(22 Feb 2012)

END OF THE WORLD Gets Thumbs-Up

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) has nominated Greg van Eekhout’s THE BOY AT THE END OF THE WORLD for its YA Nebula Award. More fully styled the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult SF/F Book, the honor will be voted on by members of the SFWA during March, and the winner (along with all of the Nebula Award winners) will be announced at the SFWA meet on May 20.

(22 Feb 2012)

We’re No. 82!

And damn proud of it! Yes, damn proud that Scholastic Parent & Child magazine has tapped Annie Barrows’ IVY AND BEAN as one of the 100 greatest books for kids. Ever. The editors looked for excellence, popularity, longevity and freshness, and IVY AND BEAN got the nod. “Author Barrows seems to be plugged into the part of a kid’s brain that struggles with impulse control,” said a judge of Barrows’ Bean. The No. 1 book? CHARLOTTE’S WEB.

(25 Jan 2012)

INKBLOT is an Orbis Pictus recommended book

Margaret Peot’s creativity-stimulating INKBLOT has won a spot on the short “recommended” nonfiction list from the National Council of Teachers of English. Through colorful art and lively text, INKBLOT helps kids (of all ages) to see artful opportunity in everyday happenstance. As Kirkus described, “This exciting road map through an underappreciated art form shows that ‘anything is possible with inkblots.’”

(12 Dec 2011)

Washington goes for SQUARE

The Washington Post names Michael Hall’s PERFECT SQUARE one of the best children’s books of 2011. This enchanting, “perfectly square” picture book builds “a story that combines the days of the week, the colors of the rainbow and the unspoken joy of breaking boundaries,” says the Post.

(09 Nov 2011)

Robyn Carr tops mass-market fiction

In its first week, Robyn Carr’s newest title, BRING ME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS, tore to the top of the New York Times’ bestseller list. Carr has placed high on the NYT list often, but this is her first No. 1 spot. Fittingly, CHRISTMAS is set in Virgin River, the fictional woodsy California small town whose men and women have enthralled Robyn’s fans in a dozen titles…and counting!

(07 Nov 2011)

Mcfadyen tops German list

Thriller writer Cody Mcfadyen tops the German bestseller list again! Cody’s AUSGELOSCHT (ABANDONED) is the No. 1 fiction paperback on Der Spiegel’s weekly list. It’s Cody’s fourth adventure with FBI serial-killer specialist Smoky Barrett, and Cody is deep into building the fifth book right now.

(26 Sep 2011)

LDA-pubbed e-book tops B&N list

The newest e-book published by Liza Dawson Associates is No. 1 on Barnes & Noble’s e-bestseller list! CHELYNNE by Robyn Carr is a reissue of the bestselling writer’s first historical romance, first published nearly three decades ago…long before e-books were even a twinkle in the eye of the yet-unbirthed internet. Recently e-pubbed by the agency with an e-blast to Robyn’s many many fans and a nice promo blast from B&N, CHELYNNE quickly climbed to B&N’s top e-spot. Set in the decadent court of 17th-century England’s Charles II, CHELYNNE gives readers of Robyn’s ongoing Virgin River series (Mira) another way to love her world.

(19 Jul 2011)

Harry is seeing stars

Three books, three starred reviews. The third book in Harry Connolly’s urban fantasy series, CIRCLE OF ENEMIES, just won a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly, joining PW’s starred review for Harry’s 2009 CHILD OF FIRE and the magazine’s star for his 2010 GAME OF CAGES.

(26 May 2011)

Stross’s newest is “dazzling, chilling and brilliant”

Kirkus dubs the latest book from SF icon(oclast) Charles Stross “dazzling, chilling and brilliant.” It’s titled RULE 34, which alludes to the e-tenet that “if it exists, there’s web porn that wallows in it.”

(20 Apr 2011)

Civil War homes not GONE

“Lives were not all that was lost during the Civil War,” describes Talk of the South e-magazine. “Many of the South’s grand antebellum homes that weren’t burned by Union marauders were left to fall into decay.” The haunting photos in Nell Dickerson’s image-rich GONE capture such romantic tableux as trees that sprout amidst crumbling parlors and ghostly columns that stand alone in long-silent fields. Dickerson’s photos are paired in GONE with Shelby Foote’s story “Pillar of Fire” (a fictional account of Union soldiers burning down a family home in front of its owners).

(22 Mar 2011)

Starred surfer pigs

Kirkus has pasted a starred review to Jennifer Sattler’s PIG KAHUNA, and the most appropriate thing I can do is get out of the way and cite the reviewer’s closing encomium: “Together, words and pictures create an utterly engaging picture-book experience — eye-catching, thought-provoking and just plain fun.” Wow.

(15 Mar 2011)

Mcfadyen is three for three on German list

For the third week in a row, Cody Mcfadyen’s INNOCENT BONE is the No. 3 hardcover novel on Germany’s Der Spiegel bestseller list. Meanwhile, Mcfadyen’s ABANDONED is No. 36 on the German paperback list. (It’s not been unusual recently for Cody to have three (!) books on der list…uber alles!)

(11 Mar 2011)

PERFECT SQUARE is starred

With a starred review from Kirkus, Michael Hall’s newest blocky blast of colorful kid art gives the creator a near-perfect record of reviewer thumbs up. That’s fitting, since the new book is PERFECT SQUARE, which shapes up alongside Hall’s earlier picture book, MY HEART IS LIKE A ZOO. “The simple language is as perfect as the initial square,” sums Kirkus.

(10 Feb 2011)

Actor Garfield on BACK ROADS

Popular actor Andrew Garfield and two well-regarded actresses are now “attached” to a screenplay of Tawni O’Dell’s bestseller BACK ROADS. Garfield is best known as character Mark Zuckerberg’s chum (and frenemy) Eduardo Saverin in “The Social Network”; he’s also slated to reboot the Spiderman franchise in 2012. Garfield joins Jennifer Garner (ABC’s “Alias,” “Juno”) and Tony-winner Marcia Gay Harden (”First Wives Club”) in BACK ROADS, playing from a script co-written by the book’s author Tawni O’Dell. Production is tentatively set for June 2011, according to Variety.

(07 Feb 2011)

SQUARE gets star

When does a square get a star? When Publishers Weekly pastes one on Michael Hall’s PERFECT SQUARE! Each image in the “deceptively simple work” for ages 4 to 8 “delivers a smile,” says PW, as it follows a colorful square that is sequentially cut or torn to unfold into fresh images such as a fountain or a bridge. (Hall’s earlier book, MY HEART IS LIKE A ZOO, also got a PW star at its debut a year ago.)

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