Our clients are racking up awards and kudos this month, including Kwame Alexander‘s REBOUND being shortlisted for a prestigious UK award. Plus we’ve got new covers, appearances and book deals, including an exciting new picture book by Salina Yoon and Marie Kondo. Here’s their latest news…
BOOK RELEASES
Mitali Perkins’ National Book Award-nominated YA novel YOU BRING THE DISTANT NEAR is now available in paperback with a beautiful new cover!
TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE: FORCES OF NATURE, the third book in the series by Ammi-Joan Paquette and Laurie Ann Thompson that challenges readers to separate fact from fiction, will release on June 25! A launch party is being held the same day at 6pm at Boston indie bookstore Belmont Books. The second book in the series, TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE: HISTORIES & MYSTERIES, is now available in paperback.
The latest picture book written by Kathi Appelt, MAX ATTACKS, was released on June 11 by Simon & Schuster’s Atheneum imprint. Illustrated by Penelope Dullaghan, the rhyming book tells the story of a very naughty cat.
Kwame Alexander‘s poem turned picture book HOW TO READ A BOOK came out on June 18 from HarperCollins. This love letter to literacy was illustrated by Melissa Sweet.
COVER REVEAL
Check out the wonderful cover for Donna Gephart‘s middle-grade novel THE PARIS PROJECT! Donna told us: “The jacket was designed by Lizzy Bromley and the jacket illustration was created by Bijou Karman, who captured the reality of Cleveland Rosebud Pott’s life and her dream for what she wishes her life were like. There’s an adorable illustration of Cleveland’s dog on the back cover. Cleveland is stuck in small-town Sassafras, Fla., where she feels the sting and shame of her dad’s recent incarceration. Cleveland crafts a six-point plan to get herself out of her scorching small town to what she thinks will be the perfect city of Paris, France. Of course things don’t go as Cleveland plans. But along her obstacle-strewn path, she learns a lot about the love and loyalty of family and good friends and how to bloom right where you’re planted.” THE PARIS PROJECT comes out Oct. 8 from Simon & Schuster.
AWARDS AND ACCOLADES
LET ‘ER BUCK! GEORGE FLETCHER, THE PEOPLE’S CHAMPION, written by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson and illustrated by Gordon C. James, has been named one of Booklist’s 10 Best Biographies for Youth 2019! From Booklist: “Magnificent oil paintings and thorough research make for a sensitive, authentic, and enthralling portrait of African American horseman George Fletcher as he triumphs over prejudice in the Old West.”
REBOUND by Kwame Alexander has been shortlisted for the Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award 2019.
Robin Benway’s National Book Award-winning YA novel FAR FROM THE TREE has been nominated in the High School division for the 2020 Oregon Reader’s Choice Award! The book is now on paperback.
Two picture books illustrated by Don Tate have received kudos. NO SMALL POTATOES: JUNIUS G. GROVES AND HIS KINGDOM IN KANSAS, written by Tonya Bolden, is one of 15 books selected as a 2019 Kansas Notable Book, and will be recognized in the Notable Book Awards ceremony at the Kansas Book Festival in September. And CARTER READS THE NEWSPAPER, written by Deborah Hopkinson, has won the Silver Honor Award at the Spring 2019 Parents’ Choice Awards.
Middle-grade novel LIKE VANESSA by Tami Charles is a 2018 @ForwardReviews INDIES Silver Winner for Juvenile Fiction! They said, “From the very first page, LIKE VANESSA conveys the hopes and fears of a girl who wishes for a different life. . . . LIKE VANESSA is an emotionally potent, engaging young adult story with a heroine whom it is impossible not to root for. The life lessons that Nessy learns are relevant and worthwhile for everyone.”
Tami Charles’ forthcoming YA novel BECOMING BEATRIZ has also earned kudos. The book received a starred review from Kirkus: “As Beatriz transcends her trauma and self-doubt—‘No such thing as a gangbanger turned famous dancer’—readers experience a necessary portrayal of a young Afro Latina woman who makes her own path, one that isn’t straightforward, told in an extremely realistic voice. Inspiring and fresh.”
P.J. Hoover‘s upcoming young adult novel THE HIDDEN CODE has been nominated for the 2020 Texas Lone Star Reading List.
A VOICE FOR THE SPIRIT BEARS, written by Carmen Oliver and illustrated by Katy Dockrill, has received wonderful reviews from School Library Journal and Globe and Mail. SLJ said, “An inspirational base for further environmental efforts by young people, and a plea for reducing the goals of bottom lines.” Globe and Mail wrote, “Oliver has created a wonderful picture book that not only traces Simon’s passion for activism and fight to preserve our planet from the time he was just seven years old but gives that fight a powerful voice that is sure to engage young readers.”
The powerful picture book debut written by Mitali Perkins, BETWEEN US AND ABUELA: A FAMILY STORY FROM THE BORDER, illustrated by Sara Palacios, received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly: “Cartoon drawings emphasize the resilience of Abuela and her family as they navigate the border landscape, the impenetrable wall, and a situation that feels unfathomable—but is, unfortunately, all too based in reality.”
Donna Gephart‘s LILY AND DUNKIN has landed on its eighth state reading list as an Iowa Teen Award 2019-2020 nominee.
Kirkus Reviews says JUNIPER KAI: SUPER SPY, written by Laura Gehl, “will be a read-aloud favorite for little supersleuths, particularly those with junior agents on the way. … Harriet the Spy would approve of this sharp-eyed investigator.” The book releases Sept. 3 from Two Lions.
APPEARANCES
Authors Tami Charles and Mitali Perkins and illustrator Gordon C. James are at the ALA (American Library Association) Conference in Washington, D.C. June 20-25, 2019. Be sure to find them to see their latest works (and possibly get an ARC).
Picture book authors Carmen Oliver and Bethany Hegedus and author/illustrator Salina Yoon are teaching “The Ins and Outs of Picture Books and Its Many Forms” at The Highlights Foundation on Aug. 3-7.
Penny Parker Klostermann is part of the Abilene Public Library’s summer “Who I Could Be” program on Friday, June 21, 2019.
Mitali Perkins will speak about and sign her new YA novel, FORWARD ME BACK TO YOU, on Monday, July 15 at 6:30pm at Boulder Bookstore in Boulder, Colo.
Donna Gephart will be one of the presenters at Nerd Camp, Jr. in Parma, Mich., on July 8-9.
BOOK DEALS
Author/illustrator Salina Yoon has partnered with internationally best-selling author Marie Kondo on the picture book KIKI & JAX: THE LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC OF FRIENDSHIP. Based on Marie Kondo’s KonMari Method, the book tells the story of two best friends who discover that tidying up creates space for joy in all parts of our life. Salina Yoon is illustrating the book as well as co-writing with Marie Kondo. KIKI & JAX will be published on Nov. 5 by the Crown Books for Young Readers imprint of Penguin Random House.
Julia Sooy at Holt/Godwin has acquired MUCKY TRUCK, a picture book written by Ammi-Joan Paquette and illustrated by Elisa Ferro, in which a little truck gets stuck in the mud, and all his vehicle friends try to help but get stuck as well, resulting in a muddy good time. Publication is slated for winter 2021.
A new middle-grade graphic novel series co-written by Cynthia Leitich Smith and Kekla Magoon and illustrated by Molly Murakami has been acquired by Andrea Tompa at Candlewick. The books feature two cousins, Riley Halfmoon and Maya Dawn, who embrace their different strengths to become superheroes. The first book, MISSION ONE: THE PRINCIPAL PROBLEM, will be will published in fall 2020.
Bria Ragin at Harper Collins has bought, in a two-book deal, Tami Charles’ ZURI RAY TRIES BALLET, the first in a picture book series about courage, kindness and being true to yourself. The books star a bi-racial girl with a big personality and lots of heart. Sharon Sordo will illustrate the series. Publication for the first book is slated for summer 2021.