Newbery and Caldecott Winners Share Their First Reactions

[PW Children's Bookshelf: Breaking children's and YA publishing news, author interviews, bestsellers lists and reviews.] [Magination Press: Self-Help Books for Kids... and the Adults in Their Lives] Awards News [Barnhill, Steptoe, 'March: Book Three' Win Newbery, Caldecott, Printz] Kelly Barnhill won the Newbery Medal for The Girl Who Drank the Moon (Algonquin Young Readers), Javaka Steptoe took the Caldecott Medal for Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (Little, Brown), and John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell won the Printz Award for March: Book Three (Top Shelf). [more] ['Completely Gobsmacked': Kelly Barnhill on Her 2017 Newbery Medal] Some time ago, one of Kelly Barnhill's children changed the ringtone on her cell phone to play the theme song from Wonder Woman, the 1970s TV show. She was "dead to the world" when that phone rang very early on Monday morning. [more] ['A Very Incredible Day': Javaka Steptoe on His 2017 Caldecott Medal] “This has been a very incredible day,” said Javaka Steptoe, referring to the hours following the announcement that he had won the 2017 Caldecott Medal for his picture book Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, a biography of the 1980s street artist. [more] [I Am Not a Chair! by Ross Burach ] Winter Institute [Booksellers Get Ready for the Biggest Winter Institute Ever] This year's Minneapolis destination for ABA's premier educational conference, being held this weekend, puts the "winter" back in Winter Institute. [more] [Big Name Authors to Look for in Minneapolis] PW's reviews editors have selected some of the most notable authors for booksellers to meet at this year's Winter Institute. [more] [The You I've Never Known by Ellen Hopkins] In the News [Gene Yang's ‘Reading Without Walls' To Debut in April] Initiated as a pilot program when Gene Luen Yang was appointed National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature, Reading Without Walls, a program to expand the range of books that children read, will launch and become an annual event beginning in April. The formal launch will make it easier for schools, libraries, and booksellers to host Reading Without Walls events meant to encourage children to participate. [more] [Fourth Annual Multicultural Children’s Book Day Gets Underway] Multicultural Children’s Book Day, a nonprofit initiative whose dual mission is to raise awareness of kids’ books celebrating diversity and to get more of these books into classrooms and libraries, will take place on Friday, January 27. Click through for all the details. [more] [Harvest House to Launch Children’s Imprint] Harvest House Publishers’ new imprint, Harvest Kids, will be led by executive v-p and publisher Barb Sherrill. The first titles are due out this fall. [more] On the Scene [Bay Area Bloggers Brunch: A Photo Essay] On January 14, Books Inc. Santa Clara hosted the first-ever Bay Area Book BFFs: Authors more Q & A [Marissa Meyer] We speak with Marissa Meyer about her new graphic novel Wires and Nerve, which returns Meyer’s fans to the world of the Lunar Chronicles. Q: You have written five YA novels about the characters that populate Luna, as well as a collection of short stories. Why did you decide to continue your storytelling with a graphic novel? A: Writing a graphic novel has been a dream of mine since I was a teenager and first fell in love with Japanese manga. My best friends and I used to spend hours and hours creating our own graphic novels, but back then the idea of actually getting one published seemed like an impossible dream. [more] Out Next Week [Hot Off the Presses: Week of January 30, 2017] Hitting shelves next week are a spring-themed board book, a middle grade novel about embracing one’s shortcomings, and a YA novel set at a mysterious carnival. [more] In Brief [In Brief: January 26, 2017] This week, marchers from the children’s book world put a kid lit-inspired spin on protest marches, Kwame Alexander met with fellow authors at ALA; and Peachtree publishers celebrated a milestone. [more] SPONSORED [PW KidsCast: Listen Now] Jerry Spinelli, Kwame Alexander, Maggie Stiefvater, A.S. King, David Shannon, Matthew Reinhart, Jewell Parker Rhodes – listen to these and other top writers and artists discuss their new books for children and teens in the PW KidsCast podcast. [Click here] to listen. For more about these and other jobs, visit [PW JobZone]. To post a new job, [click here]. - Start Publishing is seeking a [Marketing Associate]. - American Academy of Pediatrics is seeking a [Director, Division of Sales]. - Fortress Press is seeking a [Marketing Manager]. - Hachette Book Group is seeking a [Marketing Analytics Manager]. - Hachette Book Group is seeking a [Managing Editor]. Rights Report Kheryn Callender and Alvina Ling at Little, Brown have acquired Jay Coles's Black Lives Matter-inspired debut Tyler Johnson Was Here, about a boy whose life is torn apart by police brutality when his twin brother goes missing. Publication is scheduled for spring 2018; Lauren Abramo at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret negotiated the deal for world rights. Melissa Frain at Tor Teen has bought, in a pre-empt, debut author Jodie L. Zdrok’s Spectacle and an untitled second novel. Set in 1887 Paris, Spectacle is a YA historical fantasy that tells the story of a teen reporter who writes a daily newspaper column about the bodies on display in the public morgue – one of the city's biggest attractions, especially now that a serial killer is on the loose. Publication of the first book is slated for 2018; Ginger Clark at Curtis Brown Ltd. negotiated the two-book deal for North American rights. Ben Rosenthal at HarperCollins's Katherine Tegen Books has acquired two YA novels from Stupid Fast author Geoff Herbach. The first, Hooper, tells the story of Adam Reed, a young Polish immigrant adoptee, who is good at basketball but struggles to fit in until he gets invited to join a select team and finds everything he wants – home, family, love, and friendship – and learns how easy it is to lose it all. Publication is set for winter 2018; Jim McCarthy at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret brokered the deal for world English rights. Rhoda Belleza at Macmillan/Imprint has bought A Blade So Black, a debut YA fantasy novel by L.L. McKinney, in a two-book deal. Pitched as a retelling of Alice in Wonderland with the butt-kicking of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and with a black teen heroine at the center, Alice is a warrior who battles Nightmares in the dark and terrifying dream realm known as Wonderland. The first book is planned for fall 2018; Melissa Nasson at Rubin Pfeffer Content negotiated the deal for world rights. Alison Weiss at Sky Pony Press has acquired Jessica Bayliss's debut novel Ten Past Closing, a contemporary YA thriller chronicling the events before and after a hold-up at Café Flores, during which two teens from very different backgrounds are held hostage and explore a relationship that might have been, all while scheming to stay alive. Publication is tentatively scheduled for spring 2018; Uwe Stender of TriadaUS brokered the deal for world rights. Kate Egan of KCP Loft has bought North American rights to Lynette Noni's YA fantasy, Whisper, in which an imprisoned girl known only as Subject 684 has kept silent through years of testing and torture, alone in the knowledge that her words are infused with power, and she can't control what happens when she opens her mouth. Publication is slated for spring 2018; Victoria Wells Arms of Wells Arms Literary negotiated the deal. Anamika Bhatnagar at Scholastic has acquired North American rights to two middle grade books by Michael Northrop. The first, Polaris, pitched as The Thing on a 19th-century sailing ship, follows a voyage of discovery that goes horribly wrong, leaving only a handful of ship's boys (two of whom are secretly ship's girls) onboard with a terrifying and virulent new species. Publication is slated for fall 2017. The second, Thin Ice Days, a modern take on The Hunchback of Notre Dame, is a contemporary underdog tale about a middle schooler with a unique condition, and the town that regards him with both cruelty and kindness; it is scheduled for fall 2018. Sara Crowe at Pippin Properties sold North American rights. Wendy Loggia at Delacorte has bought Jessica Brody's middle grade novel Better You Than Me, a Freaky Friday-like story of two girls – one who is a famous TV star, the other who is her obsessive fan – who switch bodies. It's slated for fall 2018; Jim McCarthy at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management sold world English rights. Sarah Jane Abbott at S&S/Paula Wiseman Books has acquired world rights to Littler Women: A Modern Retelling by Laura Schaefer, author of the Teashop Girls series. This present-day reimagining of the classic Little Women features a craft or recipe at the end of every chapter. Publication is planned for fall 2017; Stephen Barbara at Inkwell Management did the deal. Eric Wight at Rodale Kids has bought the first two books in a jointly written chapter book series, Magic Camper, by Courtney Sheinmel (l.) and Bianca Turetsky. In the books, a pair of third grade twins discover a magic camper in their driveway, which will transport them, over time, throughout the United States and beyond. Publication is set for fall 2018; Laura Dail at Laura Dail Literary Agency sold world rights. Brittany Rubiano at Disney Press has signed Newbery Medalist Matt de la Peña to write an original picture book entitled Miguel and the Grand Harmony, inspired by Disney*Pixar's forthcoming film, Coco, to be illustrated by Pixar artist Ana Ramírez. A Spanish edition will also be available. Publication is scheduled for October 2017; Steven Malk at Writers House represented the author; the illustrator was unagented. Neal Porter and Simon Boughton at Roaring Brook Press have acquired a picture book by Julie Fogliano, A House That Once Was, to be illustrated by Lane Smith. It explores the enchantment and wonder of an abandoned, overgrown house through the eyes of two children who discover it. Publication is set for 2018; Steven Malk at Writers House represented both author and artist in the deal for world rights. Erin Clarke at Knopf has bought world rights to Andrea J. Loney's Double Bass Blues, illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez, a picture book celebrating music and family in which a black boy shoulders his beloved double bass from his suburban school to his city neighborhood. Publication is slated for spring 2019. Jill Corcoran at Corcoran Literary Agency represented the author and the artist represented himself. Katherine Harrison at Knopf has signed world rights to Take Your Octopus to School Day, a picture book by Audrey Vernick (l.) and illustrated by Diana Schoenbrun. It's scheduled for fall 2018; Erin Murphy at Erin Murphy Literary Agency represented the author and Lara Perkins of Andrea Brown Literary Agency represented the illustrator. Tom Peterson at the Creative Company has acquired world rights to Michael J. Rosen's The Greatest Table, a poem that envisions a world in which no one is allowed to go hungry because everyone shares in the sustainable bounty of the earth. Becca Stadtlander will illustrate; publication is slated for fall 2018. The author was unagented, and Anne Moore Armstrong of Bright USA represented the illustrator. To see all of this week's deals, [click here]. IN THE MEDIA [From the New York Times:] A rediscovered Mark Twain fairy tale is coming soon, from Philip and Erin Stead. [Click here] [From Bookweb:] We Need Diverse Books to Launch Bookseller of the Year Award. [Click here] [From the Washington Post:] George Orwell's 1984 tops the bestseller list in light of the latest politics, almost 70 years after publication. [Click here] [From School Library Journal:] Jason Reynolds on Writing for Middle Grade Readers. [Click here] [From the Muse:] Llama Llama Red Pajama gets a freestyle from rap group Migos. [Click here] [From the Creators Project:] "Alternative Facts" Gets the Golden Book treatment. [Click here] [From the New York Times:] Advice book publisher and children's book author Vicki Lansky has died at age 75. [Click here] [From NPR:] A peek into the adventurous life of Margaret Wise Brown. [Click here] [From Voice of America:] A new Persian-language children's book promotes Iranian "Shrine Defenders" in Syria. [Click here] [From Vice:] Revisiting George Saunders's Great, Forgotten Children's Book. [Click here] [From Bustle:] 11 Young Adult Books That Challenge Outdated Virginity Tropes. [Click here] [From Paste:] 10 unforgettable meals from children's books. [Click here] SHELFTALKER Kenny Brechner [Wi12 Preview: Active Nonfiction Books in Theory and Practice] Some thoughts on the crucial role of pairing nonfiction titles. [more »] Elizabeth Bluemle [Your Thoughts on the Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Newbery, Printz, and More?] Ecstatic? Downcast? Share your thoughts! [more »] Leslie Hawkins [Let’s Put a Pin in That] A look at a fun new trend in bookstore sidelines. [more »] Meghan Dietsche Goel [A Community Bound by Books] How dynamic partnerships enhance what we do in the store. [more »] FEATURED REVIEWS [Round] Joyce Sidman, illus. by Taeeun Yoo. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-544-38761-4 Having celebrated spiral shapes found in nature in Swirl by Swirl, Sidman offers a lovely contemplation of all things circular as Yoo follows a child and her father through fields, to the shore, and beyond while they investigate the outside world. [more] [A Boy Called Bat] Elana K. Arnold, illus. by Charles Santoso. Walden Pond, $16.99 (208p) ISBN 978-0-06-244582-7 When Bat's veterinarian mother brings home an infant skunk to foster for a month, Bat—a third grader on the autism spectrum—hopes to prove that he’s responsible enough to keep the skunk, Thor, as a pet. Written in third person, this engaging and insightful story makes readers intimately aware of what Bat is thinking and how he perceives the events and people in his life. [more] [Botanicum] Kathy Willis, illus. by Katie Scott. Big Picture, $35 (112p) ISBN 978-0-7636-8923-0 In a coffee-table-ready companion to Animalium and Historium, readers make their way through seven “galleries” devoted to “the first plants,” trees, herbaceous plants, and other categories of flora, which are further subdivided; a spread devoted to "belowground edible plants" features cutaway images of a winged yam, beet, carrot, and other roots, assembled as if ready for a recipe. [more] [Wonderful Feels Like This] Sara Lövestam, trans. from the Swedish by Laura A. Wideburg. Flatiron, $17.99 (320p) ISBN 978-1-250-09523-7 Empathy, identity, and the transformative power of music bind this tale of an atypical friendship between a teenage outcast and a jazz musician. Swedish teen Steffi Herrera doesn’t fit in at her school, where the other girls malign her dark hair and eyes, comparing her Cuban skin to feces and hurling other racist insults at her. [more] [Radio Silence] Alice Oseman. HarperTeen, $17.99 (496p) ISBN 978-0-06-233571-5 Oseman explores sexual identities, the weight of expectation, and the intensity and fickleness of fandom in a story revolving around a mysterious, Welcome to Night Vale–esque podcast called Universe City. [more] TALES FROM THE SLUSH PILE [SEE ALL] January 26, 2017 E-mail not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.] [Enter for a chance to win an ARC of Charlie & Mouse (Book 1)] [Request a Gally of 'The Fallen Star'] People Disney-Hyperion has three promotions. Rotem Moscovich has been promoted to executive editor, from senior editor. Laura Schreiber has been promoted to senior editor, from editor. Hannah Allaman has been named assistant editor, from editorial assistant. In Case You Missed It [Children’s Book Week Poster Revealed] [Click here] [Cheryl Klein to Join Lee & Low] [Click here] [Onder Named Children's Publisher at HMH] [Click here] [Four Questions for Adam Silvera] [Click here] Of Note Children's Bookshelf is on [Instagram]! Follow us @pwkidsbookshelf. Bookshelf Archives Looking for a previous issue of Children's Bookshelf? [Click here] for our archives page! CONTACT US Have a comment or suggestion? We'd love to hear from you. [Click here] to drop us a note. 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