Galleys to Grab at BookExpo; Jeanne Birdsall's Photo Inspiration

[PW Children's Bookshelf: Breaking children's and YA publishing news, author interviews, bestsellers lists and reviews.] [Beaming Books | Helping Kids Thrive]( In the Spotlight [BookExpo 2018: Children’s Galleys to Grab]( Click through to see highlights from the coming season, including new works from many favorite and bestselling authors, to be showcased by publishers at this year’s BookExpo, May 30–June 1. [more]( Obituary [Ann Durell]( Esteemed children’s book editor and publisher Ann Durell died on May 6 at the age of 87. Author Judy Blume, who worked with Durell on five books, said, “She was a delight in every way. A great editor, a champion for writers." [more]( [PW KidsCast: A Conversation with Gordon Korman]( In the News [The 2018 Irma Simonton Black Award and Cook Prize Winners]( The Bank Street College Center for Children’s Literature presented the winners of this year's Irma Simonton Black and James H. Black Award and the Cook Prize, as well as the semi-finalists, during an awards ceremony held at Bank Street College on May 10. [more]( Behind the Scenes [Words and Pictures Entwined In 'The Penderwicks']( Read on for a photo essay compiled by the author of the Penderwicks novels, which come to an end this month. When I was young and foolish, I yearned to be a famous photographer, with my pictures hanging in the Met, and a budding friendship with William Wegman. None of that happened and, eventually, when I was older but still foolish, I decided to write books for children. I was done with photography. But I wasn’t. [more]( Q & A [Kenneth C. Davis]( Kenneth C. Davis’s More Deadly Than War chronicles the parallel stories of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic and WWI, a devastating concurrence that he labels "twin catastrophes." The book joins the author's Hidden History series for young readers, which launched in 2008. PW asked Davis about what sparked his most recent foray into hidden history. Q: What ignited your interest in writing about the Spanish flu and World War I? A: It was due to a completely chance encounter. Through my research for earlier books, I was aware of the Spanish flu pandemic, and one day I was at the Holt office, waiting for the elevator with Sally Doherty, my then-editor, who was sneezing and coughing. Somehow the words, "Spanish flu" came up, and I mentioned that the pandemic's 100th anniversary was coming up, and a book idea was born. [more]( Four Questions [Alison McGhee]( Alison McGhee is a prolific author of picture books and novels for children, young adults, and adults. In her new YA novel, What I Leave Behind, she tells the story of 16-year-old Will, who walks at night through the streets of Los Angeles and attempts to heal his own pain by helping those around him. PW spoke with McGhee about her new novel, and writing with her heart on the line. Q: What I Leave Behind is your first young adult novel in nearly 10 years. What inspired you to return to this audience and to tell this story? A: First, it shocks me that it has been almost 10 years. And second, coming-of-age stories are my favorite to read and to write. This story came to me first as a feeling of someone who is at such an impasse and can feel and absorb the pain of others. And in order to cope with that intensity he tries to make their lives better. [more]( SPONSORED [PW KidsCast: Listen Now]( Tomi Adeyemi, Wendy Mass, Rebecca Stead, Christopher Paul Curtis, Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen – listen to these and other top writers and artists discuss their new books for children and teens in the PW KidsCast podcast. [Click here]( to listen. For more about these and other great jobs, visit the new [PW JobZone]( now with resume hosting and more! - [PR/Marketing Freelancer - Adult Fiction/Children's Books - Small Publishing Firm in New York - New York, NY](. - [Associate Art Director - America's Test Kitchen - Boston](. - [National Account Manager- Children's - Little Bee Books - New York](. - [Art Director - Weldon Owen - San Francisco](. - [Editorial Supervisor - Guilford Publications - New York](. Rights Report Sara Sargent at HarperCollins has acquired Dreaming Out Loud by Baby Ariel, the musical.ly phenomenon and singer with more than 35 million followers who was named one of the most influential people on the internet. The book is a memoir about Ariel's rise to stardom. Publication is scheduled for fall 2018; CAA handled the deal for North American rights. Kate Sullivan at Delacorte has preempted There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé author Morgan Parker's currently untitled YA novel. The book is about a black teen figuring out her identity when her conservative town deems depression as a lack of faith, and blackness as something to be politely ignored. Publication is slated for fall 2019; Sullivan will edit together with Alexandra Hightower. Tina Dubois and Dan Kirschen at ICM Partners negotiated the deal for North American rights. Daniel Ehrenhaft at Soho Teen has bought a duo of novels by bestselling author Barry Lyga, pitched as a mashup of The Princess Bride, Infinite Jest, and On Writing. The first book is titled Unedited and the second is called Edited. Both novels follow the disintegration of the relationship 17-year-old Mike Grayson has with his girlfriend, Phil, whom he loves—always—but fears only loves him back sometimes; Edited is literally the edited version of Unedited. Publication is set for fall 2019; Kathleen Anderson at Anderson Literary Management brokered the deal for the U.S., its territories, and the Philippines, as well as audio rights. Kathy Dawson at Penguin/Dawson has acquired, at auction, two standalone YA fantasies by debut novelist and Stanford senior Laura Brooke Robson. The first book is an apocalyptic fantasy told in alternating POVs about the leader of a band of female elite royal aerialists, whose plan for survival depends on marrying the prince—until she meets the alluring new recruit who secretly plans to kill him. The books are planned for spring 2020 and 2021; Danielle Burby at Nelson Literary Agency did the six-figure deal for North American rights. In a joint acquisition, Kendra Levin at Viking and Lynne Missen at Penguin Teen Canada have bought North American rights to the YA novel Swallow by Danielle Younge-Ullman, author of Everything Beautiful Is Not Ruined. The book follows a teenager who, while working as a waitress in her small town, faces the repercussions of outing a customer who has been harassing her. Publication is scheduled for 2020; Emmanuelle Morgen at Stonesong negotiated the deal. Annie Berger at Sourcebooks Fire has acquired Ryan La Sala's debut Reverie, and a second untitled novel. Pitched as Inception meets The Magicians, the #OwnVoices story follows Kane Montgomery, a gay teenager piecing his life back together after an accident robs him of his memories, and as a drag queen sorceress attempts to unravel his reality. Publication is slated for fall 2019; Veronica Park at Corvisiero Literary Agency brokered the deal for world rights. Aimee Friedman at Scholastic has bought world rights to Truly Madly Royally by Debbie Rigaud, in which 16-year-old Zora meets a boy named Owen, who turns out to be a prince and invites Zora to be his guest at his big brother's royal wedding. The book will be published in 2019; Laura Dail at Laura Dail Literary Agency did the deal. Jason Kirk at Amazon/Skyscape has acquired Rebekah Crane's Postcards for a Songbird. The contemporary YA novel is about 16-year-old Wren, who is forced to make a new life for herself when her older sister Lizzie moves away without a forwarding address, sending their family into a spiral. Publication is set for spring 2019; Renee Nyen of KT Literary negotiated the deal for world rights. Kheryn Callender at Little, Brown has bought Alex Bertie's debut, Trans Mission: My Quest to a Beard, a firsthand account of Bertie’s life, struggles, and victories as a transgender teen that is also a guide for transitioning teens. Publication is planned for spring 2019; Silvia Molteni at Peters Fraser and Dunlop brokered the deal for North American rights. Olivia Valcarce and Aimee Friedman at Scholastic have acquired Yamile Saied Méndez's Blizzard Besties, in which a 12-year-old girl teams up with new friends at a ski resort to rescue her brother who might be stranded in a blizzard. Publication is scheduled for 2019; Linda Camacho at Gallt and Zacker Literary Agency handled the deal for world rights. Jenne Abramowitz at Scholastic has bought author-illustrator Jay Cooper's illustrated chapter book series, The Pepper Party, in a four-book deal. The first book, The Pepper Party Picks the Perfect Pet, introduces the zany Pepper family, who can never agree on anything. The stakes are especially high when it comes to picking the family pet. The series will launch in 2019; Teresa Kietlinski at Bookmark Literary did the deal for world rights. Maria Modugno at Random House has preempted The Girl and the Star, Faith Pray's debut as an author-illustrator. In the picture book, a girl makes a wish that she'll find a way to change the world around her, and a lost star helps her find the way to do so. Publication is set for summer 2020; Molly O'Neill at Root Literary negotiated the deal for world English rights. Margaret Ferguson has acquired on exclusive submission for her imprint at Holiday House A Quieter Story by author-illustrator Liza Woodruff. The picture book is about a young artist trying to create a story, but being true to her own voice becomes difficult when she is continually interrupted by her demanding kitten, who has definite ideas about the direction the story should take. Publication is slated for summer 2019; Andrea Cascardi at Transatlantic Agency sold world rights. Andrew Eliopulos at HarperCollins has bought, at auction, Yorick & Bones by author-illustrator Jeremy Tankard, in collaboration with his daughter, Hermione Tankard. Pitched as the lost graphic novel by William Shakespeare, the book follows an Elizabethan-era skeleton who speaks in iambic pentameter and who makes an unlikely friend in the modern-day dog who digs him up. The projected pub date is winter 2020; Holly McGhee at Pippin Properties did the two-book deal for world rights. Sue Tarsky at Albert Whitman has acquired The Wind Plays Tricks, a picture book by Virginia Howard (l.). In the barnyard tale, when the wind sweeps in and swaps the animals' sounds, it's up to them to get their original voices back. Charlene Chua will illustrate; publication is planned for spring 2019. The author was unagented, and Tracy Marchini at BookEnds represented the illustrator for world rights. Emma Ledbetter at Atheneum has bought a picture book tentatively titled Fred's Big Feelings by Laura Renauld (l.), illustrated by Brigette Barrager, which shares the story of the big heart and big legacy of everyone's favorite neighbor: Mister Rogers. Publication is scheduled for fall 2019; Wendi Gu at Janklow & Nesbit represented the author, and Kirsten Hall at Catbird Productions represented the illustrator in the deal for world rights. To see all of this week's deals, [click here](. IN THE MEDIA [From the Guardian:]( Anne Frank's 'dirty' jokes found on diary pages she covered over. [Click here]( [From the Chicago Tribune:]( Op-ed: Maybe authors accused of abuse don't belong on my bookshelf. But what about my classroom? [Click here]( [From Hypable:]( Looking for Alaska: What does serialization mean for the book adaptation? [Click here]( [From the New York Times:]( My Struggle to Write Honestly About a Test of Manhood, by One Fat Summer author Robert Lipsyte. [Click here]( [From the ABA:]( See the books on the ABA's Summer 2018 Kids' Indie Next List. [Click here]( [From Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast:]( Julián Is a Mermaid: A chat with author-illustrator Jessica Love. [Click here]( [From the New York Times:]( Daniel Cohen, author of nearly 200 books for children, dies at 82. [Click here]( [From the Bookseller:]( Philip Pullman named Author of the Year and Axel Scheffler named Illustrator of the Year at the British Book Awards. [Click here]( [From Book Riot:]( How 11 Creators in Nine Different Cities Came Together to Make One Book. [Click here]( [From Paste:]( All Summer Long's Hope Larson Talks Music, Inclusiveness and Being a "Big Dork" as a Teenager. [Click here]( [From Time Out New York:]( Knuffle Bunny could call a Brooklyn library branch his new home. [Click here]( [From Book Riot:]( Nine Royalty-Inspired Books for YA Readers. [Click here]( SHELFTALKER Elizabeth Bluemle [The Trouble with (and Triumphs of) Trends]( It’s not always terrible news when a genre slumps. [more »]( Leslie Hawkins [Serial Reading]( Pondering the best way to denote different varieties of book series, and if they need to be read in order. [more »]( Meghan Dietsche Goel [Twelve Debuts, Twelve Questions, Twelve Prizes.]( A peek at all the goodies waiting at the end of an epic middle grade scavenger hunt. [more »]( Kenny Brechner [Every Week Is Children’s Book Week?]( This year saw big changes to the celebrations. Perhaps there is some way, even with the larger scale of participants, to make Children’s Book Week stand out? [more »]( FEATURED REVIEWS [Tiny Little Rocket]( Richard Collingridge. Scholastic/Fickling, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-338-18949-0 On a bright green hill outside of a town, an astronaut climbs aboard a tiny rocket, which zips the explorer out past Mars. The peppy, little rocket—quickly dodging glowing meteors, navigating between vibrant planets, and zooming home to Earth—will leave readers eager for more journeys into outer space. [more]( [Quiet Please, Owen McPhee!]( Trudy Ludwig, illus. by Patrice Barton. Knopf, $17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-399-55713-2 Ludwig and Barton tackle the challenge of the overly talkative child. Over the course of a few days, redheaded Owen’s chatter stream wrecks science class, spoils a movie’s ending, and disrupts story time. His peers think he’s thoughtless and impulsive, culminating in his being ostracized from the rest of his class. Before things get too grim, however, along comes a case of laryngitis. [more]( [Nightbooks]( J.A. White. HarperCollins/Tegen, $16.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-06-256008-7 In this clever synthesis of One Thousand and One Nights and “Hansel and Gretel,” a boy captured by a witch must tell a different spooky story every night if he wishes to stay alive long enough to escape her clutches. But even though he has notebooks full of nightmare-inspired tales, Alex needs to come up with new material to appease his captor, whose impossibly large apartment is filled with lurking terrors [more]( [Like Never and Always]( Ann Aguirre. Tor Teen, $17.99 (336p) ISBN 978-0-7653-9758-4 High school junior Olivia “Liv” Burnham is out for a night of fun with her best friend Morgan when a car accident changes everything. Liv wakes up hospitalized and in Morgan’s body, her own body long since buried. This suspenseful science fiction thriller is a fresh take on the standard body-swapping story and comes with a few surprisingly dark twists. [more]( [Contagion]( Erin Bowman. HarperTeen, $17.99 (432p) ISBN 978-0-06-257414-5 Althea is assisting renowned microbiologist Dr. Lisbeth Tarlow when they are ordered to investigate a distress call on another planet. Their ship arrives to discover the remote rock strewn with corpses. First in a duology, this horror-tinged sci-fi thriller from Bowman unfolds from multiple viewpoints via a kaleidoscopic narrative. [more]( [Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge]( Lisa Jensen. Candlewick Press, $18.99 (352p) ISBN 978-0-7636-8880-6 In this compelling reimagining of “Beauty and the Beast,” Jensen integrates a new plot thread in the form of a third protagonist into the familiar fairy tale. Chambermaid Lucie is transformed into a candlestick by the same spell that turns the wicked Jean-Loup, Chevalier du Beaumont, into the gentle-souled, monstrous-seeming Beast. Because Jean-Loup sexually assaulted her soon after they first met, Lucie is eager to witness his downfall, but equally unprepared to develop sympathy for the Beast, who seems an entirely different person altogether. [more]( May 15, 2018 E-mail not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( [New Arrivals from Flyaway Books]( [Advertise Your New Titles to Book Buyers During BookExpo]( PeopleLeila Sales, previously associate publishing manager at Viking Children's Books, has moved to Austin, Texas. She will be working on editorial and writing projects, and will continue to edit select books on Viking's list. She can be reached [here](mailto:leila@leilasales.com). Jocelyn Davies has been named senior editor at Disney Press, focusing on IP initiatives that develop Disney properties into stories. Previously she was an editor at HarperCollins Children's Books. Bestsellers [Children's Frontlist Fiction]( #1 The Burning Maze (The Trials of Apollo #3) by Rick Riordan. [Click here]( [Picture Books]( #1 A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo by Jill Twiss, illus. by EG Keller. [Click here]( Follow Us Children's Bookshelf is on [Instagram]( Please follow us @pwkidsbookshelf. Bookshelf Archives Looking for a previous issue of Children's Bookshelf? [Click here]( see our archives page! CONTACT US Have a comment or suggestion? We'd love to hear from you. [Click here](mailto:childrensbooks@publishersweekly.com) to drop us a note. [Follow PWKidsBookshelf on Twitter]( Children's Bookshelf Editor: Diane Roback Associate Editor: Emma Kantor Digital Producer: Michael Seidlinger Send editorial questions about this e-newsletter to: childrensbooks@publishersweekly.com Send advertising questions about this e-newsletter to: cbryerman@publishersweekly.com Follow PW on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. For additional assistance, contact us by email or at the address below. 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