At the Penguin Young Readers Spring/Summer 2013 Preview

This morning I attended the Penguin Young Readers preview — an event I don’t always get to go due to teaching scheduling conflicts.  So glad that this happened during our spring break and this is a somewhat lengthy summary of what transpired, not limited by 144 characters per post even though it is 6-8 hours late!

I am excited about these follow-up to series that I know both myself and my students have enjoyed:

A new series of Winnie’s brother (from The Winnie Years) Ty by Lauren Myracle, the fall publication of Adam Gidwitz’s Grimm Conclusion, The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail, a companion story of Secrets at Sea which I adored, by Richard Peck, Al Capone Does My Homework (the stakes are even higher now that Moose’s father is the deputy warden and their family’s safety is threatened) by Choldenko, Wells Bequest, a follow-up story of The Grimm Legacy that I just read last week, and the sequel to Marie Lu’s Legend, Prodigy.

And these are books that I’d love to get my hands on and read:

No Easy Way Out by Dayna Lorentz sounds intriguing: quarantined shopping mall full of teens during a biological weapon attack.

Moxie and the Art of Rule Breaking by Erin Dionne is compared to The Westing Game.  Set in Boston, an art theft caper and a treasure hunt.

After Iris by Natasha Farrant: a British import that has gotten some strong love in house.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke sounds like a delicious horror novel.

The new fantasy trilogy by Jane Yolen and her son Adam Stemple The Seelie War.  The first title The Hostage Prince was introduced.  Sounds promising.

Rogue by Lyn Miller-Lachmann is book on a timely topic of the struggle and experiences of children with Asperger Syndrome, based partially on the author’s personal (and apparently painful) experiences.

RazorBill (an imprint) made a fun book trailer with TV celebrities for Firecracker by David Iserson.  Too bad I couldn’t find a link to it on YouTube.

Rick Yancy’s new SciFi thriller The 5th Wave has already received 3 stars.

Is P.K. Pinkerton a boy or a girl? We still won’t find out in the second installment of Caroline Lawrence’s series (rebranded from Western Mysteries to P.K. Pinkerton…) called P.K. Pinkerton and the Petrified Man. (The first is The Case of the Deadly Desperados.) We are promised that all will be revealed in book three.  If you don’t know about the first book — seek out and read — it features a main character on the autism spectrum in a time where the terminology did not exist.

Golden Boy by Tara Sullivan deals with a current and horrific subject in Tanzania and other African countries: albino people being hunted, killed or mutilated for their body parts due to superstitious beliefs of their magical benefits.  (I found this article on the NPR site: Tanzania’s Albinos Face Constant Threat Of Attack for some background information.)

The Puffin Chalk classics series got a whimsical and elegant repackaging of beloved books. The texture of the cover is just so fun to the touch.

Proxy by Alex London sounds like a futuristic Whipping Boy, where young and rich youths pay for their Proxies to receive punishments for their wrong doings — including death sentencing for killing someone during a car crash.

Really enjoyed The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers.

Ashes on the Waves by Mary Lindsay is based on Annabel Lee by Poe, one of my favorite poems in the whole wide world.  So, hopefully this book does not disappoint!

Our surprise lunch guests were Andrea Cremer and David Levithan … They came to talk about Invisibility, their new collaborated novel of a girl who is in love with a boy who is invisible.  It’s an exploration of what true love means, set against a magical world backdrop in contemporary America.  They discussed their collaborative process — how sometimes one was surprised by the twists and turns the co-author conjured up and then had to figure out clever and smooth ways to continue the storyline.  We all received a copy of the book.  I can imagine many young readers eager to devour this book.  Next week, when I go back to school — it will land in someone’s hands.

Finally, I have to say how much I love Sharyn November’s description of certain young girl readers whom I often encounter: “Occasional readers: girls who prefer reading magazines to books.” I am always on the lookout for books that are just right for them: dealing with topics they will enjoy, written in ways that are easy to get into and digest, and offering quite a bit of thought provoking issues and solutions.  I hope the new book that is coming out in July 45 Pounds, More or Less will satisfy such readership and make my inner morally-concerned-librarian happy!