In addition to giving librarians the latest scoop on dystopias, adventures, realistic fiction and more, the Simon and Schuster fall preview also featured a visit from Tony Award–winning actor Nathan Lane, who makes his picture book debut. Cowritten with his partner, Devlin Elliott, and illustrated by Dan Krall, Naughty Mabel (Oct.) is the story of a pampered, high-society French bulldog with a nose for trouble. Mabel was truly feted, with bone-shaped cookies treats made available and Simon and Schuster staffers sporting pink tutus, much like the one the canine wears in her book. Lane said that the idea for Mabel came to him after seeing his own dog, who’s used to riding in style, try to climb into the nearest Lincoln Town Car whenever she was out on a walk. Quipping, “I like my librarians like I like my books—stacked!” Lane went on to discuss the role of books in his own life and his gratitude to librarians for introducing children to the world of kid lit. “Bookstores were always magical places, [with] more stories than I could imagine waiting to be found. You help kids find those stories. You set those stories loose.” Lane isn’t the only author making his literary debut this season at Simon and Schuster. Erin Bow, Kevin Sands, and Tim Floreen are first-timers with eagerly anticipated, imaginative new titles. Described as M.T. Anderson’s Feed (Candlewick, 2002) meets Veronica Roth’s Divergent (HarperCollins, 2011), Erin Bow’s Scorpion Rules (Sept.) is the first in a new upcoming series set in a world depleted of water and besieged by wars. A new rule is established in order to bring order to the chaos: anyone who wishes to become the leader of a nation must have a child, who will be taken to an outside facility to be raised until age 18 and who will be killed if said leader declares war or becomes involved in a war. With war between the United States and Canada imminent, trouble is ahead for 16-year-old Greta, duchess of the Canadian confederacy.

Nathan Lane and Devlin Elliott pose with librarians. All photos by Justin Chanda.

With The Blackthorn Key (Sept.), author Kevin Sands tells the story of a young apothecary apprentice living in 17th-century London, up against a murderous cult—who may have him in their sights. Shifting gears to the futuristic, Tim Floreen’s Willful Machines (Oct.) centers on Charlotte, an artificial human who escapes from the scientists who made her—with potentially deadly results. Fans of classic kid lit have plenty to look forward to. Phyllis Reynolds Naylor adds a final book to her “Shiloh” quartet, which began in 1991 with her Newbery-winning work about a boy named Marty grappling with complex moral and ethical issues as he lies to his family in order to save a beagle from his abusive owner. A Shiloh Christmas (Sept.) sees Judd Travers, the series antagonist, attempting to turn his life around, as well as Marty and his family trying to make sense of the town’s new fire-and-brimstone preacher, who may hide some dark secrets of his own.

Left to right, Anthony Parisi, Candace McManus, Michelle Leo, Nathan Lane, Devlin Elliott, Betsy Bloom, and Christine Naulty.

Hatchet (Bradbury, 1987) fans won’t want to miss Gary Paulsen’s latest, This Side of Wild: Mutts, Mares, and Laughing Dinosaurs (Sept.). The book features true stories of animals that Paulsen has picked up over his many years as an adventurer and outdoorsman and that have served as the inspiration for many of his novels. And Eloise celebrates an anniversary: it’s been 60 years since the unforgettable six-year-old first wowed children and grown-ups with her exploits at The Plaza. Simon and Schuster marks the occasion by releasing audiobooks of Eloise: Eloise at Christmastime, Eloise in Moscow, and Eloise in Paris, voiced by Bernadette Peters, as well as board books of Eloise in Moscow and Eloise in Paris. Librarians also got the chance to hear from some familiar names. With The Flinkwater Factory, National Book Award winner Pete Hautman takes readers to Flinkwater, IA, the largest manufacturer of robots and a town where geeks reign supreme. When the computers of Flinkwater start turning people into mentally checked-out vegetables, it’s up to 13-year-old Ginger to figure out why, along with some help from her friend Billy George, a talking dog, along with a sasquatch. Two giants of children’s literature teamed up for the Coraline-esque novel The Nest (Oct.): author Kenneth Oppel and illustrator Jon Klassen. Steve’s baby brother is inexplicably ill, but the boy gets the chance to help, when a wasp queen visits him in his dream. She’ll help his brother: all Steve has to do is agree—and the consequences are beyond his wildest imaginings. Speaking of star-studded collaborations, Violent Ends (Sept.) involves not one, two, or even three authors working together—but 17. Centering on a school shooting, the book gives a familiar—but devastating topic a wholly original treatment, focusing not on the killer but on those around him. Seventeen YA writers (including Neal Shusterman, Cynthia Leitich Smith, and E.M. Kokie) each take a chapter, assuming the role of a different person who knew the boy. There’s excitement on the picture book front as well. With Sail Away, Ashley Bryan illustrates some of Langston Hughes’s lesser-known poems about the sea. For Bryan, who lives on the water on Maine’s Little Cranberry Island and has long been a devotee of Hughes’s poetry, the book was the perfect opportunity to combine two of his passions. Stephen T. Johnson follows up his Caldecott Honor and New York Times Best Illustrated Alphabet City (Viking, 1995), an innovative and playful wordless concept book that finds letters of the alphabet in everyday urban locations, with Alphabet School (Sept.). This time, Johnson applies his keen perspective and evocative watercolors to the schoolhouse, teasing out an S in the curve of a playground slide and a G in the shape of a half-eaten peanut butter sandwich.