The CBC Diversity Committee was established in 2012 as one of the committees created by the Children’s Book Council, the national nonprofit trade association for children’s trade book publishers. It strives to increase the diversity of voices and experiences contributing to children’s and young adult literature. Alvina Ling, executive editor at Little, Brown, is a founder and chair, and has edited titles by Grace Lin, Matthew Quick, Bryan Collier, Libba Bray, and Karen Healey.

Ling says that it is important for young readers to have access to books with diverse characters because “it helps foster acceptance and understanding of different people. These titles are for that child who is not seeing himself in the books he’s reading or a child from a different culture to have compassion towards people who are not like him.”

Stacy Whitman, editorial director of Tu, multicultural publisher Lee & Low’s young adult fantasy and science fiction imprint, agrees. She adds, “In our growing multicultural world, kids need to know what it is to empathize with people that are different. I think fantasy and science fiction does that best, because you’re already putting yourself in a setting that is already so different.”

Whitman cites recent projects such as Joseph Bruchac’s Killer of Enemies—a postapocalyptic Apache steampunk novel—and Karen Sandler’s conclusion to the Tankborn trilogy, Rebellion, as examples of non-Northwest European and Tolkien-influenced fantasies.

In recent weeks, #DiversityinSFF was a trending conversation on Twitter, of which Whitman was an avid participant. And though according to her it is very similar to the Race Fail 2009 discussion—in which fantasy and sci-fi fans lamented the lack of diversity in the genres—she hopes that this recent flare up will stir into action those with influence in the industry. “The recent Twitter conversation pushed agents to change their submission guidelines, encouraging people of diverse backgrounds to send their work. The publisher Tor also changed their guidelines. I hope others will do the same.”

And while Putnam editor Stacey Barney agrees that the clamor for more diverse books isn’t a recent one, she has noted a change in the discussion in recent years. “It’s creeping up to the top of more people’s agenda. The tenor in the conversation has changed in a positive way. It’s moved beyond ‘we need to have more black characters or black authors’ to ‘we need characters of color who are experiencing everyday events,’ not historical landmarks or in an urban setting.” She cites Crystal Allen’s How Lamar’s Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy (HarperCollins, 2011) as a great example of this.

Barney, who has edited several books with diverse characters, such as Tara Sullivan’s Golden Boy (2013), about the albino killings in Tanzania, and Kristin Levine’s The Lions of Little Rock (2012, both Putnam), does believe that more can be done to market books and authors of diverse backgrounds.

“I think people miss the point when they argue that there should be more editors of color, which I think is true,” Barney says. “However, what we lack is an infrastructure that will support these books once they’re published. We’ll see more acquisitions when we have more success stories. We have to remember that this is a business. Editors want to acquire books that will get the best marketing launch possible. We just don’t have that in place yet.”

The desire to promote their books is what inspired Malindo Lo and Cindy Pon to start the Diversity in YA tour and website in 2011. The two authors discovered that they were both publishing Asian-inspired fantasies that year, and wanted to celebrate them and all diverse teen literature with this initiative. Relaunched in 2012 with a Tumblr account, Pon and Lo continue to promote books about all kinds of diversity, from race to sexual orientation to gender identity and disability.

And while Lo agrees that there’s been a recent explosion in the blogosphere about the subject, she’s also discovered that writers continue to struggle to get their LGBQT books to the public. “As I have talked to more authors, I have heard stories about many of them—published and unpublished—who have been blocked in their endeavors,” she says. “I’m getting this impression that we’re in this stuck point. I’m hoping that the continued discussion raises awareness of this issue, and that there will be considered effort to change that for the better.”

What can librarians do? Whitman suggests, “The last few years people have been talking about the need for diversity, but it’s time to put our money where the mouth is. Librarians have always had finger on the pulse of what their readers need, but these resources haven’t always been available to them.”

Responding to the point that Sun made during Summer Teen about the importance of diversity in YA book covers, one attendee asked how librarians should act in regards to cases of “whitewashing.”

Logo for Disability in Kid Lit website.

Klise, an author and a librarian replied, “I work at an urban high school in Chicago, and know that to engage my very diverse student population in reading for fun, I need to display books with faces they can identify with. We have to be aware of the [whitewashing] cases. It makes for really provocative conversation for my book club at school. The teens share my outrage—and outrage, when funneled into activism, is what makes the world change for the better.”

Whitman adds that librarians can make sure to include diverse books in their collection development budget, even if their communities are not diverse. “Look for awesome books no matter what the characters’ backgrounds may be. Even if your community isn’t diverse, the world is. Buy your books accordingly. Seek out resources to help you booktalk those titles. The resources are out there; become aware of them and use and share them with your colleagues.”

RESOURCES FOR FINDING DIVERSE BOOKS FOR TEENS AND KIDS

From School Library Journal:

Collection Development
Tamora Pierce’s Fantasy Novel Picks | SLJ SummerTeen
By Tamora Pierce

Straight Talk on Race: Challenging the Stereotypes in Kids’ Books
By Mitali Perkins

LGBTQ Lit: Speaking Out
By Megan Honig

From Diversity to Civil Rights | Nonfiction Notes
By Daryl Grabarek

Jackie Robinson: Remembering an American Hero | Watch and Read
By Joy Fleishhacker

Islam in the Classroom
By Lauren Barack

Books to Celebrate the Everyday Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement
By Rhona Campbell

Resources for Finding Latino Kid Lit
By Shelley M. Diaz

Kick-Starting a New Life | Recent YA Titles
By Mahnaz Dar

Our Bodies, Our Minds | Confronting Self-Image in YA Fiction
By Mahnaz Dar

YA Underground: Books for Teens You Might Have Missed
By Amy Cheney

Interviews
Between Violence and Tenderness: Aristotle and Dante Author Sáenz Talks to SLJ
By Karyn M. Peterson

Lesléa Newman Discusses her Novel in Verse About the Death of Matthew Shepard, ‘October Mourning’
By Mahnaz Dar

The “Radioactive Energy” of Bullies | An Interview with Meg Medina
By Jennifer M. Brown

The Power of Pictures: A Visit with Bryan Collier
By Rocco Staino

Andrea Cheng on Etched in Clay, Which Charts the Courageous Life of Dave the Potter
By Rick Margolis

Looking for Light: In Darkness Author Nick Lake talks to SLJ
By Karyn M. Peterson

News Articles
First Book’s “Stories for All Project” Lobbies for Kid Lit Diversity
By Karyn M. Peterson

Community Angered by Tossed Black History Collection
By Lauren Barack

Picture Book About Islam Ignites Twitter Battle
By Shelley Diaz

Librarians Sound Off: Not a Lack of Latino Lit for Kids, but a Lack of Awareness
By Shelley Diaz

Kid Lit Authors Discuss Diversity at NYPL
By Mahnaz Dar

Blog Posts/Opinion
2013 Middle Grade Black Boys: Seriously, People?
By Betsy Bird

America’s Changing Face | Consider the Source
By Marc Aronson

From The Horn Book:
A Very Good Question
By Roger Sutton

Young dreamers
By Christopher Myers

Indigenous protagonists and people of color
By Elissa Gershowitz

Horn Book Resources for Talking About Race
By Horn Book Staff

Other recommended sites:
Children’s Books by and about People of Color Published in the United States
CCBC Blog
As Demographics Shift, Kids’ Books Stay Stubbornly White from NPR
CBC Diversity (Maintains a Goodreads account with updated booklists of diverse books and resources.)
Stacy Whitman’s Pinterest Board on Diverse YA Fantasy
Disability in Kid Lit
The Brown Bookshelf
American Indians in Children’s Literature
Rich In Color (Reviews YA books that feature or are by people of color.)
Gay YA
De Colores Blog (Reviews books that feature Mexican American characters.)
Diversify YA (A collection of short interviews that focus on all sorts of diversity.)
Cynthia Leitich Smith has compiled resources on diverse books, including multiracial titles with biracial characters.
Forever Young Adult’s new series on diversity in YA
Articles on Diversity on YALSA’s Hub Blog
It Matters if You’re Black or White: The Racism of YA Book Covers
Lee & Low Blog (The multicultural children’s book publisher’s blog.)
First Book Blog (The organization’s commitment to diversity in children’s books.)
Crazy QuiltEdi (Promoting literacy for teens of color, one book at a time.)

Students in grades three through eight can enter the Dare to Dream…Change the World Second Annual Writing Contest for Children by creating an original biographical poem and a paragraph about someone who not only dreamed, but took action and made the world a better place. The contest “aims to promote literacy, poetry writing, and nonfiction research while inspiring students to follow their own dreams.”

Entries can be submitted through April 30, 2014. Winners will be announced by June 1, 2014. Be sure to check out the rules and submission information. The grand prize winner will receive $1,500 worth of Kane Miller and Usborne books for a school or community library of their choice. The top 30 entries will be published as a free ebook by sponsor Kane Miller Books.

The contest, cosponsored by Educational Development Corporation, has been announced by Jill Corcoran, compiler and contributing poet to Dare to Dream … Change the World (Kane Miller, 2013), a collection of biographical and inspirational poems for children featuring a culturally diverse mix of subjects ranging from Jonas Salk to Steven Spielberg, and from Christa McAuliffe to Michelle Kwan. A free, downloadable curriculum guide is available on the contest and publisher websites.

Pin It to Win

Teachers have until September 27, 2013 to enter Raytheon’s “Pin It to Win It” sweepstakes on Pinterest “that encourages knowledge sharing and promotes science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education.” The contest is part of Raytheon’s MathMovesU initiative, which aims to inspire student interest in STEM subjects and support teachers by providing easy access to STEM education resources.

Educators must create a back-to-school Pinterest board, re-pin and share creative STEM education content, such as inventive experiments or lesson tips, to the MathMovesU “Back-to-School” Pinterest board. Twenty-five winners will be randomly selected to receive a MathMovesU bag filled with classroom supplies, such as calculators, rulers, protractors, and compasses.

Picture Book Art

From September 17, 2013 through March 24, 2014, the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA, will feature an exhibit of artwork from Eric Carle’s new picture book, Friends (Philomel). The title has a release date of November 19, 2013, and showcases Carle’s signature tissue-paper collage artwork. It tells the story of a little boy who braves harsh weather, tall mountains, and long distances to reunite with his best friend who moves away. Visit the Museum’s website for hours and admission fees.

“Friends was inspired by many of my own friendships,” says Carle. “One that I had as a three-year-old boy, another as a six-year-old when I was taken by my parents to Germany, and another as a young man when I arrived back in the United States with my portfolio in hand. I have always believed that friendship is very important. I know it was for me as a child. I can still remember my strong attachments and feelings for my friends when I was a boy.”

Canadian Children’s Lit Awards

The Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC) has announced the finalists for its seven major children’s book awards: TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse, Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction, Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People, John Spray Mystery Award, and Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy. The winners will be announced at the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Awards and Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse in Toronto on October 22 and in Montreal on October 29.

The finalists for the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award ($30,000) are: Kids of Kabul (Groundwood; ages 11 Up) by Deborah Ellis; One Year in Coal Harbor (Groundwood; ages 9–13) by Polly Horvath; Susin Nielsen’s The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen (Tundra; ages 11 Up); The Stamp Collector (Fitzhenry & Whiteside; ages 8 Up) written by Jennifer Lanthier and illustrated by Francois Thisdale; and Virginia Wolf (Kids Can, ages 5–10) written by Kyo Maclear and illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault.

The Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award finalists are: Mr. King’s Things (Kids an; ages 3–7) written and illustrated by Genevieve Cote, Mr. Zinger’s Hat (Tundra; ages 4–8), The Stamp Collector (Fitzhenry & Whiteside; ages 8 Up) written by Jennifer Lanthier and illustrated by Francois Thisdale; Uncle Wally’s Old Brown Shoe (Orca; ages 4–8) written and illustrated by Wallace Edwards and Virginia Wolf (Kids Can, ages 5–10) written by Kyo Maclear and illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault.

The Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People ($5,000) finalists are: A Call to Battle (Scholastic Canada; ages 10–14) by Gillian Chan, The Lynching of Louie Sam (Annick Press; ages 12 Up) by Elizabeth Stewart, Making Bombs for Hitler (Scholastic Canada; ages 9–14) by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch, Amy McAuley’s Violins of Autumn (Walker; ages 12 Up), and Yesterday’s Dead (Second Story Press; ages 10–14) by Pat Bourke.

The finalists for the John Spray Mystery Award ($5,000) include: Becoming Holmes (Tundra; ages 11–14) by Shane Peacock, Devil’s Pass (Orca; ages 12–14) by Sigmund Brouwer, Neil Flambe and the Tokyo Treasure (S & S; ages 8–13) written and illustrated by Kevin Sylvester.

A complete list of finalists in all the categories can be found on The Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s website.

For the first time, TD Bank Group is partnering with CBC Books to present the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Fan Choice Award. Young readers will be asked to pick their favorite book from the shortlisted TD Award titles in an online poll starting on Monday, September 9. The book with the most votes will win, and one entrant will win a trip to Toronto to present the award at the ceremony on October 22.

Congressman John Lewis, his comics-obsessed staffer Andrew Aydin, and veteran graphic novelist Nate Powell have collaborated on a powerful new graphic novel memoir, March (Top Shelf Productions), that may well take its place among the greatest examples of that genre.

Elected to the House of Representatives in 1977 serving Georgia’s fifth district, Lewis is an icon of the American civil rights movement. As chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), he had a direct hand in the March on Washington in 1963; the voter registration drives of Mississippi Freedom Summer in 1964, and the integrated interstate bus rides through the South known as the Freedom Rides starting in 1961. Lewis was there on Bloody Sunday in 1965, the violent confrontation between marchers and Alabama state troopers on the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma—and has the scars to prove it. His is a remarkable story, ripe for retelling to inspire a new generation.

With the March trilogy, Lewis is doing exactly that. But it might not have happened without Aydin, who met Lewis while working on his 2008 re-election campaign. Growing up the son of a single mother in Atlanta (incidentally, Lewis’s district), Aydin had a natural affinity for underdogs, hence his love of comics—and politics. On the campaign trail, the team would share their personal stories, and Lewis, a gifted storyteller, contributed his own. When talk turned to what the staff members would do after the campaign, Aydin said that he planned to attend Comic Con, the annual comics conference. Teasing ensued. But Lewis came to Aydin’s defense, recalling that he and his friends drew inspiration from a 1956 comic, Martin Luther and the Montgomery Story.

Writing Lewis’s story

Aydin then approached Lewis and proposed that he adapt his life story as a graphic novel. Lewis agreed, on the condition that they work on the project together. Aydin joined Lewis’s staff and began developing the manuscript. He studied Lewis’s memoir Walking with the Wind (S & S, 1998) and interviewed the congressman whenever they could grab an opportunity. Lewis and Aydin submitted the finished manuscript to Top Shelf Productions. Now they had to find the right artist to bring it to life.

Enter Nate Powell, a recipient of the Eisner Award—the Oscars of the comics industry—who had just completed work on another graphic novel with a civil rights theme, The Silence of Our Friends (First Second, 2012). With a visual style that complemented Lewis’s story, Powell also demonstrated a capacity for period research. And he was eager to illustrate Lewis’s memoir.

It didn’t take long for Powell to win over Lewis and Aydin and gain their confidence. “Congressman Lewis and I spent a lot of time talking about what to include,” says Aydin. “But ultimately we had to trust Nate to do what he does best. He is so talented, with such a deep understanding of the comics medium, that at a certain point we had to just step back and let his work bring this story to life.”

Once Powell began breaking down the script, the trio realized that March would be much longer than they’d envisioned—about 500 pages. Aydin suggested a trilogy—a perfect fix, since the story was already neatly divided into three chapters.

Aydin’s narrative also had to be refined for it to shine in graphic novel form. “The most fundamental challenge is finding the line between an accurate representation of real people and their lives and a personal, emotionally expressive way of approaching the narrative visually,” says Powell. That “often requires ‘moving past’ the script entirely, seeing what else might be in the scene that’s not necessarily included in the script.”

This sensibility is evident throughout the book—perhaps nowhere more than in the prologue. In a preview of the Bloody Sunday conflict, the marchers, led by Lewis and Reverend Hosea Williams, apprehensively head over the bridge toward an ominous mob of policemen. A trooper with a bullhorn yells at the crowd to turn back—and moments later, orders an attack. All hell breaks loose. Multiple graphic strategies heighten the tension in the scene: the shifting perspectives; the size, shape, and placement of the panels; the lettering and speech balloons; and the stark black-and-white illustrations.

The chronology

March opens on the morning of President Barack Obama’s first inauguration. As Lewis prepares to attend the historic occasion, he has the opportunity to reminisce about the road that has led to this moment. Flashbacks take readers back to the congressman’s childhood, providing formative glimpses into the life of this Alabama sharecropper’s son. Memories of raising chickens quickly give way to images of racial injustice, early landmarks in the movement—Brown v. Board of Education, the murder of Emmett Till, and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Lewis entered discussion with Ralph Abernathy and Martin Luther King, Jr. about integrating Troy State College in Alabama as an incoming freshman. But his parents objected and Lewis eventually entered a Baptist theological seminary in Nashville, TN, where the movement came to another critical juncture. “I have thought about that often. Not being admitted to Troy State, my parents not supporting the decision to try and enroll there, that was a blessing,” says Lewis. “If I had gone to Troy State, I would not have met individuals who injected into my heart, into my blood, into my DNA, the very spirit of nonviolence.”

Having embraced the ideals of nonviolence, a group of college students, including Lewis, instigate a 1960 sit-in. It leads to a confrontation on the steps of Nashville City Hall where the story closes. The second volume of March, anticipated for 2014, will carry the story to the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham.

Early response

Meanwhile, the first volume—which bears an unprecedented jacket quote from former President Bill Clinton—had earned several starred reviews leading up to its publication on August 13. When Lewis, Aydin, and Powell made appearances at conferences including Book Expo America, the American Library Association Annual Conference, and Comic Con, it was abundantly clear that March’s message was resonating in the way that Lewis had hoped.

“I want young readers to understand that another generation of young people, who tasted the bitter fruits of segregation and discrimination, came to that point where they said, ‘We won’t take it anymore,’” Lewis says. “I would love readers to recognize that it was just ordinary people who believed so deeply that they were moved to act. And I hope they see what it took to be willing to speak up and speak out. They had raw courage, enough courage—literally—to put their bodies on the line. People were prepared to die for what they believed in.”

“I think, today, it is more important than ever for young people—and those not so young—to take a long hard look at some of the things going on around them and ask themselves, ‘What can I do?’” he continues. “Sometimes I feel like many of the things we fought for in the ’50s and the ’60s are being attacked again, and it is up to all of us to work together and keep fighting. We can’t go back. The only place for us to go is forward and each and every one of us has a contribution to make.”

Jonathan Hunt (hunt_yellow@yahoo.com) is a school librarian in Modesto (CA) City Schools. He reviews for Horn Book Magazine and blogs for SLJ at Heavy Medal.

On July 31, 2013 (Harry Potter and author  J. K . Rowling’s birthday), Scholastic unveiled a new look for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Author/illustrator Kazu Kibuishi created new covers  for each of the titles in beloved series. The book covers were revamped in time for the 15th anniversary of the U.S. publication of Rowling’s series opener.

Kazu Kibuishi in front of the newly revealed cover that he illustrated for the new edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  Photos by Mark Tuchman.

For more photos of the Harry Potter birthday/cover reveal celebration, check out the slideshow below.

The Big Brain Club is a non-profit organization that helps students become the best version of themselves. Founded by author and broadcaster Dom Testa, of the award-winning “Galahad” series (Tor Teen) and the bestselling “Mindbender” books (Profound Impact), the Club and its members believe that smart is cool!

The organization was formed to provide free programs and resources to students, schools, teachers, and parents. The Big Brain Club professionally publishes the creative writing of kids in grades 6-12, donates technology to classrooms, and provides a clearinghouse of resources for teachers and students interested in encouraging good reading and writing skills, leading to success not only in the classroom, but in life as well.

How much do our expectations influence our reading? I picked up Allison van Diepen’s newest book Takedown and was expecting a lot. The first pages got me excited: Sick Puppy’s arrest is the beginning of the takedown. YA version of the Wire! But then I got bogged down. Darren’s motivation to play the super dangerous game of informing and risking his life while trying to get out of the game didn’t ring true. However, all the teens that I’ve given the book to have been satisfied and their expectations met.

The cover and trim size of Takedown is different from the author’s previous Street Pharm (2006) and Snitch (2007, both Simon Pulse) and doesn’t shelve well as a set—as a result I’ve had to call the teens’ attention to the author and content. The final cover isn’t out yet—the  two cover versions I’ve seen so far are both just okay. Maybe  the blue one is a little bit better? The nice interior has lots of white space, big enough type, cool font at the beginning of each chapter, and Darren’s rap lyrics in a different type sprinkled throughout.

We are extremely lucky to have some of the best writers for our teens as inner-city school teachers and/or social workers. Coe Booth, Alan Sitomer, and Alison van Diepen are my saviors. I couldn’t do my job without them. I asked Allison about Darren’s motivation, and she said this:

“Making a snitch the hero was a tough sell, especially since it wasn’t because of some dramatic incident, but instead because he’d woken up to the reality that he’d been used—that he’d been the scapegoat—and that he’d lost two years of freedom because of it. My students, both at the alternative school where I teach, and back in Brooklyn, hated snitches, but I’ve always wondered if they might feel differently if they saw the world through the eyes of a snitch.” That’s a worthy cause for writing motivation, and teens will enjoy the read regardless of our lofty hopes for them.

Along the lines of motivating factors, I laughed (silently) when speaker AR brought in a totally hot girl friend (formerly incarcerated, turned her life around) who mentioned Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret. I was flooded by boys requesting the book afterwards. Forget booktalks, just bring in a hot girl to wave a book in the air. Unfortunately, not a one could get into the book—their expectation was way different than the reality. James Allen’s bestseller As a Man Thinketh is a classic version of The Secret, and in many ways the old-school language may be a bit more accessible to teens than The Secret’s lofty new ageism.

Sun Tzu’s classic Art of War is one of my most requested books. One of my teens rattled off all the books that mention it, and I should have written them down, but I was scrambling to find copies to fill all the requests. Especially for reluctant readers, it’s great to have different versions of the same book in order to meet differing expectations. Here are the two other versions of the Art of War I offer besides the original:

Kelly Roman’s adult graphic novel version is amazing. Stark pages feature black and white art that pops with red highlights—thigh high boots, a tattoo, blood, a tie, the American flag—and Sun Tzu’s words in gritty bursts throughout.  A young man with a mohawk and genetic enhancements is released from military prison to face his demons: an ex-girlfriend he severely injured, the ghost of his murdered brother, a sick father, a world at war. Set in the future, the landscape is devastated, except where it’s been purchased—Manhattan has been bought by China. This is one of those “meta-books,” with more meaning and information unfolding with each read.

The Art of War: How to Be Successful in Any Competition isn’t as complex, classy, or gory as Roman’s version, but it’s more accessible and definitely more shelvable in a teen section, and a good choice for less-skilled readers. Tzu’s wisdom is revealed in full-color art in a variety of settings including a SWAT team, jail cell, old school gangsters, and a poker tournament.

The 50th Law by Robert Greene and 50 Cent is perfect for inner-city teens, or any reader looking for an edgy approach. The good cover image of 50 Cent does not carry through to the inside art, but the combination of story—from hustler to hip hop artist—and words of wisdom and keys to power packs a powerful punch.

Kwame Alexander’s He Said, She Said has the winning alternating girl/boy chapter format along with texts and Facebook posts. He also taught high school, so I had high expectations. Omar is the star quarterback and all around full of himself big man. Claudia is a brainy Beyonce look-alike who is done with playas—but can’t deny she feels a spark, especially after Omar surprises her and uses his fame to rally students in a silent protest to bring back the arts programming.  Sigh… Our gritty kids will probably find it too nerdy—in fact they rolled their eyes at me when I booktalked it—and none of them have picked it up. An author visit would rectify and stimulate interest. This isn’t to say that it’s not a great book for lots of teens.

Randy Kearse, after serving 13 years, 6 months and 2 days of a federal prison term, was highly motivated to change his life. In prison he researched and wrote Street Talk and began work on Changin’ Your Game Plan! How to Use Incarceration as a Stepping Stone for Success. Upon his release he applied his drug dealing skills to hustling his books, selling 35 or more a day for three years on streets and subways. Clearly a charismatic and engaging person, Kearse is definitely a speaker I’d bring in. It’s terrific when he gets specific about the steps he took to change, and there are definitely gems amidst all the repetitions, generalities, and preachiness. You will not hear my usual lament of too much of the dirt (which actually hooks the kids and gets them reading), and not enough of the transformation, as this barely skims the surface of what he was incarcerated for. It’s also surprisingly free of the religious factor except for a guest chapter. Teens aren’t going to be flocking to read it, but it’s a must-have for adult facilities and urban libraries, especially on the eastern seaboard, where the majority of his resource list is oriented.

ALEXANDER, Kwame. He Said, She Said. Harper Teen/Amistad. 2013. 336p. Tr $17.99. 9780062118967.

ALLEN, James. As a Man Thinketh. Tribeca Books. 2013. 62p. pap. $6.99. 9781612930220. (Note: I haven’t found the best version of this classic—still looking.)

BYRNE, Rhonda. The Secret. Atria. 2006. 198p. Tr $23.95. 9781582701707.

GREENE, Robert and 50 Cent.The 50th Law. illus. by Dave Crosland. G-Unit Book, Inc., Robert Greene and SmarterComics, LLC. 2012. 60p. $14.95. 978-1-6108-2006-6.

KEARSE, Randy. Changin’ Your Game Plan! How to Use Incarceration as a Stepping Stone for Success. 3rd ed. Positive Urban Literature, Inc. 2012. 248p. $14.99. 978-0-9800-9740-5.

KEARSE, Randy. Street Talk: Da Official Guide to  Hip-Hop & Urban Slanguage. Barricade Books. 2006. 700p. 978-1-5698-0320-2.

ROMAN, Kelly.The Art of War: A Graphic Novel. illus. by Michael DeWeese. Harper Perennial.  2012. 346p. $ 22.99 978-0-06-210394-9.

TZU, Sun. The Art of War: How to Be Successful in Any Competition. illus. by Shane Clester.  Reprint Edition. SmarterComics.  2012. 88p. $12.95. 978-1-6108-2008-0.

VAN DIEPEN,  Allison. Takedown. Simon Pulse. Sept. 2013. 288p. $16.99 978-1-4424-8690-4.

Marc Simont created the cover for SLJ‘s
December 2002 Best Books issue.

Acclaimed children’s book creator Marc Simont, who illustrated nearly 100 children’s books, died on Saturday, July 13. He was 97. His many honors include a Caldecott Medal in 1957 for the art in Janice May Udry’s A Tree is Nice (1956), and Caldecott Honors for illustrating Ruth Krauss’s The Happy Day (1949) and his own The Stray Dog (2001, all HarperCollins).

The Paris native, who was born in 1915, was influenced by his Catalan father—Joseph Simont, a staff illustrator for the magazine L’Illustration—to pursue a career in the arts. He attended art school in Paris and immigrated to the United States at age 19, where he trained at the National Academy of Design in New York, alongside Make Way for the Ducklings Caldecott-winner Robert McCloskey. Simont lived his last days in West Cornwall, Connecticut.

During his long career, the prolific author/illustrator collaborated with publishing heavy hitters such as Ruth Krauss, James Thurber, and Margaret Wise Brown, and his art is represented in collections as far afield as the Kijo Picture Book Museum in Japan. His impact, however, is not limited to the children’s literature sphere. He was selected as the 1997 Illustrator of the Year in his hometown of Catalonia, and The Lakeville Journal, a community newspaper near his recent home in Connecticut, regularly featured his political cartoons.

Luann Toth, managing editor of School Library Journal’s book review, served on the Caldecott Committee that chose The Stray Dog as an honor book in 2002. The heartwarming tale chronicles the adoption of a charming dog by two siblings. “We fell in love with the book’s gentle humor yet distinctive line. Simont’s expressive and gorgeously rendered watercolors capture the emotions and energy of the simple story and make it irresistible,” she shares. “Looking back over his long and amazing career, it’s easy to see Simont’s well-earned spot among the greats of children’s literature.”

Kate Jackson, editor-in-chief at Harper Children’s, remembers Simont as a great illustrator and an even greater person. She met Simont for the first time when he dropped off a manila envelope containing the story and art for The Stray Dog, hoping that the publisher would add it to its list. “Reading the story as I looked through the art, I remember thinking that it was absolutely perfect and beautiful as it was,” she tells SLJ.

From editorial to sales, all of Harper’s departments were keen on the book’s presentation, Jackson says, adding, “Anne Hoppe, who was already a great admirer of his work, volunteered to participate in the editorial process as well. It was an altogether joyful experience: a labor of love for the house. As much as the editorial group cherished him, the designers adored him.”

Philip Nel, children’s literature professor at Kansas State University and biographer, recalls his short but memorable experience with Simont. While researching for a biography on the husband-wife team Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss, Nel reached out to the artist about his relationship with the pair. “Simont was the illustrator for Krauss’s The Happy Day; and he was such a gentleman,” Nel says. “He was so generous in sharing his memories of the couple and faxing his correspondence about their projects. His passing marks the end of a certain generation of artists that worked on children’s books even before Maurice Sendak: Syd Hoff, Robert McCloskey, P.D. Eastman, Georges Prosper Remi [Hergé].”

Nel also says was struck by the soft-spoken and kind artist’s willingness to help someone he didn’t know, and how he continued to create children’s books late in life, winning Caldecott Honors more than 50 years apart.

Notably, Simont was also responsible for the art in books for older readers. He completed the unique illustrations in Bette Bao Lord’s In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson, and was the longtime collaborator on the “Nate the Great” series (Delacorte) about a child detective and his dog assistant, Sludge. Beverly Horowitz, publisher at Delacorte Press, tells SLJ, “We were deeply saddened to hear the news of Marc’s death. His artwork is iconic to Marjorie Sharmat’s Nate the Great, and will continue to identify the series as a treasured classic to generations of readers.”

Simont illustrated the first 20 books from 1972 to 1998.

Toth described his works as “timeless treasures that will live on for generations to come.”

Adds Jackson, “He was a wonderful, generous, and kind human being, in addition to being so creative. It was such a privilege to know him.”

Simont is survived by his wife, Sarah Dalton Simont, and his son, Marc Dalton Simont.

From The Horn Book: Marc Simont’s Sketchbooks

Final art inside!

When I first wrote to Sesame Workshop about the possibility of a Muppet-themed cover for School Library Journal, I had no idea if they would be agreeable. Fortunately, Jodi Lefkowitz, manager of corporate communications, got back to me quickly. We discussed possible imagery for the feature, and I was relieved to know that it was not going to be a problem getting photos, screenshots of apps, and images of Muppet characters to use in our article.

Then I broached the topic of the cover, and as an example, floated an idea that I had come up with shortly before the phone call. It was the idea that we ended up using: Big Bird as “The Early Bird,” which connected the themes of the issue—leaders in early learning—with one of Sesame Street‘s most widely recognized and beloved characters.

Jodi seemed positive about the idea, and so did the SLJ’s editors. A home run right off the bat? It’s not always this easy, but when you are starting off with Big Bird on the cover, you are starting out on third base! Sesame Workshop hooked us up with an illustrator, Louis Henry Mitchell, who is their associate design director of special projects. Imagine how happy we were to learn that, not only were we going to be able to feature Big Bird on our cover, it was going to be the real Big Bird.

What struck me about working with the staff from Sesame Workshop was how, when they talked about Big Bird and the other Muppets, it was not just business. They talked about the characters in a way that made it clear that the staff are the protectors and guardians of these beloved characters.

For example, when I sent over a crude thumbnail sketch to show them what I was originally envisioning, I sketched a lab coat on Big Bird. In pondering the “Early Bird” headline, I wondered if Big Bird should be cast in the role of the researcher. Sesame Workshop reminded me that Big Bird is only six years old—so it would make more sense if he was the one who was trying out the app.

In another conversation, I wondered if I could remove a suitcase that Ernie and Burt were holding in a promo photo of the characters, replacing it with a tablet that would display one of their apps. I was informed that the characters could never be seen as promoting products, not even their own.

There was an element of protectiveness of the Muppet characters—it’s clear that Sesame Workshop is committed to ensuring that the characters will always be portrayed with authenticity.

The white background of the cover art is ‘stripped out’ and Big Bird is then positioned in front of the logo.

Louis came back with a sketch that was straightforward but brilliant. By posing him in a sitting position it accentuated Big Bird’s size (he needs to sit to fit on the cover!) and also his childlike nature. He is on a tablet but instead of the Apple logo, you see a pineapple. And Big Bird was positioned to fit in perfectly among all of the cover elements—the logo, the cover lines, and even the inkjet mailing label box! SLJ’s editors and I quickly green-lighted the sketch.

Louis, who works both digitally and traditionally, said he relished the opportunity work old-school—on paper, with watercolor and colored pencil. We both felt it would be the right feel for this cover. The quick approval of the sketch bought him more time to work on his final art. And if you look closely at all of the detail in the feathers, you will see how much love and time went into this piece of original art, just further proof of how he, like all the staff at Sesame Workshop, care deeply about the Muppet characters.

Sesame Workshop is a group of smart, caring people doing exceptional work in the field of children’s education and entertainment. I was delighted for the opportunity to work with them.

Send your pictures of the week to sdiaz@mediasourceinc.com

In celebration of its 25th Anniversary of children’s publishing, Chronicle Books hosted a cocktail reception at the American Library Association Annual conference that included a raffle of original artwork inspired by the company’s spectacles logo. The pieces were created by many award-winning and bestselling illustrators, including Tom Lichtenheld, Sophie Blackall, Taro Gomi, and more. The artists presented the prizes to the raffle winners.

Illustrator Tom Lichtenheld and children’s literature professor Susannah Richards. Photos courtesy of Chronicle Books.

Illustrator Vladimir Radunsky presented original art  to Susan Faust, librarian at San Francisco’s Katherine Delmar Burke School.

I was delighted that a reader was paying attention to the visual presentation of the magazine! My next reaction was agreement that perhaps we were skewing a little too much toward portrait covers lately. Then I thought this was a golden opportunity to share our cover strategy and some of my favorite recent covers.

In each month’s SLJ print magazine, one feature article gets chosen as the cover story. Figuring out how to represent this feature on the cover in a way that engages the reader, is a fun challenge—one that I look forward to each month.

No matter the topic, the goal of the cover is simply to encourage the reader to open the magazine. While our subscribers are most likely interested in the topic, the cover still has work to do. A compelling cover will be the difference between someone who intends to read the magazine and someone who actually reads it. When imagery and cover lines work together effectively, they do more than communicate information. The ideal is that the cover reaches deeper, connecting with the reader on an emotional level. Working with top illustrators and photographers, as we do, makes it all the more possible that we may end up with such a cover.

Here are some of my favorites from the past few years. Click through to view the image alone, and click once again for a larger version.

Send your pictures of the week to sdiaz@mediasourceinc.com

On June 24, the National Museum of Mathematics in New York City kicked off its first annual National Pajama Party Week with the book launch of Bedtime Math: A Fun Excuse to Stay Up Late (Fiewel and Friends) by Laura Overdeck, author and founder of the Bedtime Math nonprofit, an organization whose mission is to make nightly the math problem as common as the bedtime story. The event included math focused games for families and a book giveaway and signing by the author.

Bedtime Math author Laura Overdeck signs books for awaiting fans. Photos courtesy of Bedtime Math

Families read and worked together to solve math games.

The Sea of Tranquility

Some of the story is told from Nastya’s point of view, some of it is told by Josh. The gradual building and deepening of their relationship is beautiful to read, especially their struggles to trust each other and to accept the intimacy of being loved.

I welcomed the opportunity to ask Katja Millay a few questions about her debut novel, The Sea of Tranquility.

What was the original inspiration for your novel? Did you begin with a particular character? With what happened to Nastya? Did you know it would become a love story?

The first thing I actually put on paper was Nastya’s attack scene.  Though it doesn’t come into the book until well past the halfway mark, it was the catalyst for the rest of the story. It was important for me to understand what had happened to her and to keep that in mind throughout the writing process because that incident affected so much of what she had become.

Everything began with Nastya. I lived with her in my head for a while before even trying to form a story. At that point, she fascinated me and I was just getting to know her. I was haunted by this very childlike, yet obsessively focused, teenage girl with an extraordinary talent and vivid expectations for her future. Then I imagined her after everything she had defined herself by had been taken away.

I was intrigued by the idea of talent and ability and how that forms our identities and sense of self.  It’s so common for us to define ourselves by what we do, not necessarily by who we are. Nastya’s entire identity and sense of worth was wrapped around her musical talent and then it’s lost—and really it isn’t even the talent that’s lost. Is she suddenly not talented because her hand can no longer play?  In her mind, she still had the ability.  She hadn’t lost that gift; she lost the means to express it. I equated that feeling to the way we feel in a dream when we know we should be able to scream but we open our mouths and our bodies betray us and no sound comes out; it’s a feeling of pure impotence. That’s how she feels with the musical ability trapped inside her with no way out. I imagined that level of frustration would be maddening for anyone, much less a fifteen-year old girl without the maturity or life skills to handle such a loss. The book began as a way to explore the effects of that.

I knew from the beginning that I would write it as a love story.  I’ve always been drawn to reading slow-burn romances where the relationship takes its time to build and develop naturally.  As I wrote TSoT, I wanted to see Josh and Nastya fall in love and I wanted to experience that with them. When I’m reading, I like to reach the end of a book and feel like I understand why two characters fell in love, because I was able to watch it happen. That’s how I hoped readers would feel at the end of TSoT.

The title has multiple meanings as the book progresses, and it means different things to Nastya at different points. Could you talk about The Sea of Tranquility?

Years ago, when I first learned what the Sea of Tranquility actually was, I felt a distinct sense of disappointment. I thought, Really? That’s what it is? I imagined Nastya feeling the same way, but to a greater extent because she had created a set of expectations that were rooted so much more deeply.

The Sea of Tranquility is a symbol of the disillusionment that Nastya is experiencing when we meet her—a sense of disappointment and the loss of possibility. Her life carried the promise of a bright future defined by music but reality has delivered something wholly different; just as the Sea of Tranquility promised a serene, beautiful body of water and instead delivered a “big, dark shadow on the moon.”

In some ways, I likened the Sea of Tranquility to the optical illusion that Nastya is described as in the text. Its implications shift depending on our perceptions over the course of the story. I referred to the book as The Sea of Tranquility as I was writing, but I always considered it a working title, not actually believing I would use it.  But by the time I finished, it had become clear that it reflected so many of the story’s themes in a way that nothing else would. Once I realized that, I knew that I couldn’t possibly call it anything else.

I am struck by how real—and lacking in cliché or stereotype—the teen characters are. How did you go about creating believable young people, from Josh and Nastya to their siblings to the kids at school?

Thank you!  One of my favorite parts of writing is developing characters and having the opportunity to get inside their heads and figure out how their minds work. I spent part of my career teaching high school and that experience provided me with vital insight into the world of teenagers—the way they speak, the maturity and naïveté that are at war within them during those years, the tough exteriors that often hide vulnerabilities and insecurities. That understanding ended up being invaluable to me and I tapped into it quite a bit.

I imagined all of my characters as real people. It sounds simple enough but it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking of characters as characters and when that happens they tend to become a type. Real people are complex and what you see is rarely what you get. I tried to keep in mind how often we meet someone in real life and construct a set of expectations based on what we encounter on the surface only to learn that, once we delve further, there’s much more to them. I never wanted to leave my characters on that surface level.

Developing backstories, for not only the main characters but the secondary ones as well, was also key. Even knowing that much of what happened in those backstories would never make it into the actual book, it was important for me, as a writer, to know their pasts so that I could understand their motivations and behavior. Characters aren’t born the moment they appear on the page. They’ve lived lives before the story begins and those lives have created the people they are. A person’s past experiences impact how they think and view the world, which in turn affects their decisions and determines how they act and react to the situations they’re placed in.

Josh is very mature and sounds older than his years at times. Could you talk about him and the voice you found for his chapters?

Finding Josh’s voice was a bit of a balancing act because in some ways he’s older than his years and in others he’s very much the teenager he is. At one point in the text, Mrs. Leighton refers to Josh, saying that he, “may seem like a very old man sometimes…” and I think that’s true.  I thought of him as weighed down by experience.  He’s had to endure rites of passage that many adults haven’t even gone through yet and with every one of those losses he gets a little older and a little more alone.  The magnitude of what he’s gone through makes things like high school seem trivial and yet he simply goes on, going through the motions of day-to-day life mostly because it’s easier than having to give it any thought.  While Nastya rails against her lot in life with bitterness and anger, he dissolves into his with a sense of resignation and acceptance that what is, simply is.

His self-preservation mechanisms are also firmly in place. People leave him alone so he’s convinced himself that he wants it that way and accordingly developed the abrasiveness that we encounter when we first meet him. But while he may have a deep level of understanding when it comes to death and loss, underneath that he’s still a 17-year-old boy and he really doesn’t have the rest of it figured out, especially when it comes to relationships. He makes mistakes. He’s far from perfect. He still has growing up to do and we see some of that maturation happen throughout the book. His relationship with Nastya allows both of them to be the teenagers they should be—to go on dates, to fall in love, to have a little bit of the normalcy that many of us take for granted.

What were the challenges of writing a novel around a character who chooses not to speak?

The fact that Nastya didn’t speak was actually a challenge and a blessing at once. Readers tend to crave dialogue and it’s an invaluable tool in character creation and story momentum. When you lose that tool, you have to compensate. For me, it became about developing Nastya’s inner voice so that it was rich enough to hold a reader. You spend a great deal of time in her head, so I had to stay constantly aware of her thoughts and ensuring that they were building her character, letting the reader get to know her and giving them clues along the way—advancing and enlightening. Nastya made things a little easier on me though because she always had something going on in her head. She was opinionated and observant and the wheels never stopped turning. So even though she wasn’t speaking, she always had something to say.

The blessing of spending so much time in Nastya’s head is that I was able to paint a detailed picture of who she is while giving readers the means by which to understand and connect with her. The tricky part was that all of Nastya’s secrets also live in her head, and I couldn’t let them out too early. So it was a very delicate line I was walking—trying to keep the reveals coming at a steady pace, without giving away too much too soon.

How did you go about maintaining suspense for 448 pages, especially when the entire book is about two people? The pacing of the development of the central relationships and Nastya’s healing are perfect. Could you talk about your process?

I’m not sure I could call what I had a process. Much of the book was written by hand, out of order, in pieces and moments. I’d scribble it down in half-scenes and random lines of dialogue and visual images, not even realizing at the beginning that I would end up with a book. At one point, I sat down to write an outline but it was a laughable attempt. I ended up scrapping it and just continuing to do what I was doing.

Once I had the majority of the pieces down, I finally embarked on putting it into the computer and I remember looking at the blank screen and then at my husband and saying, “I don’t know where it starts.” That moment was almost paralyzing for me. I began rearranging and ordering everything I had on paper.  I knew the thematic thread that was going to carry it from beginning to end and I knew the character arcs which, in my mind, were the most important elements.  That thread and those arcs provided the real framework for me.  Then it was a matter of filling in the holes and connecting the dots.

As far as the reveals are concerned, many of them were small and subtle. I wanted the information to come at a steady pace so that you felt you were always getting a piece of the puzzle even if it didn’t make sense yet. There was a blog that did a structural breakdown of TSoT several months ago and the author used the term “Greteling” to describe how the information was disseminated throughout the book and I loved that. I thought it was such a visually descriptive way to discuss how the clues are dropped like breadcrumbs that the reader has to follow to make it to the end.

In terms of the pacing, much of that was determined by the characters. As their trust in each other gradually increased, so did the amount of information they were willing to part with. Josh’s secrets aren’t quite as dark and certainly not nearly as buried as Nastya’s, so I knew they would come out into the open first. When it came to both of their stories, I simply allowed the details to emerge organically in a way that mirrored the pace at which the relationship between them developed.

Your novel appeals equally to teen and adult readers. Why do you think that is? To what do you credit its crossover appeal?

I’ve been so thrilled with how the book seems to have taken hold with both teen and adult audiences. I think the crossover appeal can somewhat be credited to the universal themes at work in the book. While the characters may be teenagers, they’re dealing with situations and life events that often come later. There’s also the exploration of the concept of identity and figuring out who we are. I think that’s something that many of us, even as adults, still struggle with.

In addition, in its simplest form, it’s a love story; it’s a story of acceptance and growing up. At its core, the story is one of friendship and family, faith and fate, choices and chance and I believe those things transcend age barriers.

Please see the SLJ starred review of The Sea of Tranquility, published on the Adult Books 4 Teens blog.

Rebecca T. Miller

Rebecca T. Miller, Editor-in-Chief of School Library Journal, has accepted the position of Editorial Director of Library Journals, effective immediately. She will serve as Editor-in-Chief for both Library Journal and School Library Journal. Michael Kelley, previously Editor-in-Chief of LJ, is no longer with the company. Please submit LJ news and feature queries to Executive Editor Josh Hadro at jhadro@mediasourceinc.com.

Full release below:

 Rebecca T. Miller Named Editorial Director of Library Journals: Will Lead LJ and SLJ

Media Source, Inc., today announced that Rebecca T. Miller, currently Editor-in-Chief of School Library Journal, has been named Editorial Director of Library Journals (LJS). In this position, she will serve as Editor-in-Chief for both Library Journal and School Library Journal, directing the editorial strategy of the two brands. Her new role is effective immediately.

“I’m pleased to announce that Rebecca Miller is now the Editorial Director of Library Journals,” said LJS publisher Ian Singer. “Prior to assuming the role of EiC of SLJ, Rebecca served as LJ’s Executive Editor for six years, and even while serving as SLJ’s EiC, she continued to provide leadership for LJ‘s Patron Profiles research and Design Institute events.  As such, Rebecca understands deeply the mission of our brands, and I’m excited for our future.”

Miller, who was named Editor-in-Chief of School Library Journal in 2011, was an editor at LJ since 1998, serving as Executive Editor since 2005. She received her MLIS from Pratt Institute in 2009. At the helm of SLJ, she tuned the editorial strategy toward addressing the issues raised by the implementation of the Common Core State Standards and launched Be the Change, a school library leadership initiative. Importantly, she also embraced the need for greater collaboration between library types, and created SLJ‘s first Public Library Leadership Think Tank as a national forum for leaders in children’s services. Throughout, Miller continued to work closely with LJ‘s editorial team on Patron Profiles research, architecture coverage, the Best Small Library in America Award, planning the Digital Shift virtual event, and more.

“The opportunity to connect the dots between these two venerable brands while better serving their distinct readerships is a deep honor,” said Miller. “I look forward to working even more closely with the excellent editorial staffs to deliver strong independent coverage of the many issues libraries face, insight into the best practices and innovative leaders at work, and robust professional development for librarians at all levels.”

Announcing the change to staff, Singer noted that the consolidation of the two Editor-in-Chief roles dovetails with the impending finalization of three technology investments to help support content integration across the brands’ various channels: a migration to the K4 cross-media publishing platform and WordPress content management system, and a consolidated book review database. “Our brands are going to continue to look inward for ways in which we can maximize our content opportunities and staff to best serve our core audience,” he said. “I believe consolidating the EiC position, with Rebecca in that role, for which I fully believe she is uniquely qualified, is the ideal starting point.”

ABOUT MEDIA SOURCE INC. Media Source, Inc., serves librarians, educators, publishers, and parents by producing critical information and services that maximize the value of libraries to their communities. Combining school, public, and academic library expertise with access to some of the best minds in the world of collection development, readers’ advisory, library management, and library technology, MSI’s brands offer invaluable resources for the library profession. Subsidiary companies include: Junior Library Guild, The Horn Book, Library Journal and School Library Journal. MSI acquired School Library Journal and Library Journal from Reed Business Information in early 2010. Visit mediasourceinc.com.

And if we are talking “underground” books, we have to mention Criminal by Terra Elan McVoy; it is the best book I’ve seen and read this year. The stark black cover with a bullet blazing through the title draws the reader into this clean, tightly written, and explosive story. Short sentences and realistic dialogue pack a punch and create a visceral and immediate understanding of the characters and their world.  Nikki—the daughter of a drug addict mother, with her stepdad in jail—is living at Bird’s. As much as Bird and her daughter Jamelee mean to Nikki, fellow teen Dee has her heart and soul. She finds purpose in being the one who understands him. He needs her to be there for him, and she is, until she puts everyone, including herself, in irreversible danger. One-, two-, and three-page chapters with nice sized type, filled with action and insight, make reading effortless. McVoy is able to distill the complex lives of at-risk girls in general, and in particular, addresses Nikki’s love/sex addiction and low self-esteem issues. This is a book teens won’t want to put down.

If it’s possible to have a best Bluford book (they are all good), Promises to Keep by Paul Langan might be it. No one likes Tyray Hobbs, including himself. He is a bully. Once outwardly respected, he recently lost his fear factor, and is now a complete outcast after a beat down in the school where he was ridiculed. Things are not good at home, with a strict father who lectures him and a brother in jail. On the streets, it’s not much better—Londell’s crew is stealing from him and threatening him. But he still has Lark. She’s not the cutest girl in the class, but she seems to like him, and even sticks up for him after everything he’s done. He feels guilty for how he lied to her and stole her money—can he make anything right? Langan has created a book from the bully’s perspective that is compassionate, insightful, and educational, along with being action-packed, realistic, and emotionally and psychologically accurate. There’s not a false note in the title.

April Henry has it down with her taut mysteries, and The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die is as good as her other works. Suspense and tension build from the first page—in which men are taking Cady out to kill her—to the last, as she uncovers the secrets in this eco-thriller.

If I was a designer, I would have created a much better cover and interior for Chloe Shantz-Hilkes’ Hooked:  When Addiction Hits Home.  It has a challenging opening for reluctant readers—an introduction and foreword that don’t make for kid-friendly reading. Many won’t get through those first pages, or know that they can skip the opening materials (stick that stuff in the back, editors!). Still, this title won me over and is being quietly checked out.

Ten young people are profiled in the book, all of whom have parents dealing—or not dealing—with some form of addiction: alcohol, sex, work, crack, gambling, etc. Jermaine kicks his crack-addicted dad out of the house. Nicola’s brother becomes a drug addict like their dad. Carmella shares her mom’s struggle with bulimia, but is able to recover. Section titles like “My Reaction,” “Looking Back,” “How I Coped,” and “A Code of Silence” provide signposts of how the disease impacts these young people and their families. There are pull-out quotes that give a general overview of the issue, and help move readers along. It’s free from any dogma—no 12-step sayings like “Let Go and Let God.” The title is clearly focused on key events and the experience from these events. No overt mention of race or class makes this book a great equalizer for all teens dealing with addiction in their families.

Always looking for a rare find, I was hoping Clare Griffin’s Nowhere to Run might be it, in spite of the dull cover. Calvin is a track star, so when he goes to confront hustler Norris, he’s not afraid because he knows he can outrun him. He didn’t think about Norris having a baseball bat as well as his buddies with him, which seems improbable. Deej, Calvin’s best friend and Norris’ cousin, intervenes and Calvin gets a temporary pass. Life gets good. Calvin and Deej hang out, Calvin starts going out with a “hard to get” good girl, and he gets a job. But as Deej gets more deeply involved with Norris and his crew, Calvin struggles with issues of loyalty. He has some tough decisions: should he stand up for Deej like he stood up for him? Even when his friend is doing something illegal and it might jeopardize Calvin’s job?  Besides the slow moving plot with spurts of action, the book also suffers from too light type face and not enough gutter space. I wanted to like this book, I really did. It will be good for some kids—but Matt de la Peña’s titles would make for better reads.

B.A. Binns’ first book, Pull, was on the 2012 YALSA Quick Picks list. Westside Books has since gone out of business, and as a result, inner city school teacher and author Binns turned to self-publishing for Being God. Seventeen-year-old Malik is determined to be the worst of the worst. Biracial, he’s the son of a Catholic mother and Jewish father. Assigned to community service, he gets paired with an angry ten-year-old who hates the world. His crush, Barney, watched her father murder her mother. The story holds promise. However, the face on the book cover looks too young. The language and voice is inconsistent and the story is extremely slow going, very much in need of those editors at Westside.

Ed Hardy’s recounting of his life becoming an iconic tattoo artist in Wear Your Dreams: My Life in Tattoos is nicely designed—great art, lots of space, big type. The writing is totally scattered, but who cares? There’s a history of tattooing, lots of name dropping, travels throughout the underbellies of Japan and American cities, passion for art and individuality, entrepreneurship, and getting sober—there’s nothing too dicey and it will work in any teen section, even censored lockdowns.

Susan Nussbaum’s Good Kings, Bad Kings is getting great press and for good reasons. The book highlights, through multiple perspectives, the ups and downs, abuses, and kind moments between multicultural teens and staff at a home (institution/dumping ground) for physically and mentally disabled teens. It’s a fast and intense ride with characters that stay with you and make you wonder what they are doing long after you close the book. I wish the cover reflected the characters—maybe we’ll just have to wait until the movie (that should be made) comes out!

BINNS, B.A. Being God. All the Colors of Love. 2013. 222p. pap. $ 9.95. ISBN 9780988182110.

HARDY, Ed and Selvin, Joel. Wear Your Dreams: My Life In Tattoos. St. Martin’s/Thomas Dunne. June 2013. 304p. Tr $26.99. ISBN 9781250008824.

HENRY, April. The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die. Holt. June 2013. 224p. Tr $16.99. ISBN 9780805095418.

GRIFFIN, Clare. Nowhere to Run. Namelos. 2013. 110p. pap. $9.95. ISBN 9781-608981458.

LANGAN, Paul. Promises to Keep. Townsend Pr. 2013. 151p. pap. $5.95. ISBN 9781591943037.

McVOY, Terra Elan. Criminal. S & S/Simon Pulse. 2013. 288p. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978144242622.

NUSSBAUM, Susan. Good Kings, Bad Kings. Algonquin Bks. 2013. 304p. Tr $23.95. ISBN 9781616202637.

SHANTZ- HILKES, Chloe. Hooked: When Addiction Hits Home. Annick Press. 2013. 120 p. pap. $12.95. ISBN 9781554514748.

Hachette’s entire catalog of 5,000 ebooks will now be available through OverDrive, Baker & Taylor’s Axis 360 platform, and the 3M Cloud Library, under a pricing and licensing model similar to the one employed by Random House. New titles will be made available to libraries immediately upon publication, and Hachette will charge libraries three times the retail hardcover price for new releases. One year after publication, the purchase price will drop to one and a half times the cost of retail, according Hachette’s announcement. These ebooks are then “owned” by the purchasing library. Licenses do not expire, and titles can be checked out an unlimited number of times under a one book/one user model.

“Our goal is to have authors’ work available on as many bookshelves and platforms as possible, and we’re looking forward to working with public libraries to serve their communities of readers as their reading habits evolve,” Hachette CEO Michael Pietsch said in the announcement.

The news first broke in a New York Times op-ed by NYPL President Tony Marx, who commented on improving relations between the Big Six publishers and libraries over the sale of ebooks.

“While HarperCollins…was the first to provide access, after the [economic] downturn, it limited the number of times each e-book could be lent, while Hachette decided to no longer sell new e-books to libraries, and Penguin, which had agreed to do so, said it might back out,” he wrote. “To their credit, the publishers have now each come around,” with Simon & Schuster and Macmillan also recently announcing pilot programs.

Yet while the situation is improving, “many issues still need to be sorted out,” Marx adds. Between the expiring licensing terms or loan caps or imposed by  HarperCollins, Penguin, and Simon & Schuster, or the significantly higher-than-retail prices charged by Random House and Hachette, ebooks remain very expensive for libraries, during a period of rising demand and declining budgets.

Hachette’s announcement states that its library ebook pricing model will be reviewed annually, with input from stakeholders including the American Library Association (ALA). ALA President Maureen Sullivan today expressed hope that an ongoing dialog may lead to more favorable pricing for libraries in the future.

“We welcome Hachette Book Group’s assertion that they will continue to review their library pricing going forward,” Sullivan said in a statement to the press. “ALA and its members believe that there must be business models with lower price points for which publishers can still make a reasonable profit.”

“With open minds and open communications channels, I believe libraries, publishers and authors will continue to find solutions to bring more content and greater balance to the reading ecosystem.”

Here’s a roundup of coverage.

Announcement from Workman Publishing Blog

He was the founder, president and CEO of Workman Publishing Company, one of the largest independent publishers of nonfiction trade books and calendars. In addition to the Workman imprint, the company consists of Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, Artisan, Storey Books, Timber Press, and HighBridge Audio. He served on the board of the Goddard-Riverside Community Center and the board of Prep-for-Prep; he was a member of the Publishing Committee of UJA-Federation of New York and chairman of the Board of Governors of Yale University Press.

From the NYT:

Peter Workman, the founder of Workman Publishing, whose knack for landing best-selling trade books like “What to Expect When You’re Expecting,” and “The Silver Palate Cookbook” made his company one of the few remaining independent book publishers in the country, died on Sunday at his home in Manhattan.  

[Clip]

Mr. Workman also created “Brain Quest,” a popular learning card game for children, and the “Page-a-Day” desk calendar, said to have been the first of its kind, with its 365 tear-off pages and a different image on each page. Workman Publishing first marketed it in 1979.

Publishing about 40 books a year, Mr. Workman was known for working closely with authors and editors (more so than they might like; he often changed cover designs and details at the last minute) and for promoting his book list relentlessly.

From Publishers Weekly:

 To diversify the publisher, Peter made a series of acquisitions over the years; the Workman Publishing group now includes Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, Artisan, Storey Books, Timber Press, and HighBridge Audio, and it also handles distribution for Black Dog & Leventhal, Greenwich Workshop Press, and The Experiment.

From the AP:

After a job in the sales department of Dell Publishing, he founded Workman in 1967 as a book packager. Within two years, its inaugural list led with Richard Hittleman’s “Yoga 28-Day Exercise Plan,” which is still in print.

Workman bestsellers also include are B. Kliban’s “Cat,” Sandra Boynton’s children’s books, and “1,000 Places To See Before You Die.” Artisan published chef Thomas Keller’s “The French Laundry Cookbook.”

“Goodreads was fully independent…. it made them the natural allies of people who wanted to avoid the consolidation of the industry, in particular publishers,” LibraryThing founder Tim Spalding told LJ. “I have a lot of respect for Amazon. They’re a very smart company. But I’m personally worried about them controlling the entire book world, and it’s really kind of heading that way.”

The acquisition presents an opportunity for LibraryThing to build a stronger bond between publishers, independent booksellers, and the site’s 1.6 million users, he argued in a blog post shortly after last week’s sale was announced.

“Publishers are desperate to find a way out of the Amazon trap—needing Amazon, but also competing more and more with Amazon’s own publishing operations, and finding their individual and collective power declining as Amazon’s grows,” he wrote.

Spalding acknowledged that Amazon also owns a stake in LibraryThing, acquired when it purchased the popular online used bookseller Abebooks in 2008. (The company bought out social media site Shelfari the same year.) Abebooks had been a minority investor in LibraryThing prior to the acquisition, and Amazon has maintained its stake since the purchase.

However, reports that Amazon’s stake is as high as 40% of LibraryThing are inaccurate and fail to take into account that ProQuest affiliate Bowker is also a minority shareholder in the company, according to Spalding. He continues to retain majority ownership, but declined to disclose additional information about how shares of LibraryThing are divided.

Courting allies

Spalding predicts that that Hachette, Penguin, and Simon & Schuster will redouble their efforts with their social media joint venture Bookish.com, and noted that publishers were also demonstrating renewed interest in LibraryThing.

“We’ve already seen publishers writing us and saying ‘we want to leave the Goodreads early reviewers program [First Reads] and go back into yours,” he said.

As an industry observer, Spalding said he is most interested in how the Goodreads service will be integrated with Kindle e-readers and apps.

“The downside of that is that e-readers [as dedicated platforms] are inherently monopolistic,” he said. “The technology just lends itself to concentration. This just underscores that. But sharing is so much easier when you don’t have to type anything in…. I’m of mixed opinion about it myself. But [integrating social media into an e-reader] needs to be tried, nobody has tried it, and I think that they have a real opportunity there. I’m excited to see what they can do.”

Overall, Spalding sees little downside for LibraryThing as a result of the acquisition. Goodreads already had the largest user base, by far, in this segment of social media, and LibraryThing had continued to draw steady traffic and sell software to libraries including LibraryThing for Libraries, LibraryAnywhere, and BookPsychic. The acquisition by Amazon does give Goodreads additional heft, along with a new marketing platform in the Kindle, but independent startup companies often slow down once they are acquired and integrated into much larger corporations, he noted.

Many LibraryThing members also have accounts with Goodreads, and use the services for different purposes, Spalding said.

“They’re not fully competitors. A common use pattern is to use Goodreads as ‘here’s what I’m reading now,’ posting that to Facebook and interacting socially. And then LibraryThing is where you store your whole library. We have a lot of users who do that.”

The campaign, nicknamed #Speak4RAINN, will be launched on April 2 (coinciding with the National Sexual Assault and Awareness Day of Action) and will run through April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Macmillan will match up to $10,000 in donations and will also be sponsoring a “How Speak Spoke to Me” creative contest, signed book giveaways, a manuscript review, and a chance for the school that raises the most money to win a visit from Anderson.

Speak, originally published in 1999 by Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers and now also available in paperback from Square Fish (both imprints of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group), tells the story of Melinda, a teen who struggles to find her voice after being raped. The novel has received many awards and accolades, including being named a Michael L. Printz Honor Book, a National Book Award Finalist, and an Edgar Allen Poe Award Finalist.

RAINN is the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, and it operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE and online.rainn.org) in partnership with more than 1,100 local rape crisis centers nationwide. RAINN also offers programs to prevent sexual violence, help victims, and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice. Anderson, a longtime RAINN supporter, is committed to furthering the group’s goal of giving every victim of sexual violence a voice.

For more information about the campaign, visit http://rainn.org/speak.

Ruta is living proof that some people don’t actually become authors until later in life. At first, Ruta set out to become an opera singer. But after going on tour, she realized that she wasn’t very good at it. Then she worked in the music industry, as a manager in Hollywood, where she spent the next 22 years of her life.

As a writer of historical fiction, Ruta has gone to great lengths to research her books. How many authors do you know who would lock themselves in a train car that was used to transport people to Russian concentration camps or who would spend a whole day in a former Soviet prison, as she did while she was researching Between Shades of Gray? Her willingness to submerge herself in these experiences surprised us, and showed us how daring and passionate she is as a writer. More recently, Ruta has written Out of the Easy (Philomel, 2013), which is set in New Orleans’ French Quarter. The interesting part is that we all live less than 30 minutes away from the French Quarter, yet we don’t know much about what goes on there. Ruta even mentioned that she met a gangster who influenced her latest story.

After being blown away by her talk, the members of Bookmarked were given the opportunity to stay and interact with her. Many of us were so overwhelmed in a good way by her talk that we decided to purchase Out of the Easy. Overall, it was a huge honor to meet and talk to Ruta Sepetys.—Lauren T., age 16

As part the library’s efforts to raise awareness about poetry leading up to National Poetry Month in April, NYPL is encouraging aspiring poets to “follow @NYPL on Twitter, and submit three poetic Tweets in English as public posts on your Twitter stream between March 1 and 10, 2013.” Each set of three poems will constitute a single entry. To qualify, all three must contain the @NYPL Twitter handle, and at least one of the tweets must reference libraries, books, reading, or New York City.

“Twitter seems like the perfect medium for this contest,” Johannes Neuer, NYPL Associate Director of Marketing, told LJ. “It has a wide reach and requires a lot of discipline and creativity because it’s restrictive [in terms of character count], which makes writing for it challenging.”

Neuer said that the contest was partly inspired by the Twitter Fiction Festival—a five-day, experimental virtual storytelling event organized last fall by Twitter, NYPL Labs, The Brown Institute for Media Innovation, and the Plympton literary studio devoted to ‘”serialized fiction for digital reading.”

“It was inspiring to see how well this microblogging platform is suited for writers, and I’m very much looking forward to seeing the poems that are published,” he said.

Ten winners will be selected by a panel of judges, based on originality, creativity, and artistic quality. Each winner will receive a set of poetry books including Red Doc> by Anne Carson, Quick Question: New Poems by John Ashbery, Place: New Poems by Jorie Graham, The Narrow Road to the Interior by Kimiko Hahn, and The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010 by Lucille Clifton.

Their work will also receive significant exposure. Each day during National Poetry Month in April, NYPL will highlight one of the 30 winning poems in its social media channels, reaching more than one million of the library’s fans and followers. And, winners could potentially be selected for inclusion in an upcoming special edition NYPL poetry ebook.

Writers and poets interested in participating must first register, so that NYPL has their twitter handle and contact information available. Requiring participants to include the @NYPL handle in each submission will enable NYPL’s Meltwater Buzz social media monitoring software to capture entries and match them to this list of registrants. The panel of judges will then review all of the collected entries and select winners by March 18. Participants can submit one three-poem entry per day, and all poems must be original, unpublished, and must not have won any prior awards.

“We’re looking forward to reaching a lot of people with these poems, and inspiring them to engage with poetry—and maybe write poetry themselves—through retweets, commentary, likes, +1s, and blogs. And, of course, hopefully we’ll inspire some people to follow the New York Public Library year-round on our social media channels,” Neuer said.