A few of the nominees for the National Book Awards moved up Amazon’s sales rankings after yesterday’s announcement. The lesser-known, or most recently released titles made the greatest leaps.

Only two of the finalists are currently in the Amazon top ten. Junot Diaz’s This Is How You Lose Her (Penguin/Riverhead) is at #44 (up slightly from the day before). It’s moved down since a high of #16 after a string of reviews, culminating in the 9/20 NYT Book Review

The Round House, by Louise Erdrich, Harper is at #82. The nomination came shortly after its publication on 10/2 and a week of multiple reviews (Minneapolis Star Tribune, Kansas City Star, USA Today, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Miami Herald).

Third in sales rankings of the nominees is The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers, (Hachette/ Little, Brown), at #169, up slightly from the previous day and down from a high of #80 after this Sunday’s cover review in the  NYT BR.

After the jump, all the  finalists by Amazon Sales Rankings, excluding poetry, as of this morning (gathered via Publishers Marketplace‘s Book Tracker tool). Note that the NBA has far less effect on sales rankings for children’s titles than the Newbery/Caldecott/Printz Awards. Most of those winners and honorees moved into the top 100 immediately following their announcements.

National Book Award Finalists by Amazon Rankings (as of 8 a.m. 10/11/12)

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The finalists for the National Book Awards are being announced on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

First up, the kids titles (sorry “Young People’s Literature”). Annotations from the National Book Foundation:

Goblin Secrets, William Alexander, S&S.Margaret K. McElderry

Rownie, the youngest in Graba the witchworker’s household of stray children, escapes and goes looking for his missing brother. Along the way he falls in with a troupe of theatrical goblins and learns the secret origins of masks.

Out of Reach, Carrie Arcos, S&S/Simon Pulse

Rachel has always idolized her older brother Micah. He struggles with addiction, but she tells herself that he’s in control. And she almost believes it. Until the night that Micah doesn’t come home.

Never Fall Down,  Patricia McCormick, HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray

When the Khmer Rouge arrive at his hometown in Cambodia, Arn is just a kid, dancing to rock ‘n’ roll, hustling for spare change, and selling ice cream with his brother. But after the soldiers march the entire population into the countryside, Arn is separated from his family and assigned to a labor camp. One day, the soldiers ask if any of the kids can play an instrument. In order to survive, Arn must quickly master the strange revolutionary songs the soldiers demand. This will save his life, but it will also pull him into the very center of what we know today as the Killing Fields.

Endangered, Eliot Schrefer, Scholastic

When Sophie has to visit her mother at her sanctuary for bonobos in Congo, she’s not thrilled to be there. It’s her mother’s passion, and Sophie doesn’t want to have anything to do with it. At least not until Otto, an infant bonobo, comes into her life, and for the first time she feels the bond a human can have with an animal.

Bomb: The Race to Build–and Steal–the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon, Steve Sheinkin, Macmillan/Flash Point

In December of 1938, a chemist in a German laboratory made a shocking discovery: When placed next to radioactive material, a Uranium atom split in two. That simple discovery launched a scientific race that spanned three continents. This is the story of the plotting, risk-taking, deceit, and genius that created the world’s most formidable weapon. This is the story of the atomic bomb.

[NOTE: If you linked here from the 10/5 newsletter, we posted the wrong one. The correct one is New Title Radar: October 8 – 14]

Politics rules nonfiction this week, with a memoir by former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and new books by political pundits Stephen Colbert, Bill O’Reilly and Ann Coulter. In fiction, returning favorites include Mark Helprin and Per Patterson, plus there’s a charming debut by Robin Sloan. Usual suspects include Dennis Lehane, John Sandford, Nora Roberts, Christine Feehan and Sylvia Day. In YA, Rick Riordan returns with much anticipation and adult author Jasper Fforde starts a fantasy series.

Watch List

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan (Macmillan/FSG) is a modern fantasy about a laid off web designer turned bookstore clerk in San Francisco who uses old and new media to crack a variety of codes. Kirkus says, “Sloan’s debut novel takes the reader on a dazzling and flat-out fun adventure, winding through the interstices between the literary and the digital realms.” It was a BEA Librarian’s Shout ‘n’ Share pick and continues as a favorite on GalleyChat. That cover glows in the dark.

Returning Favorites

In Sunlight and in Shadow by Mark Helprin (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Blackstone Audio) gets the thumbs up from People magazine, which gives it 4 of 4 stars and designates it a People Pick in the new issue: “Helprin’s delightful new novel is a 705-page mash note to Manhattan in the years immediately following World War II. Like Winters Tale, the 1983 bestseller that made his name, it’s a paean to women and their beauty… Helprin paints a dazzling portrait of the city… and evokes the universal, dizzy delight of falling head over heels in love.” NPR’s All Things Considered also gave it a strong review. The film of Helprin’s Winter’s Tale, to begin production in Manhattan on October 27, stars Colin Farrell, Downton Abbey‘s Jessica Brown Findlay, William Hurt, Will Smith and Russell Crowe.

It’s Fine By Me by Per Patterson (Graywolf Press) explores the youth of Arvid Jensen, last seen in Patterson’s I Curse the River of Time (2010). This book is a reissue of a 1992 novel by Norwegian author Patterson, who first broke out with Out Stealing Horses, which won the 2007 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. LJ calls this one “Essential for upmarket readers.”

Usual Suspects

Live by Night by Dennis Lehane (Harper/ Morrow; Harperluxe; HarperAudio) is a crime novel set in the Prohibition era about the rise of an Irish-American gangster. It gets a B+ in Entertainment Weekly, which calls it a “ripping, movie-ready yarn that jumps from a Boston prison to Tampa speakeasies to a Cuban tobacco farm.”

Mad River by John Sandford (Penguin/Putnam; Center Point Large Print; Penguin Audiobooks) is the fifth novel featuring Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agent Virgil Flowers, who investigates an armed rampage by three teens in rural Minnesota. It was featured on NPR’s Weekend edition Saturday.

The Perfect Hope by Nora Roberts (Penguin/Berkley; Thorndike Large Print; Brilliance Audio) is the final installment in the Inn Boonsboro trilogy.

Dark Storm by Christine Feehan (Penguin/Berkley; Thorndike Press; Penguin Audiobooks) is the latest in the Carpathian series of paranormal romances.

Reflected in You by Sylvia Day (Berkley; Brilliance Audio; Thorndike Large print) — is the second in the Crossfire series, which began with the self-published Bared to You, widely regarded as a successor to Fifty Shades of Grey (and with covers that underscore the similarity). UPDATE: We had the wrong pub. date. It’s actually Oct. 23, which means you still have time to request the digital ARC via Edelweiss and NetGalley.

Young Adult

The Mark of Athena:(Heroes of Olympus, Book 3) by Rick Riordan (Hyperion Books; Thorndike Press; Listening Library) has been right behind J.K. Rowling’s new book on Amazon’s sales rankings and rivals the Nora Roberts title for the most holds on this list.

The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde (Harcourt Children’s Books; Brilliance Audio) is a YA fantasy novel by the British author of the fanciful Thursday Next literary mysteries and the Nursery Crime series. PW says, “There’s a lot of setup for later books in Fforde’s Chronicles of Kazam, but it’s so inventive and charming that readers will happily stick with it (though the tragic death of a major character will hit some of them hard) and be impatient for the next episode.”

Movie Tie-Ins

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (Random House Trade) is one of two titles, long considered unfilmable, that will actually be released this fall. News of the movie sent Mitchell’s 2004 title back to best seller lists (the regular trade paperback edition is at #5 on the 10/7 NYT best seller list, after 8 weeks). Starring Tom Hanks, Jim Sturgess, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Susan Sarandon and Hugh Grant, the movie arrives in theaters on Oct. 26.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel (HMH; Random House Large Print Publishing; HighBridge Audio) is the second of the two titles coming out this fall that were long considered unfilmable. Directed by Ang Lee, it releases on Nov. 21. The Making of Life of Pi : A Film, a Journey by Jean-Christophe Castelli will be released on 10/30.

Nonfiction

Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story by Arnold Schwarzenegger (Simon & Schuster; Thorndike Press; Simon & Schuster Audio)  is a memoir by the former California governor about his rise from Austrian bodybuilder to Mr. Universe, business man, movie star, Kennedy family member via marriage to Maria Shriver, Republican leader, and his affair and child with a longtime family employee. It will be featured on 60 Minutes on Sunday, Sept. 30, and has been promoted in advance on CBS This Morning

America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren’t by Stephen Colbert (Hachette/Grand Central; Hachette Audio) is the latest political satire from the host of Comedy Central’s Colbert Report.

The trailer for the adaptation of Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl’s best selling YA title, Beautiful Creatures, has just arrived online. The movie doesn’t debut until February, but the Hollywood Reporter has been speculating since March that it will be the next Hunger Games.

How about Emma Thompson’s Southern accent?

The movie site Collider offers stills from the set.

Official Movie Site: BeautifulCreaturesMovie.com

As they did for the Twilight series, Little, Brown YR is publishing an “official illustrated movie companion” as well as trade paperback and mass market tie-ins.

A sequel to the surprise hit, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is now scheduled for publication on June 11, 2013. It is currently being called simply, the Untitled Miss Peregrine Sequel by Ransom Riggs,(9781594746123, 1594746125; $17.99; Quirk Books).

There’s been no news about the film version, however. In December, it was reported that Tim Burton was circling the project, but there’s been no information on whether he committed to it.

Emma Watson and her co-stars from the film version of The Perks of Being A Wallflower presented an exclusive clip from the movie on MTV’s First Look last night, followed by a 30 min interview.

Six additional clips are available here.

Below is the most recent trailer:

The movie opens in NYC and LA on Friday and expands to more theaters the following week.

The actors all attest to their love for the book. Since the film’s director is also the book’s author, we would expect it to be faithful to the original (read a comparison here). Clearly, others want to be prepared to do their own analyses; libraries are showing heavy holds on both the original and the movie tie-in version.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower Stephen Chbosky Retail Price: $14.00 Paperback: 224 pages Publisher: MTV Books – (2012-08-14) ISBN / EAN: 1451696191 / 9781451696196

The big events this week are the release of memoirs from two very different people: Salman Rushdie and Penny Marshall. We will, of course, be watching and cheering as Attica Locke’s second mystery, The Cutting Season debuts and two new YA series, by Maggie Stiefvater and Libba Bray launch.

Watch List

The Cutting Season, by Attica Locke, (HarperCollins; HarperLuxe; Dreamscape Audio; audio and ebook on OverDrive) is the book we’ll be watching the closest. Libraries across the country have joined Team Attica Locke which will prove the power of library word of mouth by making this a best seller (more here).

Trouble & Triumph: A Novel of Power & Beauty by Tip, “T.I.”, Harris and David Ritz (Harper/Morrow) is the Grammy-winning rapper’s sequel to his street-lit debut Power & Beauty, about two teenagers who tangle with an Atlanta gangster. LJ says, “Some mixed response to the first, but the 100,000-copy first printing says that expectations are high.”

Literary Favorites

San Miguel by T.C. Boyle (Penguin/Viking; Thorndike) is set on desolate San Miguel island off the coast of California, where two couples try to run a farm in the wind and rain – first in 1888, and then during the Depression. PW says, “The author subtly interweaves the fates of Native Americans, Irish immigrants, Spanish and Italian migrant workers, and Chinese fishermen into the Waters’ and the Lesters’ lives, but the novel is primarily a history of the land itself…as beautiful, imperfect, and unrelenting as Boyle’s characters.”

Usual Suspects

Low Pressure by Sandra Brown (Hachette/Grand Central; Hachette Audio) is a romantic thriller in which a woman who writes a bestselling novel based on her sister’s murder and becomes the target of an assailant. Kirkus says, “Brown skillfully combines strong characterization with plots that keep the reader guessing all the way. A good old-fashioned thriller and a winner, even though the bad guys are sometimes just a little too bad for plausibility.”

Severe Clear by Stuart Woods (Putnam Adult; Penguin Audio; Thorndike Large Print) is Woods’s 50th novel–and the 24 to feature protagonist Stone Barrington. This time he attends the opening of a hotel on grounds owned by his late wife, and faces a terrorist attack. PW says, “Woods expertly mixes familiar ingredients to produce an intoxicating cocktail that goes down easily.

Winter of the World by Ken Follett (Penguin/Dutton; Penguin Audio) is the second installment in the trilogy that began with the popular Fall of Giants, about interrelated American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh families in the early 20th century. LJ says, “in the hands of a less adroit storyteller, it would be hackneyed, but Follett moves his stock figures through interesting situations and draws the reader in to care what happens to them. The next thing you know, you’ve read all 960 pages of this enjoyable novel.”

Young Adult

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (Scholastic; Scholastic Audio) is a new series by the author of the best selling Shiver series as well as the Printz Honor book Scorpio Races. In an early review, the Washington Post says, “In contrast to the melancholy werewolves of her popular Shiver trilogy, the Raven Boys are not paranormal critters but the entitled students of elite, raven-crested Aglionby Academy….This first in a planned four-novel series draws readers into a world where time enfolds hauntingly, and magic informs reality”

The Diviners by Libba Bray (Hachette/Little, Brown YR; Listening Library) is a new trilogy from the Printz-winning author of Going Bovine (2009) and Beauty Queens (2011) as well as the Gemma Doyle trilogy. This one features a young woman who goes to live in jazz age New York City with an uncle who runs a museum of the occult, a finds myriad friends and no small measure of mystery. Booklist says, “It’s Marjorie Morningstar meets Silence of the Lambs, and Bray dives into it with the brio of the era, alternating rat-a-rat flirting with cold-blooded killings…Seemingly each teen has a secret ability (one can read an object’s history; another can heal), and yet the narrative maintains the flavor of historical fiction rather than fantasy.” Movie rights were snapped up by Paramount in advance of publication.

Dodger by Terry Prachett (HarperCollins) is surprisingly close to historical fiction, from the author of Discworld. Set in Victorian England, it features a thief named Dodger who leaps out of a drain to rescue a mysterious woman from a brutal attack, just as Charles Dickens and social reformer Henry Mayhew arrive on the scene. “Full of eccentric characters and carefully detailed London scenes, the tale embodies both Dickens’s love for the common man and a fierce desire for social justice.” It comes with a dramatic trailer.

Nonfiction

Joseph Anton by Salman Rushdie (Random House; Random House Audio) is the esteemed author’s memoir of the nine years he spent living underground after the Ayatollah Khomeini pronounced a death sentence on him for the blasphemy of his fiction in 1989. The title refers to his alias, comprised of the first names of his two favorite writers, Conrad and Chekhov. LJ says, “His memoir matters not simply because of startling personal detail but because his experience presaged a global battle over freedom of speech that continues today.” An excerpt is featured in this week’s New Yorker. It will receive plenty of media attention, of course, with interviews scheduled on the Today Show, CBS/This Morning, NPR/Morning Edition and in the New York Times.

500 Days: Secrets and Lies in the Terror Wars by Kurt Eichenwald (Touchstone) is the former New York Times investigative reporter’s reconstruction of the Bush administration’s response to the 9/11 terrorist attack and the delusions and deceptions it has spawned around the world. PW says, “Eichenwald’s novelistic approach takes us into the White House offices, courtrooms, and Guantanamo interrogation cells where tense people groped through the chaos of a new world of fear and brutality and tried to harness it to their own agendas. The result is both a page-turning read and an insightful dissection of 9/11’s dark legacy.”

My Mother Was Nuts by Penny Marshall (Amazon/HMH/New Harvest) is the TV actress and Hollywood producer’s memoir of her ascent from a Bronx childhood to fame on the sit-com Laverne and Shirley to directing 1990s hit films Big and A League of Their Own. It’s also one of the first books to emerge from Amazon’s proprietary publishing imprint, New Harvest. Kirkus says, “Marshall is as candid about her failures (which include a painful second divorce from writer/comedian Rob Reiner) and her weaknesses (like the one she developed for drugs) as she is about her successes.”

The trailer features Saturday Night Live veteran Fred Armisen.

The Oath: The Obama White House and the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin (RH/Doubleday) looks at the contentious relationship between chief justice Roberts and the President. It will be getting plenty of press attention, including NPR/Fresh Air, PBS/Charlie Rose Show, CNN/Anderson Cooper 360 and Comedy Central/Colbert Report.

What’s special about the news that Hollywood has bought the rights to yet another YA title? As Entertainment Weekly puts it, “although every studio would like to grab a fresh YA book series in the hope that it can be turned into the next Harry Potter-style film franchise, not every film has the actual producer of the Potter movies overseeing it.”

The debut YA novel, Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (Macmillan BYR) came out in June and hit the NYT Chapter Book Best Seller list for one week, at #8. The first in a planned series, it will be produced for Dreamworks by David Heyman, who also produced Harry Potter.

A few other YA franchises are already in the works. Next year alone brings Beautiful Creatures (Feb 13), Mortal Instruments (Aug. 23), The Seventh Son (Oct 18; based on Joseph Delaney’s the Last Apprentice series) as well as the second Hunger Games movie, Catching Fire (Nov. 22). 

In addition, Divergent was just given a release date of 3/21/14. It is based on the first in the series by Veronica Roth, whose blurb,”unlike anything I’ve ever read” appears on the cover of Shadow and Bone. Lionsgate is still touting a series based on Patrick Ness’ Chaos Walking trilogy, and the screenplay for the film of Marie Lu’s Legend was completed this summer. In July, Paramount acquired the rights to Libby Bray’s forthcoming first book in a series, The Diviners.

To throw a bit of title confusion into the mix, Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor was acquired by Universal in December. The second title in the planned book trilogy, Days of Blood and Starlight, is coming in Nov.

That’s just the series; we’ll also be seeing  several films based on YA standalones.

It’s a good time to remember that there have been some failed YA film franchises.

Two new titles hit the NYT Children’s Chapter Books best seller list this week.

At #2 is Unwholly, by Neal Shusterman, the second in a series that began with Unwind (both S&S Young Readers), which has won several state and national awards. The book trailer indicates movie ambitions; indeed, Unwind, like many of Schusterman’s other titles, has been optioned. It may actually make it to the screen, it has its own production blog.

At #9 is Every Day, the much-anticipated novel by David Levithan. Libraries are showing more holds on this one than on Unwholly.

Carrots may be creepy, but Peter Brown has never met an eggplant he didn’t like.

Creepy Carrots (S&S Young Readers), Brown’s first collaboration with picture book author, Aaron Reynolds, debuts on the NYT Children’s Best Seller list at #7 this week.

In a starred review, Booklist says that David Levithan in his YA novel, Every Day (RH/ Knopf Books for Young Readers; Listening Library; releases tomorrow), has created  “an irresistible premise that is sure to captivate readers, ” about a 16-year-boy who wakes up each morning in a new body but still in love with the same girl and trying to find his way back to her.  The reviewer admits, however, that “the story requires a willing suspension of disbelief.”

Evidently NYT columnist Frank Bruni isn’t willing. In a review in the special “Back to School” childrens books section of Sunday’s NYT Book Review, he duns the book for being “wantonly sentimental” and filled with ”unnecessary subplots and too many gimmicky passages.”

He does admit, however, that there are elements that are likely to make the book the hit; “Levithan’s talent for empathy, which is paired in the best parts of the book with a persuasive optimism about the odds for happiness and for true love.” Bruni notes that the novel’s central question, “the degree to which love can be bigger than, or a slave to, corporeal realities…makes special sense in a story about teenagers, written for teenagers. The teenage years are when so many of us feel most self-consciously hostage to our imperfect shapes and cosmetic peculiarities, raging against them and wondering if someone might possibly love us despite them.”

Entertainment Weekly reviewer Stephen Lee exhorts readers to “Suspend disbelief and give the out-there premise of David Levithan’s new novel, Every Day, a chance.”  On EW’s “Shelf Life”  blog, he calls it one of his two favorite YA novels of the year (along with John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars) and posts a video featuring two dozen YA superstars reading from it.

In addition to being an author, Levithan is publisher and editorial director  at Scholastic. He came up with the idea for 39 Clues and the new Infinity Ring series and is the editor of  The Hunger Games. Below, he reads from Every Day.

The studio that revived its fortunes with the Twilight series, Summit Entertainment (now owned by Lionsgate, which is behind a little teen series of their own, The Hunger Games), is stepping up production for a new YA franchise.

After acquiring the rights to Veronica Roth’s Divergent (HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Books) before publication in 2011, Summit now plans to begin filming this coming March with a release date in the spring of 2014. They are reportedly in talks with Neil Burger to direct. Burger’s most recent film Limitless, came out last year, and was also based on a book, the 2003 techno-thriller, The Dark Fields by Alan Glynn.

The second book in Veronica Roth’s series, Insurgent, came out in May. A third will be released sometime in Fall 2013 and does not yet have a title.

An author to watch this week is  Jonathan Evison, whose emotional presentation at the AAP’s Librarians Lunch during BEA won over the audience. In adult fiction, usual suspects include Mitch Albom, Tess Gerritson, Louise Penny, Anne Perry and Richard Kadrey. The big news, however, is in books for younger readers. David Levithan is back with a much-anticipated YA title expected to have strong crossover appeal. In children’s books, there are new titles from Dav Pilkey, James Dashner, and Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain. 

Watch List

The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison (Workman/Algonquin; Highbridge Audio; Thorndike Large Print) is the story of road trip taken by a teen with muscular dystrophy and his caregiver, a divorced dad whose own life has fallen apart. Kirkus says, “A lively narrative with a poignant core and quirky, lonely characters.” Check out Nancy Pearl’s interview with Evison for his previous novel, West of Here.

Kept in the Dark  by Penny Hancock (Penguin/Plume pbk original; Blackstone Audiobooks) is a suspense novel about a middle aged woman who kidnaps her best friend’s 15 year-old nephew, after he awakens her memories of an intense teenage affair. Librarian Robin Beerbower, who has an eye for scary titles (she’s championed author Chelsea Cain, and was an early proponent of Before I Go To Sleep as well as Gone Girl) made it one of her BEA Shout ‘n’ Share picks. Booklist says, “This invites comparison to John Fowles’ The Collector, but Hancock gives her narrator, Sonia, a more complex motive, crafting a narrative that grows darker as its level of tension builds. An accomplished first novel that lingers in memory.” PW calls it a “stunning debut” and praises the gothic atmosphere. But Kirkus, throws cold water on the party, “unfortunately the secret at the novel’s core is one the first-person narrator could have revealed all along, but doesn’t, making the ending seem contrived.”

Usual Suspects

The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom (Hyperion; Thorndike Large Print) marks a return to fiction by the author of Tuesdays With Morrie and Five People You Meet in Heaven. This fable is about Father Time, who returns to Earth to liberate us by teaching the true meaning of time, with the help of a teenage girl and an old business man.

Last to Die: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel by Tess Gerritsen (RH/Ballantine; Brilliance Audio)is the 10th thriller featuring Det. Jane Rizzoli of the Boston PD and her friend, pathologist Maura Isles. This time, they’re on the trail of a man who murders the families, but allows their foster children to survive. LJ notes, “this book will appear just as the third season of TNT’s successful Rizzoli & Isles TV series is ending, so fans will be primed.”

The Beautiful Mystery: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (Macmillan/Minotaur Books, Macmillan Audio; Thorndike Large Print) is the eighth novel featuring Chief Insp. Armand Gamache of the Quebec Surete. This time, he investigates the murder of a choirmaster in a monastery that has produced a hit CD of Gregorian Chants. PW says, “a captivating whodunit plot, a clever fair-play clue concealed in plain view, and the deft use of humor to lighten the story’s dark patches.”

A Sunless Sea: A William Monk Novel by Anne Perry (RH/Ballantine; Thorndike Large Print) is the 18th Victorian historical about the Commander of the Thames River Police. Here, he investigates murders linked to the controversial opium trade. Kirkus calls it, “lumbering, repetitive and preachy. But the final surprise packs a punch.”

Devil Said Bang: by Richard Kadrey (Harper Voyager) is the fourth installment in the series that’s popular with librarians, about a man who breaks out of Hell – only this time he’s taking over Lucifer’s job. PW says this “action-packed and bombshell-laden blend of dark fantasy, crime fiction, and Hellish sitcom is utterly readable.”

Young Adult

Every Day by David Levithan (RH/ Knopf Books for Young Readers; Listening Library) is heavily anticipated by librarians on both our YA and adult GalleyChats. It’s about A, who wakes every morning in a new body – sometimes male, sometimes female, gay, straight, ill or well. The only constant is being 16 years old. Booklist calls it “a study in style, an exercise in imagination, and an opportunity for readers themselves to occupy another life, that of A himself.”

Childrens

Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers by Dav Pilkey (Scholastic/Blue Sky Press) the ninth novela in this major series is proof positive that author Pilkey isn’t running dry, according to PW and Kirkus, which says this “overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.” 1,000,000 copies.

Infinity Ring #1: A Mutiny in Time by James Dashner (Scholastic; Scholastic Audio) is a multi-media thriller series modeled on The 39 Clues, that begins when three teens time-travel back to 1492, to help fix a broken moment in history. Booklist says, “the standard first-volume hazards (slow start, no resolution) bedevil the text and are exacerbated by underdeveloped characters. Still, the yet-to-be-revealed interactive-package experience seems certain to buoy the ship.” 300,000 copies. The Salt Lake City Public Library will host the 8/29  launch party.

Nothing Ever Happens at the South Pole by Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain (HarperCollins) resurrects the famous duo’s second manuscript, which was left in a drawer when their first book about the Berenstain Bears took off. Kirkus says, “while the concept is clever, the unwieldy, often awkward verse ensures that this effort will place a distant second to the many tales featuring those Bears.” 100,000 copies.

Nonfiction

Wallace: The Underdog Who Conquered a Sport, Saved a Marriage, and Championed Pit Bulls–One Flying Disc at a Time by Jim Gorant (Penguin/Gotham; Blackstone Audio) is the story of an unruly pit bull who is transformed by a loving couple who train him to catch frisbees. PW says, “Gorant never lets the narrative slip into the saccharine, and Wallace’s story will charm even readers who never knew they were interested in pit bulls or ‘disc dogs’.”

Up All Night: My Life and Times in Rock Radio by Carol Miller (HarperCollins/Ecco) is a memoir by one of New York’s best known female DJs at the height of the rock scene, the includes reminiscences of dating Stephen Tyler and introducing Bruce Springsteen to New York audiences, as well as the author’s struggles with divorce, uterine and breast cancer. It was a favorite at this year’s BEA Shout ‘n’ Share. Kirkus says, “Miller’s voice remains upbeat and energetic, despite the shadow of her family’s mysterious health issues.”

Author James Dashner has a several things to celebrate these days. The first book in his new series, Infinity Ring #1: A Mutiny in Time releases next week, and 20th Century Fox has signed  hot newcomer Wes Ball to direct the adaptation of The Maze Runner series.

Not only that, Dashner’s prequel to the series, The Kill Order, debuts on best seller lists (USA Today, #23; Indie Children’s Fiction Series, #5).

There’s a good omen for the movie, the book trailer for The Maze Runner won the Kirkus 2009 Book Video Awards.

It’s probably no surprise that, of the titles arriving next week, the one with the heaviest holds is Rick Riordan’s next middle-grade title, The Heroes of Olympus: The Demigod Diaries. It may be surprising that the number two title is actually an older book, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, the tie-in to the movie which arrives in theaters next month starring Emma Watson in her first post-Harry Potter role. Our Watch List includes a title librarians have buzzed as well as several that have received advance media attention.

Watch List

The Age of Desire by Jennie Fields (Penguin/Pamela Dorman)

Fields’s fourth novel was picked by most of the librarians on BEA’s Shout ‘n’ Share panel. Kansas City’s Kaite Stover book talks it this way,

Every summer there’s a juicy historical novel filled with passion, meticulous research and period detail, layered characters and a you-are-there tone. This year it’s The Age of Desire and unlike recent faves, The Paris Wife or Loving Frank, this novel focuses on the love and friendship of two women, Edith Wharton and her literary secretary Anna Bahlman.

During a few tumultuous years, Edith pens some of her most famous works as her lifeless marriage turns sour and she begins an affair with a younger man. Ann becomes Edith’s husband’s comfort, even as Anna begins to cultivate a relationship with a wealthy German shipping magnate and considers leaving Edith’s employ.

Anyone who recognizes the gilded webs Wharton weaves for society women in her own classics will spot the same in this book of two very real women trying to be independent individuals from society, family, and each other.

Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple (Hachette/Little, Brown; Hachette Audio; Thorndike Large Type in Dec.)

The NYT jumped the pub date to get in an early review, indicating that there is buzz (it was on nearly every summer reading list) and causing the book to rise on Amazon’s sales rankings. Entertainment Weekly follows with anther strong review; “a comic, often frustrating, but ultimately engrossing and whip-smart modern epistolary novel.” Will appeal to those who appreciate the cult TV series, Arrested Development, which Semple wrote for.

Motherland by Amy Sohn (Simon & Schuster)

There are those in what is called “Brownstone Brooklyn” who can’t wait to read the salacious details of life among what Sohn has dubbed “The Regressives,” 40-something moms who can’t figure out what to do with their lives, so regress to the bad behavior of their twenties. Entertainment Weekly makes this devastating comment, “If Motherland had a subtitle, it might be The Unbearable Lightness of Being a Bourgeois Brooklynite.” For a taste, read Sohn’s recent essay in The Awl. Unsurprisingly, holds are heaviest in NYC area libraries. Sohn is a media insider (she’s written columns for numerous magazines as well as TV and film), so expect media coverage.

The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng (Perseus/Weinstein Books; original trade paperback; Ship Date, 8/14. Pub Date, 9/4)

The Malaysian author’s second title is also his second to be long-listed for the Booker. The Independent said of this book, “Tan’s story here is just as elegantly planted as his Man Booker-long listed debut The Gift of Rain, and even more tantalisingly evocative” and made a swipe at UK publishing by adding, “Tan writes with breath-catching poise and grace. That a novel of this linguistic refinement and searching intelligence should come from a tiny Newcastle imprint tells us a lot about the vulgarity of corporate publishing today.” In the US, it’s on a larger publisher’s list.

Usual Suspects

The Kingmaker’s Daughter by Philippa Gregory (S&S/Touchstone; S&S Audio; Thorndike Large Print)

The author of The Other Boleyn Girl moves to the court of Edward IV.

The Inn at Rose Harbor by Debbie Macomber (RH/Ballantine; Random House Audio; Thorndike Large Print)

Macomber switches publishers for the first book in the Cedar Cove series.

Middle Grade & Young Adult

The Templeton Twins Have an Idea: Book One by Ellis Weiner (Chronicle Books)

This first title in a new series is already a hit with prepub reviewers. Publishers Weekly writes, “The most prominent character is the self-satisfied and aggressively intrusive Narrator, whose banter with readers instantly sets a comedic, sarcastic tone.”  The Horn Book adds that the”Illustrations play up the story’s humor as well as highlighting the twins’ ingenuity.”

The Heroes of Olympus: The Demigod Diaries by Rick Riordan (Hyperion Books, Listening Library)

Features four original stories in which the heroes meet.

Michael Vey 2: Rise of the Elgen by Richard Paul Evans (Simon Pulse/Mercury Ink, Simon & Schuster Audio/Mercury Ink)

The second in the YA mystery series by the author of many best selling adult titles including The Christmas Box.

Movie Tie-in

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (MTV Books, trade pbk; Recorded Books)

Emma Watson stars in the movie version of the 1999 coming-of-age tale that has been embraced by teens. The original hardcover is also being re-released. The movie opens on 9/21. Official movie site: Perks-of-Being-a-Wallflower.com

Nonfiction

The New New Deal by Michael Grunwald (S&S)

Time magazine’s senior correspondent argues that the Obama stimulus bill is a “New Deal, larger than FDR’s and just as transformative.” It will be getting media attention, including a feature in the Washington Post on Sunday, coverage on NPR’s Marketplace and The Takeaway as well as on several MSNBC talk shows and on CNN.

Obama’s America by Dinesh D’Souza (Regnery)

The author’s followup to the best selling The Roots of Obama’s Rage. He claims a second Obama term will turn the US from the “shining city on a hill” to  “a shantytown in a rather dangerous global village.” No prepub reviews on this one, indicating it’s embargoed.