A spot on yesterday’s CBS Evening News sent the debut middle-grade title, releasing today,  Just Jake (Penguin/Grosset & Dunlap) rising on Amazon’s sales rankings (it is now at #40). The hook? Author, Jake Marcionette, is just 13.

Prepub reviews are considerate of the author’s age. SLJ notes, “At times, Jake’s arrogance can be overwhelming, but readers will see through it and realize it is simply a yearning to be accepted” and PW, “Jake’s youthful exuberance shines through and keeps the story speeding ahead.”  Kirkus is a bit harsher, suggesting that “The novel would have benefited had Jake spent a little less time on his own awesomeness … It’s an eye-catching read without a whole lot of depth.”

Several libraries we checked have not ordered it; those that did ordered in modest quantities.

In the video of the segment, below, Jake says he is at work on a sequel:

Thanks to all of  you have asked for a children’s and YA version of our popular Penguin First Flights program, we are  delighted to announce the launch of the Penguin Young Readers Author Program— an opportunity to be part of the launch of major new YA and middle grade titles.

Sign up to automatically receive advance readers copies (in print or via NetGalley) of new titles.

A few weeks later, you will be invited to an exclusive live online chat with the author, led by EarlyWord Kids Correspondent, Lisa Von Drasek.

The first title in the program is Space Rocks!, a middle grade title by comedy writer Tom O’Donnell. Kirkus is the first to review it, saying the main character is “charming and [the book’s] alien perspective on the human invaders and the ensuing culture clash never falters.”

The second title in the program is Nightingale’s Nest, by Nikki Loftin, the author of The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy.

Many thanks to our sponsor, Penguin Young Readers. Sign up here.

A sneak peek of the trailer legions have been waiting for aired yesterday on The Today Show (the full trailer is below).

Thanks to the snow in many parts of the country, lots of kids got to see it. For those in school, some sympathetic teachers let them watch.

The original tagline, “One Sick Love Story” was controversial. It seems the producers are now going with the far less interesting, “Bring on the Feelies.”

The movie opens June 6.

Released yesterday, Esther Earl’s book, This Star Won’t Go Out, (Penguin/Dutton Juvenile), published after the authors death at 16, is rising on Amazon sales rankings.

Esther was the inspiration for John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars. Her fictional counterpart, Hazel, is portrayed by actress Shailene Woodley in the film version, coming to theaters June 6, 2014.

USA Today covered the story yesterday. The following video is included in the online version:

Currently dominating Amazon’s Movers and Shakers, the list of titles that have shown the greatest jumps in sales rank over the past 24 hours, are, of course, the books that were announced as winners of  the most heavily-covered ALA Youth Media Awards at Midwinter yesterday.

In the case of the Printz, however, one of the honor books, Eleanor & Park, rose higher than the Medalist, probably because, having already been a best seller, it has stronger name recognition.

Sales rank: 8 (was 630)
Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures, Kate DiCamilla, K.G. Campbell, Candlewick Press
Newbery Medalist

Sales rank: 14 (was 2,565)
Locomotive, Brian Floca, S&S/Atheneum
Caldecott Medalist

Sales rank: 116 (was 186)
Eleanor & Park, Rainbow Rowell
Printz Honor (the winner Midwinterblood, Marcus Sedgwick, Macmillan/Roaring Brook is at #630)

Sales rank: 210 (was 3,333)
The Year of Billy Miller, Kevin Henkes, HarperCollins/Greenwillow
Newbery Honor

Sales rank: 250 (was 36,725)
Flora and the Flamingo, Milly Idle, Chronicle Books
Caldecott Honor

Sales rank: 290 (was 20,872)
Paperboy, Vince Vawter, RH/Delacorte
Newbery Honor

Sales rank: 355 (was 15,495)
Doll Bones, Holly Black, S&S/ Margaret K. McElderry Books
Newbery Honor

Sales rank: 4 (was 5)
The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
The author won the Margaret A. Edwards Award; this book was already high on the list, both because it’s perennially popular and because of the movie, which is still in theaters.

Below is a video of the awards presentations at ALA Midwinter on Monday:

And the winners are:

Newbery Award

Medal Winner:
Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures, Kate DiCamilla, K.G. Campbell. Candlewick Press

Honor Books:
Doll Bones, Holly Black, S&S/ Margaret K. McElderry Books
The Year of Billy Miller, Kevin Henkes, HarperCollins/Greenwillow
One Came Home, Amy Timberlake, RH/Knopf
Paperboy, Vince Vawter, RH/Delacorte

Caldecott Award

Medal Winner:

Locomotive, Brian Floca, S&S/Atheneum

Honor Books:
Journey, Aaron Becker, Candlewick Press
Flora and the Flamingo, Milly Idle, Chronicle Books
Mr. Wuffles, David Wiesner, HMH/Clarion Books

Printz Award

Medal Winner:

Midwinterblood, Marcus Sedgwick, Macmillan/Roaring Brook

Honor Books:
Eleanor & Park, Rainbow Rowell, Macmillan/St. Martin’s Griffin Kingdom of Little Wounds, Susann Cokal, Candlewick
Maggot Moon,  Sally Gardner, illus. Julian Crouch, Candlewick Press
Navigating Early, Clare Vanderpool, RH/ Delacorte Books

The rest of the awards, after the jump:

(more…)

The first two images from the upcoming adaptation of Lois Lowry’s beloved book The Giver, (HMH), which recently recently wrapped in Cape Town, South Africa, are featured today on Entertainment Weekly‘s “Inside Movies” blog,

Jeff Bridges, who plays The Giver is pictured above, with Brenton Thwaites as Jonas. As fans of the book will note, this Jonas is much older, a decision that has been controversial. Bridges, who has shepherded this project for nearly 20 years, originally balked at the idea. He has since come around and now says “We were so lucky to have Thwaites play this role. He does a beautiful job.”  Entertainment Weekly notes that author Lowry is also on board and has worked closely with Bridges and Noyce, even costuming extras on the set.

The movie is set to arrive in theaters on August 15.

On Tuesday, we reported on the voting for the Mock Printz awards by the kids at the Bank Street College of Education’s School for Children. We feared that the East Coast blizzard might affect the Mock Newbery program, but even snow and sleet couldn’t stop them.

Allie Bruce, Bank Street’s children’s librarian and Jennifer Brown, Director of the Center for Children’s Literature are excited that a fiction book — The Real Boy — and an information book — Wild Boy — tied as the winner. The honor book was Doll Bones.

Below, Allie and Jenny report the highlights of the discussions:

Winners – It’s a Tie!

   
The Real Boy, Anne Ursu, Erin McGuire, (HarperCollins/Walden Pond)

“There was one point where I forgot to breathe for awhile.”

“I liked that it showed how uncomfortable he was with people, and how that tied in to the plot of the book.”

“It started slow but by the end I was not stopping.”

Wild Boy: The Real Life of the Savage of Aveyron, Mary Losure, Timothy Basil Ering, (Candlewick)

“It was really real. Lots of detail and it moved along quickly.”

“It tugged at my emotions.”

“I liked the illustrations.”

“You’re getting transported to all these places over 38 years.”

“It was really interesting all the things they were willing to do to get him to talk.”

“It grabbed your attention almost as if you were in his position.”

Honor Book:

Doll Bones, Holly Black, Eliza Wheeler, (S&S/Margaret K. McElderry)

“I’ve never read anything like it. It was so creepy, like when the Queen’s eyelids were fluttering like she was waking up.”

“The characters were interesting. It was cool how they all played together. The author made it like when they played with the dolls and the action figures, it was like they were real.”

“A nice subtle build-up and then it gets more exciting.”

“It was really hard to put down. I was up for 3 hours after my bedtime.”

The film adaptation of Gayle Forman’s 2009 best selling YA title, If I Stay, (Penguin), is now set for release on August 22.

Actress Chole Moretz stars as Mia, a 17 year-old who, while in a coma after a car accident, must choose whether to live or die; Jamie Blackley (Snow White And The Huntsman, The Fifth Estate) as her boyfriend Adam; Mirella Enos and Denny Hall,  as her parents and Stacy Keach as Gramps. Director R. J Cutler is known for his documentaries, including the Emmy-award-winning American High.

Ransom Riggs’ Hollow City, the second in the planned trilogy that began with Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, (both from Quirk Books, dist. by Random House), will be released in two weeks. In anticipation, The New York Times profiles the author.

Click the following for an excerpt from Hollow City.

Tim Burton’s film adaptation of Miss Peregrine is scheduled for release on July 31, 2015 .

The NYT notes that Miss Peregrine was “not conceived or composed with a young-adult audience in mind, but its central premise — about people who are ‘peculiar’ in various ways and must struggle not only to survive, but also to save the clueless rest of humanity from violent evildoers — is certainly adolescent-friendly.”

The decision to publish the book as a YA title proved momentous. As a result, Riggs got to know several YA authors, including Tahereh Mafi, who became his wife. The two, says the NYT, “have become something of a golden couple on the young-adult literary scene, with fans lining up to meet them at events and rushing to post their words on Twitter when either shares details of their life together on Twitter.”

Riggs will appear at ALA Midwinter, as part of the:

AAP/LibraryReads BookTalk Breakfast
Monday, Jan. 27th, 8:30 – 10:00 am
RSVP required, see official invitation here:
ALA Midwinter Booktalk Breakfast 2014 Invitation

The other member of the “YA golden couple,” Tahereh Mafi, will release the final book in her best selling trilogy on Feb. 4, Ignite Me, (HarperCollins). It follows Shatter Me  (2011) and Unravel Me, (2013).

In addition, two companion novellas, Fracture Me and Destroy Me, originally published as eBooks, release in print today, Dec. 31, under the title Unite Me.

As a judge for the National Book Awards, I read a lot of books this year. The job is an honor and a privilege, but it is also heart breaking as I regularly fell in love with books that didn’t fit the award’s very specific criteria, or wouldn’t be agreed upon by all five judges.

Now that it’s over and gift-giving season is here, those restrictions are lifted and I find that, as great as the books are that win prizes, they are not necessarily the ones I want to buy for my young cousin for the holiday break.

Below are the books everyone on my list will be getting this year, including several award winners.

What The Heart Knows: Chants, Charms and Blessings, Joyce Sidman, illus. by Pamela Zagarenski, (HMH)

Speak these words
to send a message to the world:
to chant for what you want,
to bless what you love,
to lament what you’ve lost,
to summon comfort and courage.

This is THE BOOK! I am not kidding.

At last count, I have bought 15. One for Nelle (don’t worry, she doesn’t read my blog) the grown-up cousin who is the keystone of the Von Drasek family, one for late twenties, Kay who taught me to drive, one for Professor Boss who lives down the block and transitioned me into University culture and the neighborhood life. One for my step-sister for her sixtieth birthday. One for my next door neighbor Krista, one of the smartest, most serene, and spiritual people who also has a terrific sense of humor, one for one of my best friends, Sharon who has been there for me for the last 23 years of my life (and quite a few others who are book people and probably do read my blog).

The best poetry speaks to us and tells us we are not alone. This collection of poems provides comfort and courage. Joyce Sidman has given everyone these gifts.

How to Boil an Egg, Rose Bakery, (Phaidon)

Eggs are my go-to food. Boil a half dozen on Sunday, I have lunch for a week. I adore a soft-boiled egg on top of roasted asparagus with a sprinkle of truffled salt. It’s no surprise then, that this book is on my list for all ages; I am a great believer in the benefits of families cooking together and there is nothing easier than eggs.

Cookbooks created for children often have excessive warnings (with good reason; grown ups should be asked to cut the carrots with a sharp knife) and are generic in the step-by-step way. The simple beauty of this book based on a favorite food, creates a perfect family gift.

The following have appeared on many best books lists, or were National Book Award finalists and are also on my gift lists.

The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp, Kathi Appelt,. illus. by Jennifer Bricking, ( S & S/Atheneum)

This title is not only literary-prize-worthy (see my review in the NYT Book Review), it is also a fine read aloud for the entire family. It also comes in a magnificent audio version, read by Lyle Lovett (Simon & Schuster Audio; listen to a clip here).

Below, the author herself reads from it:

Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures, Kate DiCamillo, illus. by K. G. Campbell. (Candlewick)

I am pretty sure that I have bought over ten copies of this book to give to all the deserving  seven-year-olds and older  in my life (yes, that includes a few special adults). It is a laugh aloud delight about a cynical well-read girl and her super-hero companion, a squirrel (for a taste of Kate DiCamillo’s humor listen to her interview from Minnesota Public Radio).

Far Far Away, Tom McNeal, (RH/Knopf YR)

This contemporary spin on thee Brothers Grimm will, as Jennifer Brown writes in Shelf Awareness, “keep readers on the edges of their seats with its overriding sense of danger, lurking like a deep forest surrounding the town.”

Boxers, Gene Luen Yang, (Macmillan/First Second)
Saints, Gene Luen Yang, (Macmillan/First Second)

This two-volume graphic novel deserves all the praise it’s received. It tells the story of the Boxer Rebellion through the eyes of Little Bao, a Chinese peasant boy, and Vibiana, an outcast welcomed by Christian missionaries, offering an insightful look at a pivotal moment in Chinese history.

The L.A. Times confirms the rumors that worried fans have followed on Twitter since late yesterday; YA author Ned Vizzini, has committed suicide. He was 32.

He is the author of It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Be More Chill, (both from Miramax) Teen Angst? Naah (Random House), and The Other Normals (HarperCollins/ Balzer + Bray). This year, he published House of Secrets (HarperCollins/ Balzer + Bray) which he co-wrote with movie director Chris Columbus; a sequel, House of Secrets: Battle of the Beasts is scheduled for release on March 25.

In a tribute on New York magazine’s blog, Vulture, Vizzini’s friend Kyle Buchanan writes, “He was one of the most enthusiastic, vibrant people I knew.”

We kind of hate ourselves for falling for “first” hype around movies; the first teaser, the first full length trailer, and now the first clip. But, here we go…

The first clip from the film adaptation of the YA dystopian novel, Veronica Roth’s Divergent, debuted on Entertainment Tonight and on Yahoo Movies yesterday.

Tris and Four KISS…

Divergent arrives in theaters on March 21.

The studio is so confident they have a hit on their hands that they’ve already scheduled the other two movies in the trilogy; Insurgent for March 20, 2015 and Allegiant for March 18, 2016 (IndieWire), breaking the recent tradition of dividing the final book in a series into two movies.

The tie-in editions will be published in February:

Divergent Movie Tie-in Edition
Veronica Roth
HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Books
On Sale Date: February 11, 2014
Hardcover: 9780062289841, 0062289845
$17.99 US / $21.00 Can.

Paperback: 9780062289858, 0062289853
$9.99 US / $11.99 Can

With the tag line “One Sick Love Story,” the first poster for the adaptation of John Green’s YA novel The Fault in Our Stars (Penguin/Dutton YR), has just been released, featuring Shailene Woodley as Hazel, wearing an oxygen tube (click on the image to see more details), and Ansel Elgort as Gus. The movie opens June 6, 2014.

UPDATE: John Green responds to some negative comments on the poster’s tag line on his Tumblr site, saying that, although the tagline is not his decision, ” I like the tag line. I found it dark and angry in the same way that Hazel is (at least at times) dark and angry in her humor. I mostly wanted something that said, ‘This is hopefully not going to be a gauzy, sentimental love story that romanticizes illness and further spreads the lie that the only reason sick people exist is so that healthy people can learn lessons.’ But that’s not a very good tag line. I like the tag line because it says, literally, the sick can also have love stories. Love and joy and romance are not just things reserved for the well.”

The poster is currently being offered as a perk to those who donate to the Indiegogo campaign for awesomeness.

Before the release of TFIOS, Woodley and Elgort will be seen playing brother and sister in the adaptation of another YA novel, Veronica Roth’s Divergent, (HarperCollins/Tegen), scheduled for release on March 21. Ads for it are set to debut on Facebook tomorrow (trailers were released earlier) in a test of the site’s new auto-play ad feature.

I can’t let the Best of the Year go by without highlighting LEGO books (I’ve written before about how great the DK LEGO Readers are).

The classic LEGO brick was designed by Danish carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen in the 1940s. Christiansen began to make wooden toys after losing his job, and  soon designed an interlocking brick that would mimic the stacking ability of regular blocks, but allow for more creative building possibilities. He named his product “LEGO” after the Danish phrase leg godt, or “play well.”

LEGO has stood the test of time as a building toy with open-ended possibilities. There is no “right” way to play with LEGOs.

To add to the already strong interest, a LEGO movie is coming in February 2014.

It features some pretty great voices, including those of Morgan Freeman and Liam Neeson.

Ed Note: Yes, but how could they have not used LEGO master, Eddie Izzard:

There will be tie-ins, of course.

Download  the  LEGO tie-ins spreadsheet.

For the holiday season, do not miss these three standouts from the LEGO “verse,” beginning with:

Cool Creations in 35 Pieces, Sean Kenney, (Macmillan/Henry Holt YR)

The most recent volume fromrenowned LEGO artist Kenney gives kids step-by-step instructions to make robots, nutty animals and vehicles from steam engines to a jumbo jet.

And, two spectacular volumes from No Starch Press:

LEGO Space: Building the Future, Peter Reid and Tim Goddard, (No Starch Press)

Goddard and Reid have created a coffee table book of a science fiction world completely made of LEGOs. We explore the architecture, technology and life on other planets as we enter the realm of space pirates, battle cruisers, mining camps and more.

Beautiful LEGO, Mike Doyle, (No Starch Press)

You know how those artfully arranged glossy full color shots of food lavishly displayed has been labeled “food porn” ? If I may be so rude, this is LEGO porn. Stylistically arranged LEGO creations lovingly presented to the fandom. As The Horn Book says, “Elevating the preschool building toy to high art, this book’s gorgeous photographs of hundreds of LEGO sculptures … go well beyond anything you’d see at a LEGOLAND theme park.”