Wow, oh, wow.

That’s the immediate reaction I have to the Hate List. Thirty years out of high school and Jennifer Brown took me right back. I wasn’t going to read this book. Really, another book about school shootings, I don’t think so… Yet, I picked it off the pile this morning and couldn’t put it down.

Not giving anything away… sixteen-year-old Valerie’s boyfriend Nick came to school one day, armed and proceeded to begin shooting the students on their “hate list.” The bullying jock, the snotty perfect girl… Brown captures the guilt and confusion of the survivors as well as the casual cruelty of the in-crowd kids. Brown’s gift is that, as the story unfolds, we realize that the world is not black-and-white and we are as naïve as the narrator as we try to process the defining event.

In the first-person narrative from Valerie’s point of view, the events of that horrific day are interspersed with her recovery and return to school for her senior year. It is rare for a young adult novel to capture both the teen experience while also creating three-dimensional grown-ups. Brown succeeds in not only portraying Valerie’s complicated parents’ relationship but also her process of inching back to mental health with her therapist.

Who is this book for? Anyone who works with kids, anyone may have created their own “hate list” and anyone who has experienced 3rd period algebra as a social environment that would put Lord of the Flies to shame.

Ed. Note: Don’t want to wait until September to read The Hate List. Good news; Little Brown’s head of library marketing, Victoria Stapleton, is making a limited number of galleys available for EarlyWord readers.

To enter to win a copy, just send an email to EarlyWord, with “Hate List, please!” in the subject line, by 11:59 p.m, this Friday, June 26th. Don’t forget to include your UPS shipping address (no P.O. box numbers), so Victoria will know where to send your galley.

This offer is only available to librarians residing within the 50 United States.

Hate List Jennifer Brown Retail Price: $16.99 Hardcover: 416 pages Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers – (2009-09-01) ISBN / EAN: 0316041440 / 9780316041447

News coverage about recent events in Iran has helped to push two titles up Amazon’s sales rankings.

Hooman Majd, author of The Ayatollah Begs to Differ, was interviewed on Real Time with Bill Maher on Saturday. His book rose to #97, up from 1,076.

It is owned by most large libraries, with some reserves.

The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iran Hooman Majd Retail Price: $24.95 Hardcover: 288 pages Publisher: Doubleday – (2008-09-23) ISBN / EAN: 0385523343 / 9780385523349

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Afshin Molavi, author of The Soul of Iran, was quoted the NYT on Saturday (Gauging Obama in Iran). His book is now at #107 on Amazon, up from #15,809. It is owned by fewer libraries than The Ayatollah Begs to Differ.

The Soul of Iran: A Nation’s Journey to Freedom Afshin Molavi Ph.D. Retail Price: $15.95 Paperback: 352 pages Publisher: W. W. Norton – (2005-09-26) ISBN / EAN: 0393325970 / 9780393325973

It seems it’s never too early for Hollywood to begin promoting. Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland is not scheduled for the big screen until March 5, 2010, but promos will appear in theater lobbies this week.

USA Today has a first look at the concept art for the movie. This is definitely NOT Walt Disney’s Alice.

Mystery maven Sarah Weinman reports on her binge reading of Richard Stark’s (aka Donald Westlake’s) Parker novels, newly-reissued by the University of Chicago Press, on her blog Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind today. She says it wasn’t until she read the forthcoming graphic novel based on the first book in the series that she felt she understood the main character.

Wonder if people will make similar comments about R. Crumb’s Book of Genesis?

Parker: The Hunter is one of the titles on the Graphic Novel Reporter‘s “Hottest Graphic Novels” for Summer 2009.

Libraries we checked are not showing it on order.

Parker: The Hunter Darwyn Cooke Retail Price: $24.99 Hardcover: 144 pages Publisher: Idea & Design Works Llc – (2009-07-14) ISBN / EAN: 1600104932 / 9781600104930

Today, Jon Stewart’s guest is Bill Russell.

Red and Me: My Coach, My Lifelong Friend Bill Russell, Alan Steinberg Retail Price: $24.99 Hardcover: 208 pages Publisher: Harper – (2009-05-01) ISBN / EAN: 0061766143 / 9780061766145

On Wednesday, he will feature Reza Aslan, a frequent guest on the show. His most recent book is

How to Win a Cosmic War: God, Globalization, and the End of the War on Terror Reza Aslan Retail Price: $26.00 Hardcover: 256 pages Publisher: Random House – (2009-04-21) ISBN / EAN: 1400066727 / 9781400066728

The second Transformer‘s movie, Revenge of the Fallen opens in theaters on Wednesday.

The Transformers franchise began as Hasbro toys, morphed into a series of comics, a TV series and then to the big screen. The TV and movie versions in turn spawned books and graphic novels. This summer, yet another Hasbro toy will be featured in a movie, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. For more on Hasbro’s movie strategy, see the NYT story, The Movie Industry’s New Playthings.

(For a larger screen version of the trailer, click here).

The official movie adaptation graphic novel is on the NYT Graphic Books Best Seller list at #9.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Movie Adaptation Simon Furman, Jon Davis-Hunt, Josh Nizzi, Alex Milne Retail Price: $17.99 Paperback: 104 pages Publisher: IDW Publishing – (2009-06-29) ISBN / EAN: 160010455X / 9781600104558

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There is also an “Official Prequel”  that bridges the two movies.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Movie Prequel – Alliance Chris Mowry, Alex Milne Retail Price: $17.99 Paperback: 104 pages Publisher: IDW Publishing – (2009-06-17) ISBN / EAN: 1600104568 / 9781600104565

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A mass market paperback “official novel” is based on the screenplay

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Transformers (Ballantine Books)) Alan Dean Foster Retail Price: $7.99 Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages Publisher: Del Rey – (2009-05-19) ISBN / EAN: 0345515935 / 9780345515933

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Harper continues their Transformer’s “I Can Read” series.

Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen: Rise of the Decepticons (I Can Read Book 2) Jennifer Frantz Retail Price: $3.99 Paperback: 32 pages Publisher: HarperCollins – (2009-05-01) ISBN / EAN: 0061729701 / 9780061729706

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Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen: I Am Optimus Prime (I Can Read Book 2) Jennifer Frantz Retail Price: $3.99 Paperback: 32 pages Publisher: HarperCollins – (2009-05-01) ISBN / EAN: 0061729698 / 9780061729690

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A junior novelization

Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen: The Junior Novel Dan Jolley Retail Price: $5.99 Paperback: 144 pages Publisher: HarperFestival – (2009-05-01) ISBN / EAN: 0061729736 / 9780061729737

And a children’s title about the movie from DK.

Transformers: The Movie Universe DK Publishing Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 96 pages Publisher: DK CHILDREN – (2009-06-01) ISBN / EAN: 0756651727 / 9780756651725

To celebrate the trade paperback publication of book group favorite, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, Random House is running a “Take Your Book Group to Guernsey” contest. One winner and five friends will travel to Guernsey Oct 2nd through Oct 5th. Deadline is July 31st.

Click here to enter.

Unfortunately, this offer is void in Florida, New York, Rhode Island, and where prohibited.

Thanks to a review in today’s New York Times, The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday, Neil MacFarquhar’s new book of reportage on the Middle East, is up to #328 on Amazon.com. Libraries we checked had fewer than eight copies, with up to 38 holds.

The book”s title gives a hint of its unexpected point of view: MacFarquhar is an American who speaks Arabic, grew up in a Libyan oil town, worked for more than 13 years as a correspondent in the Middle East and is now The New York Times’ United Nations bureau chief. The Times review praises his grasp of history, and declares,

MacFarquhar writes most passionately about the activists and intellectuals struggling to liberalize their societies and Islam as a whole. These reformers — many of whom espouse an Islamic vision of democracy and human rights — are caught between religious zealots and repressive regimes that are often backed by the United States.”

The Washington Post also weighed in on the book back in May, calling it “an intelligent and fascinating romp full of anecdotes, acid asides and conversations with everyone from dissidents to diplomats and liberal religious sheikhs, and even a Kuwaiti woman with a sex-advice column.”

The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday Neil MacFarquhar Retail Price: $26.95 Hardcover: 359 pages Publisher: PublicAffairs – (2009-04-27) ISBN / EAN: 1586486357 / 9781586486358

Perfection, which has been on several summer reading lists and gotten strong consumer reviews (but quite a different reception prepub), nearly hits the main 6/28 NYT Nonfiction list. It goes on at #16, putting it on the extended list. Judging from library reserves and the Amazon list, it is likely to climb higher next week.

Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal Julie Metz Retail Price: $23.99 Hardcover: 352 pages Publisher: Voice – (2009-06-09) ISBN / EAN: 1401322557 / 9781401322557

Melissa Gilbert’s memoir, Prairie Tale, goes on at #5.

Soul Survivor arrives at #11; libraries own modest quantities, with equally modest reserves.

As the NYT Arts Beat blog notes, the top two entries on the NYT Graphic Hardcover Best Sellers list  are grapic novels based on video games:

#1 Halo: Uprising

Halo: Uprising Brian Michael Bendis Retail Price: $24.99 Hardcover: 168 pages Publisher: Marvel Books – (2009-06-16) ISBN / EAN: 0785128387 / 9780785128380

#2 World of Warcraft — Ashbringer

World of Warcraft: Ashbringer Micky Neilson Retail Price: $19.99 Hardcover: 128 pages Publisher: WildStorm – (2009-06-09) ISBN / EAN: 1401223419 / 9781401223410

For the rest of the list, as well as the paperback and manga lists, click here.

The following are new to the lists:

Picture Books, #2

Elephants Cannot Dance! (An Elephant and Piggie Book) Mo Willems Retail Price: $8.99 Hardcover: 64 pages Publisher: Hyperion Book CH – (2009-06-09) ISBN / EAN: 1423114108 / 9781423114109

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Chapter Books, #8

Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life Rachel Renee Russell Retail Price: $12.99 Hardcover: 288 pages Publisher: Aladdin – (2009-06-02) ISBN / EAN: 1416980067 / 9781416980063

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Series Books, #6

Gallagher Girls goes on the list with the 3rd in the series

Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cover (Gallagher Girls) Ally Carter Retail Price: $16.99 Hardcover: 272 pages Publisher: Hyperion Book CH – (2009-06-09) ISBN / EAN: 1423116380 / 9781423116387

Also in audio:

• Audio CD: $24.99; Unabridged
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio; (June 9, 2009)
• ISBN-10: 1423396839
• ISBN-13: 978-1423396833

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane debuts on the 6/28 list and also arrives at #20 on the USA Today general list.

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane Katherine Howe Price: $25.99 Hardcover: 384 pages Publisher: Voice – (2009-06-09) ISBN-10: 1401340903 ISBN-13: 9781401340902

An unabridged audio version is available from HarperAudio:

• Audio CD: $39.99 (June 9, 2009)
• ISBN-10: 1401393055
• ISBN-13: 978-1401393052

Amy Stewart, author of Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln’s Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities, was featured on NPR today, driving up substantial reserves on the book; several libraries we checked did not have it, while others had 18 or fewer copies.

The book offers an anecdotal look at plants that are illegal, dangerous and even deadly. According to a New York Times “At Home With” profile of the author in May, Wicked Plants “makes no pretense of being a comprehensive guide to poisonous plants. While it is instructive, its focus is on great yarns.” (The Times also reveals that, intriguingly, Stewart began cultivating a ”poison garden” when she started working on the book three years ago.)

Although the author has received local coverage in her Portland, OR hometown, East Coast papers such as the Newark Star-Legder have also picked up on the book because of a corresponding exhibit at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in New York City.

The deadliest plant according to Stewart? Tobacco–as it has killed 90 million people.

Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln’s Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities Amy Stewart Retail Price: $18.95 Hardcover: 223 pages Publisher: Algonquin Books – (2009-05-21) ISBN / EAN: 1565126831 / 9781565126831

We just learned that Ignore Everybody (see previous post) will also be available in audio from Tantor Media.

• Narrator: William Dufris
• Release Date: On or about July 20
• Retail: $19.99; 9781400113392
• MP3: $19.99; 9781400163397
• Library ed: $39.99; 9781400143399

It will also be downloadable from OverDrive and NetLibrary.

It will also be on PlayAway.

Ignore Everyone and 39 Other Keys to Creativity, a self-help book by cartoonist and popular blogger Hugh McLeod, landed in Amazon’s top 25 last week, and is now at #313, fueled almost entirely by mentions on blogs and Twitter. None of the libraries we checked had copies of the book.

The biggest plug came from mega-blogger Seth Godin, who called the book ”brilliant” and highlighed McLeod’s willingness to write about sex and “to use language that would look good on Jack Nicholson.” Many other bloggers have praised the book or interviewed McLeod in the past week, and more plan to do so in the next few weeks, according to the publisher. The author himself attracts about a million visitors a month to his own blog, The Gaping Void, which he began in 2001 as a way to sell his art.

McLeod is also well-known on Twitter, where legions of his followers have recommended his book to others since its publication on June 9. (You can see all the “tweets” that mention #ignoreeverybody on Twitter Search.)

Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity Hugh MacLeod Retail Price: $23.95 Hardcover: 176 pages Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover – (2009-06-11) ISBN / EAN: 159184259X / 9781591842590

UPDATE:

Also coming in audio from Tantor Media:

• Narrator: William Dufris
• Release Date: On or about July 20
• Retail: $19.99; 9781400113392
• MP3: $19.99; 9781400163397
• Library ed: $39.99; 9781400143399

Also on Playaway