The first in a new YA series by Cassandra Clare, Lady Midnight, (S&S McElderry; S&S Audio) arrives at #1 on the USA Today list, the author’s first time in that position with a new book. It is also at #1 on the NYT Young Adult Hardcover list.

It arrives just as the TV series Shadowhunters, based on Clare’s earlier series Mortal Instruments, nears its April 5 finale on the basic cable channel Freeform. Clearly considered a success by the network as it has been renewed for a second season. Lady Midnight, subtitled The Dark Artifices Book One, bears a further attribution that ties it in to the show, A Shadowhunters Novel (the main character in the new book appeared in the previous series).

The debut novel The Widow (PRH/NAL; BOT; OverDrive Sample) continues as a best seller after four weeks, moving up a bit on the USA Today list and down on others.

Moving to #8 on the USA Today list is a title that is doing well in ebook (it also moves up the WSJ eBook Fiction list, to #3), The Girl in the Ice by Robert Bryndza, from British publisher, Bookouture. On his author page, Bryndza says that the is his first crime thriller after a several romantic comedies.

In nonfiction, Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli is still at #5 in its second week on the NYT list, tied with #4 The Immortal Irishman, by Timothy Egan. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), about an Irish revolutionary who fled his home country and became the general of New York’s Irish Brigade during the Civil War. It received media attention in anticipation of St. Patrick’s Day (including an interview with the author on NPR’s Morning Edition).

No soaring for The Little Prince film, at least not yet.

In an odd and sudden move, Paramount has decided not to distribute the film in the US, on the eve of its March 18th scheduled arrival. UPDATE: Netflix has since picked up the rights with plans to stream it “later this year.”

According to Variety there is no word on why, but director Mark Osborne tweeted out a promise that it will come out later this year via a different distributor:

.@SarahSerata @ParamountPics All I can say is #thelittleprince will in fact be released by another distributor later this year.

— Mark Osborne (@happyproduct) March 12, 2016

As we have been reporting (here, here, and here), it has gotten a warm reception where it has aired globally and publisher HMH issued two tie-ins and released a new translation in hardcover last October as well as board books.

Beyond the comforts of those books, another look at the enchanting trailer is the only option right now for frustrated fans.

Following last week’s first look at Tim Burton’s adaptation of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, the first trailer was released this morning.

Some of the book’s fans had difficulty with certain changes to the characters. revealed in the First Look.

The book’s author, however, has no such qualms, tweeting,

There are changes from the book, but every change makes the movie better while still honoring the book’s heart. It works beautifully.

— Ransom Riggs (@ransomriggs) March 11, 2016

Starring Asa Butterfield as 16-year-old Jacob with Eva Green as Miss Peregrine and Chris O’Dowd, Ella Purnell, Allison Janney, Rupert Everett, Terence Stamp, Judi Dench and Samuel L. Jackson, the movie opens.on Sept. 30.

No tie-ins have yet been announced.

As the award-winning musical Hamilton has proved, Broadway shows based on books can be a good bet. Two drastically different book adaptations try their odds this spring.

Opening on April 26th is Tuck Everlasting: The Musical, based on the modern classic children’s novel by Natalie Babbitt in which a young girl meets the immortal Tuck family. Tuck has already been adapted into two films. It comes to Broadway under the leadership of Tony winner Casey Nicholaw (Aladdin, The Book of Mormon).

On the other end of the spectrum is American Psycho: The Musical based on the novel by Bret Easton Ellis. It was also previously adapted as a film (starring Christian Bale as the wealthy investment banker serial killer).

To those familiar with the book, the concept of it as a musical may be tough to imagine. According to NewYork.com, “after Sweeney Todd, American Psycho is probably the first Broadway musical with a serial killer as the main character.” It opens in previews March 24.

Beyond the pure adaptions, there is at least one other book hook as well. Danai Gurira, who plays Michonne on The Walking Dead, is a playwright. Her play, Eclipsed, opened on Broadway at the start of this month. Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o (Twelve Years a Slave) makes her Broadway debut in the play, set in a Liberian army camp in 2003.

It’s become predictable that a new title in the Diary of A Wimpy Kid series (Abrams/Amulet) will be released in November.

News sources quote today’s press release confirming that expectation. There’s no title or cover yet (they will be unveiled on April 28, as a capper to “the third annual Wimpy Kid Month“) but the pub date is Nov. 1.

Author Jeff Kinney states that he was not so sure there would be an eleventh book in the series,

“After the tenth book, I found myself at a crossroads in my career, I wasn’t sure if I should continue writing Diary of a Wimpy Kid books or go down a different path. I had the opportunity last year to travel all over the world and meet fans of the series in places like China, Brazil, and Romania. The trip was incredibly energizing, and made me feel certain that there is a demand for more stories about Greg Heffley for years to come. This book is really special to me, because it reflects a renewed commitment to the series and a plan for the future.”

The book is not yet listed on wholesaler catalogs.

The first photos from Tim Burton’s adaptation of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children have been released, causing some of the book’s fans to go all atwitter over certain changes to the characters.

But author Ransom Riggs says he is pleased with the result:

*exhales after one year*
FINALLY I CAN SHOW YOU THE BEAUTIFULNESS https://t.co/PxJM5Ra5F6

— Ransom Riggs (@ransomriggs) March 4, 2016

The movie, starring Asa Butterfield as 16-year-old Jacob with Eva Green as Miss Peregrine and Chris O’Dowd, Ella Purnell, Allison Janney, Rupert Everett, Terence Stamp, Judi Dench and Samuel L. Jackson, opens.on Sept. 30.

There’s no full trailer yet. The following teaser was released last September:

No tie-ins have yet been announced.

Tim Burton is also the producer, but not the director, of a movie arriving May 27, Alice Through the Looking Glass (see our earlier coverage for more, including tie-ins). A new trailer was released last month.

On its first week of publication, PAX by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Jon Klassen (Harper/Balzer + Bray; OverDrive Sample) hit the NYT‘s Children’s Middle Grade Hardcover best seller list at #2 and shot up to #1 the week after, where it has ruled for the last four weeks.

About a twelve-year-old boy who is separated from his pet fox named Pax, it has received media attention from NPR, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal and starred reviews from Booklist, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and SLJ.

Word has reached Hollywood. It has been acquired by Sidney Kimmel Entertainment in a bidding war for film rights. Deadline reports it will be produced as a live-action feature.

Based on James Patterson’s 2011 novel for kids, the movie Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life is set for release on October 7th, 2016. The first trailer has just been released.

Director Steve Carr (Paul Blart: Mall Cop), comparing this movie to his earlier family films (Daddy Day Care, Dr. Dolittle 2), tells Entertainment Weekly, “This book came along and I found it’s a better version of the movies that I’ve been making,”

Tie-ins:
Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life
Chris Tebbetts, James Patterson, Laura Park
Hachette/jimmy patterson; Hardcover, August 23, 2016

Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life
Chris Tebbetts, James Patterson, Laura Park
Hachette/jimmy patterson; Paperback; August 23, 2016

The woman who brought the term “full frontal snogging” into US parlance has died at 63. British author Louise Rennison, wrote several hilarious YA novels, including Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging (HarperTeen, 1999). The first in The Confessions of Georgia Nicholson series, it was adapted as a movie in 2008.

A tribute in the Guardian attests, “Rennison understood the unique, farcical horror of being a teenage girl. Throughout the books, Georgia’s insecurities are detailed in all their vivid, obsessional power.” Entertainment Weekly calls her teenage protagonist Georgia Nicholson. “spunky, somewhat self-absorbed, and absolutely hysterical.” The Telegraph says she “taught a generation of teenage girls to see the funny side of life.”

The cause of death had not been reported.

Taking another step closer to the small screen, Netflix announces that Tom McCarthy will direct the first two episodes of the series adaptation of Jay Asher’s 2007 YA novel TH1RTEEN R3ASONS WHY, (Penguin/RazorBill; Listening Library; OverDrive Sample). McCarthy directed Spotlight, currently in the running for six Oscars. Bringing an additional level of cachet, Selena Gomez is an executive producer.

About a high school student who commits suicide and leaves behind several tapes, each addressed to one of her classmates, explaining how they contributed to her decision, the novel is a YALSA Best Books of 2008, and  was a NYT best seller  in hardcover for over two years.

One of the few black female film directors working today, Ava DuVernay (Selma) has been chosen to direct a new Disney’s adaptation of the 1963 Newbery Award winner, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (Macmillan/FSG BYR). Breaking the news, Deadline also notes this marks “a big step up in scale for DuVernay, a former publicist who proved her mettle by making Selma.”

L’Engle didn’t think much of a previous Disney adaption of her book. When asked by Newseek if it met her expectations, she replied, “Yes, I expected it to be bad, and it is.”

We can hope L’Engle, who died in 2007, would have had better expectations for this new version.

Once fans got over the fact that the new Harry Potter 8 is not a book per se, but the script of a play, titled Harry Potter and the Cursed Child:Parts I & II (Scholastic) set to debut London’s Palace Theatre on July 30th, they woke up to a new reality. The play isn’t actually being written by J.K. Rowling, but by scriptwriter Jack Thorne.

Headlines like the Washington Post‘s “J.K. Rowling announces an eighth Harry Potter book” obscure the wording in the press release that it is  “based on an original new story by JK Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany. It is officially the eighth story in Harry Potter canon and a new play by Jack Thorne.”

The Guardian goes into detail about the collaboration, concluding it is”unlikely that Amazon will seeing a slew of cancelled orders” after fans understand who is real writer, but “Not many people read play scripts for fun, for the very good reason that they are created to be performed. For the Potter fans who queue up for the latest midnight release, this realisation may be a rude awakening.”

Evidently, the following Allegiant trailer, released yesterday, is the final one before the film opens on March 18. Den of Geek gives a rundown of all the trailers to date.

As per the now accepted franchise tradition, the final book in Veronica Roth young adult trilogy is being split into two movies. Director Robert Schwentke is not returning for part 2, however. After directing Insurgent and the Allegiant back to back, he said he needed a break, leaving Lionsgate to scramble for a new director before filming in Atlanta this summer.

Arriving tomorrow is Allegiant Movie Tie-in Edition (Harper/Katherine Tegen Books; HarperCollins Audio) in this hardback edition as well as a paperback version.

A middle-grade novel exploring the effects of war and the bonds of love between pets and humans is getting media attention.

Pax by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Jon Klassen (Harper/Balzer + Bray; OverDrive Sample) is about a twelve-year-old boy who has a pet fox named Pax. Separated by war, the two seek to find each other again, each telling their part of the story.

Pennypacker was on NPR’s All Things Considered yesterday and today her book rose to #10 spot on Amazon’s sales ranking. UPDATE: The book debuts at #2 on the 2/21 NYT Children’s Middle Grade Hardcover Best Sellers list.

During the conversation she describes how smart foxes are (they can communicate with other species) and her take how children see the world, saying:

“I wanted to … celebrate this extraordinary sense of no boundaries — it’s kind of a boundary issue where kids don’t realize there are boundaries and I love that! They’re right, they’re correct! Why can’t they love an animal, a wild animal or a pet? Why can’t they? … Humans sort of get narrow as they age and I think the older we get, the less we’re able to see we can have real relationships with more of life.”

The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal have devoted attention to it as well. The novel received starred reviews from Booklist, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and SLJ.

A news release from Pottermore.com is setting the internet ablaze.

Announcing an “exciting publishing program,” it confirms the expected news that the script for the upcoming play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, will be released in book form.

It will be released in the U.S. by Scholastic at 12:01 a.m. on July 31st. The play begins its run at London’s Palace Theatre the day before.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child :Parts I & II  (ISBN 978-1-338-09913-3; $29.99 U.S. and $39.99 Canada; simultaneous eBook from Pottermore).

The play, and the book catch up with Harry as an adult with children of his own (reminding us that it’s been nearly twenty years since HP first appeared on the scene).

Also released today are photos of Universal Studio’s theme park, “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter,” set to open April 7th.