The final book in Rick Yancey’s 5th Wave series, The Last Star, is set for publication on May 25, 2016 (Penguin/Putnam YR). The cover was revealed by USA Today.

The film adaptation of the first book in the trilogy, The 5th Wave was featured at New York Comic Con this weekend (tie-ins, in hardcover and trade pbk, Nov. 3).

The movie, starring Chloë Grace Moretz, arrives in theaters on January 15.

Desperate parents are flocking to The Rabbit Who Wants To Fall Asleep by Carl-Johan Forssen Ehrlin, illustrated by Irina Maununen (RH/Crown;Listening Library; OverDrive Sample).

PW reported last week that it sold 10,000 copies in two days. Ehrlin, a Swedish psychologist, originally self-published the bedtime story, which Random House acquired after its huge popularity over the summer and has just re-released.

It debuts at #3 on the NYT‘s Picture Book Best Seller list this week, sandwiched between Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers’s crayon books and a seasonal choice, Pete the Cat: Five Little Pumpkins by James Dean.

It is also on the USA Today list, which includes titles in all formats and for all ages, now at #35  down from an earlier high of #6.

In August, NPR’s All Things Considered put it to the test on sleep adverse kids with less than convincing results.

In The Washington Post conducted their own test, with similar results.

Both testers qualified their findings by acknowledging the presence of cameras or microphones could not have helped create the necessary atmosphere.

For those still game to try it out, NPR reports sleep experts suggest that parents make it a constant routine at bedtime and practice delivering the story until they get the lulling rhythm down pat.

If all else fails, parents can at least get some comfort in knowing they are not alone in their bleary-eyed frustration and entertain themselves with the another best selling title about sleep and kids, Adam Mansbach’s Go the F**k to Sleep.

The TV series Shadowhunters will premiere on basic cable channel Freeform (formerly ABC Family) on Jan. 12, 2016, it was announced yesterday at New York Comic Con, along with the release of the first official trailer. It is based on Cassandra Clare’s popular YA series beginning with The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones, (S&S/M.K. McElderry Books, 2007), which was made into a movie in 2013. After it flopped at the box office, the producers changed their plans of creating a film franchise and turned to TV, with a new cast of actors, all of whom are fairly new to the screen.

Tie-ins: see our movie and TV tie-ins.
Web site: Shadowhunterstv.com

This chat has now ended. Please join us for the next one on Nov. 11 — information here.

The phenomenon comes to an end on Nov. 20, when The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2  hits screens (well, maybe not; still to come is the Hunger Games theme park).

The latest trailer has just been released.

Ten years ago readers met Bella Swan and her dreamy vampire boyfriend Edward Cullen. Their story inspired teen bands, converted adults to YA fiction, and gave rise to Team Edward and Team Jacob.

To celebrate the milestone, author Stephenie Meyer has a surprise for fans, she has re-written the book and switched the gender roles in Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined (Hachette/Little, Brown; Listening Library).

The story now features Beau Swan, the new boy in Forks, WA and the vampire girl he falls for, Edythe Cullen (see Entertainment Weekly‘s glossary of name changes).

This is not just a find-and-replace-the-names job. According to Entertainment Weekly, it is 442 pages of reimagining, in which Meyer also took the opportunity to re-edit for “grammar and word choice issues” and correct some of the mythology. EW also reports (based on reading the forward to the new edition) that Meyer decided to switch the characters in response to critics who slammed her for creating a female “damsel in distress.”

The rewrite is being published as a flipbook with the original version of Twlight and new cover art.

Meyer appeared on Good Morning America yesterday. When her publisher asked for a forward for the milestone edition, she decided to do something more fun and interesting. She also shares that the story changes more deeply further into the novel, although it begins almost the same. Don’t expect more, however, she says she does not expect to rewrite the other titles in the series.

None of the trade publications reviewed Meyer’s latest but it is getting plenty of attention in consumer media from Bustle to Variety.

Ordering is very light (to nonexistent) at libraries we checked. Those that own it, however, are showing few holds, but the book rose to #1 on Amazon’s sales rankings.

NPR’s All Things Considered interviewed children’s book author Kevin Henkes on Tuesday about his new book Waiting (Harper/Greenwillow Books), causing the book to rise to #22 on Amazon’s sales rankings.

Henkes says reading is important for creating a sense of the world. “I think books … can open one’s eyes to what else is in the world, but it’s also nice if one can see oneself. I think as a boy I liked both kinds of books — I liked books that let me see that the world was wide and large but I also loved books where a character might have the same feeling that I had about something — that makes one feel like one is not alone in the world.”.

The second Maze Runner movie, Scorch Trials, opens this weekend, and is expected to land at #1 at the box office, recouping he losses from the first in the series.

Perhaps capitalizing on the attention, trailers of two other movies based on dystopian novels were released this week, even though the movies themselves won’t appear until next year.

The first official trailer for The 5th Wave, starring Chloë Grace Moretz and Maika Monroe was released for the movie that opens on January 15th. The first in a planned series, it is based on the book by Rick Yancey. Movie tie-ins will be published in both trade paperback and hardcover (Penguin/Putnam Juvenile).

The second book in the series, The Infinite Sea, was published last year.

The third movie in The Divergent Series, Allegiant, starring Shailene Woodley and Theo James arrives on March 16 next year. Of course, this final book is being made in to two movies. Part 2, titled Ascendant is scheduled for release in 2017, around the same time as the third Maze Runner movie, The Death Cure,

Based on the book by Veronica Roth, the movie tie-in will be released in both trade paperback. and hardcover (HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen).

Stephen Colbert isn’t the only one trying to shake up late night TV. Seth Meyers has broken ground by featuring novelists on Late Night. Last night, he highlighted graphic novelist Judd Winick, author of the new kid’s series Hilo (RH Books for Young Readers).

As The New York Times reports, the hero of the planned six-book multicultural series “is an enigmatic boy who crashes to Earth and befriends two children, D.J. and Gina … D.J. is the only one of five Asian-American siblings who is not “awesome at something,” and his best friend, Gina, who is black, has two aggressively positive sisters who are cheerleaders. Each book will reveal more about the characters and the mystery of Hilo’s destiny.”

Winick and Meyers know each other from Winick’s time writing for The Awesomes, an animated series created by Meyers and Mike Shoemaker. He has also worked on Batman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Justice League, and Star Wars comics. He has also had experience on TV, having been one of the housemates on season 3 of MTV’s Real World.

Winick decided to write the series so his own children could read his work, after he got a bit jealous of his son’s avid fanboy reaction to Jeff Smith’s Bone.

The first of the National Book Awards longlists was released today. The nominees for young people’s literature include a range of authors from debuts to multiple award winners. Most are novels, but also included are one nonfiction title and a graphic novel.

All the titles have been reviewed by the pre-pub media with most receiving multiple stars.

Each year the judging panel includes a librarian. Teri Lesesne fills that position this year. She teaches Library Science at Sam Houston State University, is the author of Reading Ladders:Leading Students from Where They Are to Where We’d Like Them to Be and blogs as “The Goddess of YA Literature.”

Also on the panel are authors John Joseph Adams (two-time winner of the Hugo Award and series editor of Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy), Laura McNeal (her novel Dark Water was a finalist for the 2010 National Book Award), G. Neri (he won the 2011 Coretta Scott King Honor Award for his graphic novel Yummy), and Eliot Schrefer (two-time finalist for the National Book Award in Young People’s Literature for Endangered and Threatened).

The five finalists will be announced on Oct. 14. The winner will be announced on Nov. 18.

Tomorrow, the longlist for Poetry will be announced, followed by Nonfiction on Wednesday, and the final list, for Fiction on Thursday

The 2015 National Book Award Young People’s Literature Longlist

Becky Albertalli, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray)

Starred by Booklist, Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, it also got an A from Entertainment Weekly., saying, “Adults who read this coming-out/coming-of-age novel will probably wish it had been around when they were kids … Worthy of Fault in Our Stars-level obsession.”

Deliciously funny, recommend this to all those adults who have been filling the hold shelves with YA titles by Johh Green, Sarah Dessen, and David Levithan.

M.T. Anderson, Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad (Candlewick Press)

Starred by Booklist, Kirkus, School Library Journal 

This M.T. Anderson title has been on YA must-read piles ever since galleys were released. Already a NBA winner for Octavian Nothing, Anderson here turns his storytelling gifts to narrative non-fiction. Well researched with fascinating details that manage to not bog down the story. YA

Ali Benjamin, The Thing About Jellyfish (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

Starred by Booklist, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal 

Seventh-grader Suzy is trying to cope with the sudden death of an old friend. Her shock and grief are palpable as she wades through overwhelming feelings and still navigate the uncertain, unkind world of Middle School. Ages 12 and up.

Rae Carson, Walk on Earth a Stranger (HarperCollins /Greenwillow),

Starred by Booklist and Publishers Weekly

The first in a new trilogy from the author of The Girl of Fire and Thorns, sets the stage for an eminently readable historical/fantasy with sweeping narrative, unexpected plot twists and empathetic characters.

Gary Paulsen, This Side of Wild: Mutts, Mares, and Laughing Dinosaurs (S&S)

Those who thought that Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers: Reflections on Being Raised by a Pack of Sled Dogs was Paulsen’s best book will be delighted that he brings his raconteur style back to the campfire.

Laura Ruby, Bone Gap (HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray)

Starred by Booklist, Kirkus , Publishers Weekly with the audio starred by Audio File

Laura Ruby is already well-known to YA and children’s librarians, but this is her break out book, a narrative tour-de-force that draws readers into a very different but familiar fantasy world.

Ilyasah Shabazz, with Kekla Magoon, X: A Novel (Candlewick Press)

Starred by Booklist, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal and Horn Book. Reviewed in the New York Times.

With A Rock in the River an award-winning debut novel, Kekla Magoon provided an inside glimpse into the Civil Rights movement. Her historical fiction Fire in the Street reveals the lives of those who were Black Panthers. Teaming with Shabazz  Malcolm X’s daughter (Growing up X) the authors look at how the young Malcolm Little became Malcolm X.

Steve Sheinkin, Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War (Macmillan/Roaring Brook Press)

Starred by Booklist, Horn Book, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal

Sheinkin has won multiple awards for his compelling informational books including The Bomb and Port Chicago (both were finalists for this award). Here, he takes on the transformation of one man during one of the most turbulent times in United States History,  the war in Vietnam.

Neal Shusterman, Challenger Deep (HarperCollins)

Starred by Booklist, Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks, Horn Book, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal

Shusterman has a gift for tackling big issues through story (Unwind). Here he creates a compelling novel that explores a 14-year-old schizophrenic’s decent into terrifying illness.

Noelle Stevenson, Nimona (HarperTeen/HarperCollins Children’s Books)

Starred by Kirkus, Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal

This mash-up sets fairytale archetypes on their ears, featuring a bloodthirsty shape-shifter Nimona and her anti-hero boss. Founded as a web comic, the first three chapters are available on-line.

A middle grade novel that features a transgender girl trying to find acceptance is building buzz.

George by Alex Gino (Scholastic; Scholastic Inc. Audio; OverDrive Sample) is one of IndieBound’s Autumn ’15 “Inspired Recommendations for Kids from Indie Booksellers” and was part of The New York Times story on transgendered children’s books. Trade reviews are glowing, using words such as “inspiring” “radiant” and “required purchase.”

Today’s NPR’s Morning Edition joined the bandwagon in a wide ranging story that includes how Scholastic is marketing George as a book for everyone.

In a seemingly odd comparison, Scholastic sees the marketing strategy along the same lines as their approach to The Hunger Games. Editorial director David Levithan told NPR, “It’s kind of crazy to remember now, but that book was initially seen as a potentially difficult sell. After all, it’s about kids killing each other.”

But like Suzanne Collins’s breakout, Levithan knew that readers would relate to the story once they gave it a chance, and believed they just needed to get George in front of people who would hand-sell it. Scholastic sent it to 10,000 teachers and librarians and Gino appeared at major book fairs to get booksellers behind it.

That strategy is in keeping with the author’s goals. “I want it to be a book that someone passes to someone and says, ‘You have to.’ ” Gino told Kirkus.

On her weekly radio appearance on Seattle’s NPR affiliate KUOW, librarian Nancy Pearl talks about Jessie Hartland’s Steve Jobs: Insanely Great (RH/Schwartz & Wade).

It is a graphic biography Nancy thinks would be perfect for middle and high school students, making it an alternative tie-in to the upcoming biopic based on Walter Isaacson’s 600+ page tome about the computer legend.

Filled with black, white, and gray free-flowing images and text that often breaks out of speech bubbles, the nonfiction work details Jobs’s achievements and personality. Hartland’s website gives a quick glimpse of her style.

When asked by host Marcie Sillman, Nancy said that she thought Jobs would adore it, as she did, putting her on the hunt for Harland’s previous graphic biography, Bon Appétit!: The Delicious Life of Julia Child (RH/Schwartz & Wade, 2012).

For his upcoming middle grade novel, The Marvels, Brian Selznick has created his first book trailer, just released.

The Wall Street Journal describes the month-long process the author and former professional puppeteer went through to build the sets and act out the story.

With The Invention of Hugo Cabret Selznick introduced a unique style of combining art and illustration which won him a Caldecott Medal and served as inspiration for Martin Scorsese in his film adaptation, Hugo. His next book Wonderstruck is also set for a big screen adaption, with Todd Haynes directing.

The Marvels
Brian Selznick
Scholastic, September 15, 2015
Hardcover and eBook

How is this for the plot of a book: Two kids grow up in the deep South 80 some years ago, making up stories, acting them out in the backyard. Fast forward a few decades and one of them writes what might be the most beloved debut novel of several generations and the other all but invents a new kind of book, one that still rivets readers to this day.

In a nutshell that is the real-life story of Harper Lee and Truman Capote, who were childhood neighbors and friends, continuing their friendship into adulthood until a dispute over the attribution for In Cold Blood drove them apart.

Their youthful friendship is the subject of a forthcoming novel for middle-grade readers, Tru & Nelle (HMH; Mar. 1, 2016; ISBN 9780544699601) by Caldecott Honor winner Greg Neri (Yummy: the Last Days of a Southside Shorty), following the pair on adventures through their small Southern town. It’s the topic of a detailed story in the NYT Books section and is also described on Neri’s own site, with historic photos of his subjects.

Neri’s book comes on the heels of new publications by both authors. Of course Go Set a Watchman is has been the subject of much attention, overshadowing the news that new Capote stories have been found as well, several of them in the Manuscripts and Archives Division of the New York Public Library.

The Capote stories were written when he was a teenager and a young man. Most have never been published. That will be corrected in October with the release of The Early Stories of Truman Capote (Random House; Random House Audio; Oct. 27; ISBN 9780812998221).

Many in the Twittersphere were unhappy when news broke that Sony plans a remake of the 1995 Robin Williams movie Jumanji, so soon after the actor’s death.

I can't be the only one who thinks its WAY too freaking soon to be messing with ANY #RobinWilliams film, can I? #Jumanji

— Ninja Panda (@cherrycokeaf) August 6, 2015

Joining the fray, E Online wrote “not only is the Jumanji remake unnecessary and kind of insulting, but it’s in danger of tarnishing the onscreen legacy of one of the great comedians of our time.”

Sony plans to release the film on Christmas Day 2016. Thus far none of the production team or actors have been announced.

Jumanji (HMH, 1981) by Chris Van Allsburg is one of the few Caldecott books to be made into a full-length movie. The 2015 winner, The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend, will join that short list. It was recently announced that Jason Reitman (Juno) will write/direct the adaption for DreamWorks.