2020 has only just begun, and our clients are already raking up the kudos and getting busy with appearances. Here’s their latest news.
AWARDS AND ACCOLADES
The Nerdy Book Club honored Booking Biz clients in its Nerdy Book Awards. JUST LIKE RUBE GOLDBERG: THE INCREDIBLE TRUE STORY OF THE MAN BEHIND THE MACHINES written by Sarah Aronson and illustrated by Robert Neubecker and LET ‘ER BUCK: GOERGE FLETCHER THE PEOPLE’S CHAMPION written by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson and illustrated by Gordon C. James both won 2019 Nerdy Nonfiction Picture Book awards. And TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE: FORCES OF NATURE by Ammi-Joan Paquette and Laurie Ann Thompson was awarded a 2019 Nerdy Long Form Nonfiction.
A RACE AROUND THE WORLD: THE TRUE STORY OF NELLIE BLY & ELIZABETH BISLAND written by Caroline Starr Rose and illustrated by Alexandra Bye has earned two new accolades. The non-fiction picture book was named A Mighty Girl’s 2019 Book of the Year as well as listed on the Christian Science Monitor’s Best Books of 2019.
LET ‘ER BUCK: GEORGE FLETCHER THE PEOPLE’S CHAMPION written by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson and illustrated by Gordon C. James also was selected as a Denver Public Library’s Best & Brightest Biography of 2019.
Picture book biography RISE! FROM CAGED BIRD TO POET OF THE PEOPLE, MAYA ANGELOU written by Bethany Hegedus and illustrated by Tonya Engel is a 2020 NCTE Noteable Poetry Book.
The Children’s Book Council has selected three titles by Tami Charles for their Women of Color Protagonists book list, and will feature them over the next few months: LIKE VANESSA, BECOMING BEATRIZ and FREEDOM SOUP.
We Need Diverse Books has chosen Tami Charles’s picture book ALL BECAUSE YOU MATTER, illustrated by Bryan Collier, as the featured book for the poster celebrating their five-year anniversary. The organization plans to distribute this poster at ALA Midwinter, where they will also have early copies of the book on hand to share. The book officially releases on Oct. 6.
APPEARANCES
Clients Javaka Steptoe, Kimberly Willis Holt, Dianne White, and Carmen Oliver will be appearing at the 2020 Charlotte S. Huck Children’s Literature Festival. Librarians, educators, and writers, we hope you can join them.
Tami Charles was featured on Good Day Philadelphia, where she shared the recipe of the historically rich Haitian soup that’s part of her picture book FREEDOM SOUP.
Brian Weisfeld will be a guest judge at The Startup Kids Club Pitch Yea! Youth Entrepreneur Contest in San Antonio on Feb. 22. The event runs 6pm to 8pm at the Magik Theatre on 420 South Alamo Street.
On Jan. 25, Donna Gephart will be signing her middle-grade novel THE PARIS PROJECT at booth #845 at ALA in the Philadelphia Convention Center from 1-2 p.m. On March 12-13, Donna will be at the SE-YA (Southeastern Young Adult) Book Festival in Tennessee.
Bethany Hegedus will appear at the Brooklyn Public Library on Saturday, Feb. 8, at 1pm with illustrator Tonya Engel for their acclaimed book RISE! FROM CAGED BIRD TO POET OF THE PEOPLE, MAYA ANGELOU.
REVIEWS
The newest young adult novel by Lamar Giles, NOT SO PURE AND SIMPLE, has received four starred reviews, from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, School Library Journal and Booklist. In its review, SLJ wrote that the book is “a powerful first purchase for any library serving teens.”
Tami Charles‘s FREEDOM SOUP also has received its fourth starred review. Shelf Awareness said, “This picture book celebration of Afro-Caribbean culture, familial bonds and food is a reminder that there’s nothing like the taste of freedom—and warm stew on a snowy day.”
Laura Gehl‘s BABY PALEONTOLOGIST earned a starred review from Kirkus. The review said this book is “delightful, with a logic and clarity in articulation; bright, colorful, and uncluttered artwork; and concerning a topic that’s a proven kid-pleaser: dinosaurs.”
Kirkus also praised P.J. Hoover‘s new middle-grade novel HOMER’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE, calling the book “awesome reading.”
COVER REVEALS
The cover for Tami Charles‘ new picture book ALL BECAUSE YOU MATTER, illustrated by Bryan Collier, was revealed on Mr. Schu Reads. This cover is particularly meaningful to Tami because the boy in the image is based on her son. In the interview, Tami said, “Bryan Collier’s illustrations are everything I dreamed they would be…and more. Typically, authors and illustrators work apart from each other, and rightfully so. We each need our own mental space to carry out the vision. So imagine my surprise when Bryan invited my son and I to a photo shoot to help inspire his illustrations! Bryan captured Christopher beautifully. His art for the book accomplishes exactly what I hoped to do as a mother: hold my child in the space of first steps, first words, first books. What a gift it is to see Christopher in the way I will remember him most—even when he’s grown taller than me and pretends he doesn’t need his mama any longer! I can’t thank you enough, Bryan. Truly.”
Brian Weisfeld had a cover reveal for the second book of the START UP SQUAD series, FACE THE MUSIC. In this next chapter in the adventures of the squad, the girls take over merchandising for Harriet’s brothers’ band (The Radical Skinks) and learn about profits, revenue, customer service, and negotiation. The cover captures the culminating Battle of the Bands where the girls hawk T-shirts to raise money for the band, and hilarity (and entrepreneurship) ensues.
Learn more about these and all our clients on their speaker pages.