatrice Szabo is an expert at emotional detachment, having trained herself not to consider "the houses we lived in as my house, or the street we lived on as our street." Her biology professor father, constantly following grant money to new positions, has now brought the family to Baltimore. Bea's former best friend—her mother—is coming unhinged, miserable about moving and her deteriorating marriage. So it comes as a surprise to Bea that at her new, small private school she forms a near-instant bond with Jonah Tate, a boy with a past so tragic… more » » » 








People

Mary Grey James has joined East/West Literary Agency as an agent and a partner. She was a lead book buyer for Ingram Book Company, where she worked for 11 years; previously she was a national accounts manager at Harcourt. She has also held bookselling and management positions at both independent and university bookstores. She can be reached here.

Veronica Wasserman is joining Abrams Books for Young Readers and Amulet Books as license and brand manager. She previously worked in the licensing department of Grosset & Dunlap and Price Stern Sloan, working on such brands as Strawberry Shortcake, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Mad Libs.

Rights Report

DreamWorks has acquired rights to the YA series Wicked by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguié (S&S), according to Variety. The first two books were published in 2002, followed by two more in 2003; the fifth title was published this past July. The series follows a teenager who learns she is a descendant of a powerful coven of witches; the movie will be produced by The Gotham Group.

Contact Us

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Children's Bookshelf
Editor: Diane Roback
Associate Editor: John Sellers

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