Hotly anticipated ever since its release was announced in January, the big book of next week is Khaled Hosseini’s And the Mountains Echoed. Can it live up to expectations set by the author’s previous titles? Entertainment Weekly thinks so … A debut that begins in another strife-torn area of the world, We Need New Names gets a rare advance rave from the NYT‘s Michiko Kakutani … Alex Grecian, whose first mystery, The Yard was a librarian favorite, publishes a sequel, The Black Country… Norwegian author Jo Nesbo releases a new thriller, The Redeemer,  and Jeff Shaara views the Siege of Vicksburg in The Chain of Thunder … plus, released for the first time is a previously unpublished long narrative poem by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Full ordering information for all the titles highlighted here, plus many more, are available on our downloadable spreadsheet, New Title Radar, Week of May 20.

Watch List

We Need New Names, NoViolet Bulawayo, (Hachette/Little, Brown)

Called a “deeply felt and fiercely written debut novel,” in an early review by Michiko Kakutani in the New York Times, this debut is about a young woman escaping the brutality of Zimbabwe to live with her aunt in “Destroyedmichygen” (Detroit, Michigan). Says Kakutani, “Darling is 10 when we first meet her, and the voice Ms. Bulawayo has fashioned for her is utterly distinctive — by turns unsparing and lyrical, unsentimental and poetic, spiky and meditative.” It is also an IndieNext pick for June.

Media Magnets

The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America, George Packer, (Macmillan/FSG)

The author of the award-winning The Assassins’ Gate: America in Iraq, Packer writes here about the U.S. “unwinding” into polarized factions and warns that it is  “a superpower in danger of coming apart at the seams, its elites no longer elite, its institutions no longer working.” Says the New Yorker (for which Packer is a staff writer), “Packer unpacks the current state of United States democracy by weaving together profiles of Americans as varied as tobacco farmers, Washington insiders, Newt Gingrich, and Jay-Z.”

Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success, Phil Jackson with Hugh Delehanty, (Penguin Press)

Prepub attention (in the L.A. Times and the Chicago Tribune, of course) is already causing legendary basketball coach Jackson’s memoir cum self-help leadership book to rise on Amazon

Margaret Thatcher: From Grantham to the Falklands, Charles Moore, (RH/Knopf)

This authorized biography is scheduled for coverage next week on the CBS Early Show, NPR’s Diane Rehm Show and MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

It happened again; an author made Oprah cry and her book sales soared.

Featured in a two-part Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday, Dr. Brene Brown brought Oprah to tears when she read the “parenting manifesto” from her book Daring Greatly, (Penguin/Gotham, 2012). Not only did it rise to the #2 position on Amazon’s sales rankings, but an earlier title, The Gifts of Imperfection, (Perseus/Hazeldon, 2010) rose to #3 and  I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn’t), (Penguin/Gotham, 2007), rose to #28.

To see the segment that made Oprah cry, click here. The full episode (clip below) is here.

Next week, celebrate the new season, with an extraordinary picture book about the famous ballet, The Rite of Spring (it really did cause a riot). Preschoolers will fall in love with a little pig who speaks frog and get ready for summer reading programs with a new Origami Yoda Activity Book by Tom Angleberger.

These and other titles coming out next week are listed on our downloadable spreadsheet, Kids New Title Radar, Week of March 25

Picture Books

When Stravinsky Met Nijinsky: Two Artists, Their Ballet, and One Extraordinary Riot written and illus. by Lauren Stringer, (Harcourt)

There are many children’s picture books about music and musicians (the Pinkneys’ Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington, and Raschka’s Giant Steps) and dance and dancer’s (numerous Nutcrackers, even one illustrated by Maurice Sendak, lovely ballet books by Rachel Isadora, Dance! with Bill T. Jones featuring Susan Kuklin’s photos, and the Pinkneys’ Alvin Ailey).

But, believe me when I say there are none like this one. Stringer’s words are music and her illustrations dance. She captures the excitement and movement of a turning point in music and dance history. In 1913, the avant-garde composer Igor Stravinsky composed The Rite of Spring (in French, Le Sacre du printemps) to be choreographed by the internationally renowned dancer, Vaslav Nijinsky for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. The collaboration was so shocking at the time that the debut performance ended with the audience rioting.

Stringer’s lyrical text and exuberant paintings reflect the artistic styles of the period without being imitative, expressing the joy, frustration and excitement of creative processes.

In addition, Stringer offers a few gifts on her Web site, including an activity guide created with Tracie Vaughn Zimmer. There is also a curriculum guide to the Rites of Spring from Carnegie Hall, and you can also hear the music and a discussion of its reception on NPR.

Ribbit!, Rodrigo Folgueira, illus. by Poly Bernatene, (RH/Knopf BYR)

If, like me, parents and teachers continually ask you for more books like Bark, George and Meow Said the Cow, latch onto this one.  Pre-schoolers find it hysterically funny when an animal makes the wrong sound; it’s becoming a genre of its own.

Oversized Preschool Board Book

Tell Me Something Happy Before I Go to Sleep (lap board book), Joyce Dunbar, illus. by Debi Gliori,  (HMH)

This oversized board book reprint of a book originally published in 1998 and no long in print, is just right for reading aloud with parenting classes, Headstart or a pre-school programs and is a good title for modeling the pleasure and possibilities of reading aloud.

Middle Grade Series

Magic Tree House #49: Stallion by Starlight (A Stepping Stone Book) by Mary Pope Osborne and Sal Murdocca (RH BYR; Listening Library)

Magic Tree House Fact Tracker #27: Horse Heroes: A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House #49: Stallion by Starlight, by Mary Pope Osborne, Natalie Pope Boyce and Sal Murdocca, (RH BYR)

It might not be news or cause for a parade when a new Magic Tree House book is published, but it should be. Whenever a new Jack and Annie comes out of the box (the series is now just one titles shy of 50 titles), my heart still sings. Osborne’s consistently engaging, just-right stories hit home with newly fluent readers. The companion Fact Trackers are a terrific way for classroom teachers to connect the fantasy with Common Core standards. So, who wants to help organize the parade?

Defies Category

Art2 – D2′s Guide to Folding and Doodling: An Origami Yoda Activity Book by Tom Angleberger, (Abrams/Amulet)

Angleberger’s The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, Darth Paper Strikes Back, and The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee were runaway hits with Bank Street’s 4^th and 5^th graders (Origami Yoda was a Mock Newbery honor winner). Fair warning, this is “consumable,”  because of its pull-out pages. Buy one for reference and start planning Star Wars summer reading programming, using this and  Star Wars Origami: 36 Amazing Paper-folding Projects from a Galaxy Far, Far Away by Chris Alexander (with forward by, guess who, Tom Angleberger).

You can thank me later.

Young Adult 

If You Find Me, Emily Murdoch, (Macmillan/St. Martin’s)

A suspense-filled story about 15-year-old Carey, who is rescued after living in the Tennessee wods with her sister and meth-addicted mother. Prepub reviews are  strong, with Kirkus calling it a “deeply affecting story … made all the more so by Carey’s haunting first-person narration.” PW had issues with the credibility of the story, but still called it “memorable and deeply moving” and predicted that readers will fall in love with the characters.

Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass, Meg Medina, (Candlewick; Brilliance Audio)

Kirkus calls this first-person story about a 15-year-old who is bullied when she goes to a new school in Queens, NY, “nuanced, heart-wrenching and ultimately empowering.”

Manga

Witch & Wizard: The Manga, Vol. 3, James Patterson and Jill Dembowski, Yen Press

It’s Patterson’s popular series, Manga style, a high-interest title that will appeal to graphic novel fans, both boys and girls.

Next week, middle school kids will be clamoring for the next in a series they can easily recognize as written for them, the prolific James Patterson‘s third in his Middle School series, My Brother Is a Big, Fat Liar (Hachette/LBYR). Newbery Medalist, Patricia MacLachlan, proves herself no slouch, with two new titles in one week and the hotly popular Cassandra Clare concludes the steampunk Infernal Devices series.

These, and more highlights, are included on our downloadable spreadsheet, Kids New Title Radar, Week of March 18.

Two from MacLachlan

White Fur Flying, Patricia MacLachlan, (S&S/Margaret K. McElderry )

Cat Talk, Patricia MacLachlan and Emily MacLachlan Charest, illus. by Barry Moser, (HarperCollins/Katherine)

MacLachlan (best known for her Newbery medal winner, Sarah, Plain and Tall) rests not on her laurels. With two titles arriving this week, she makes even James Patterson look like a slacker. In Cat Talk, she and her daughter, who collaborated on two books about dogs, Once I Ate a Pie and I Didn’t Do It, bring their verse skills to the feline point-of-view, with artwork by Barry Moser, whose sublime kitty illustrations adorned My Cats Nick and Nora and Cheshire Cheese Cat. In White Fur Flying, MacLachlan’s spare style tells the moving story of a troubled boy and the dog that saved him.

Picture Books

Pug Worth, Valerie Worth, illus. by Steve  Jenkins, (Macmilla/FSG BYR)

Each season, the cover of a new picture book gets the place of honor above my desk. I have been looking up at this one since November and still adore it. Jenkins’s talents highlight Valerie Worth’s animal poems.
 

Ol’ Mama Squirrel, David Ezra Stein,  (Penguin/Nancy Paulsen Books)

A Kids IndieNext Spring pick, described as “equally a funny story of one courageous mom facing down the world and a thank you to all the moms out there in the world who have done the same — and continue to do so — for their children.”

Children’s Informational Books

Pranklopedia: The Funniest, Grossest, Craziest, Not-Mean Pranks on the Planet!, Julie Winterbottom, (Workman)

Looking for something for third grade boys to put a little spark in the winter doldrums? As the title guarantees, nothing too mean but many classic pranks in this compendium.
 

The Eagles are Back, Jean Craighead George, Illus. by Wendell Minor, (Penguin/Dial)

Naturalist Jean Craighead George left us bereft when she died last year. There will be no more wolves, falcons, and eagles to enchant us in novels, essays and picture books. Or so we thought. Her boon companion Wendell Minor brings his signature style to illustrated  one more revelatory story, the revival of the eagle in its habitat. Jean’s books ARE the Common Core; she was a visionary.

Chldren’s Fiction

Tallulah’s Toe Shoes, Marilyn Singer, Alexandra Boiger, (HMH/Clarion)

Singer’s ballerina series took flight with Tallulah’s Tutu. For all the little children who WANT, NEED, HAVE TO HAVE a ballet book, Tallulah is “every girl” and we are happy to have another to share.
 

Young Adult

Clockwork Princess, Cassandra Clare, (S&S/ Margaret K. McElderry)

More steam punk, please! This, the final volume in the Infernal Devices series arrives with much fanfare; with a ‘book trailer exclusive” on Entertainment Weekly’s Shelf Life blog, a feature in USA Today on Thursday, and an A- review from Entertainment Weekly, saying it may be the author’s “ best undertaking to date.” This series is the prequel to Clare’s Mortal Instruments, which will be coming to the big screen in August, starring Lily Collins. Clare and Holly Black (co-author of The Spiderwick Chronicles) are collaborating on another series, Magisterium, aimed at middle schoolers, with The Iron Trail, coming in September of next year.

As an indicator of the importance of authors to the movie business these days, the new issue of Hollywood Reporter (on stands Dec. 7) features their first list of the top 25 “Power Authors,” complete with glamour shots (yes, that’s Stephenie Meyer, in the center of the photo on the left, holding her own with the stars of the upcoming adaptation of The Host, Jake Abel and Diane Kruger. Meanwhile, Reese Witherspoon is in danger of being outshone by author Gillian Flynn in their photo).

There’s few surprises among the Top 25 (Stephen King, Nicholas Sparks, James Patterson, et. al.). The feature on Six Writers to Watch is more fun. It’s headed by Jennifer Egan (her novel, A Visit From the Goon Squad is being adapted by Peter Weir as an HBO series, according to THR, but other sources have reported that Weir is actually set to film her earlier gothic-tinged The Keep). Reflecting the importance of the YA audience to Hollywood, two of them are known as young adult writers — Maggie Stiefvater and John Green — and a third, Ransom Riggs, is listed for his YA title, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

Publishers know (or, fervently hope) that bookstore staff will be devoting their time to selling, rather than unpacking new books in the next few weeks, so new releases are slowing down. Next week, fiction is dominated by veteran authors such as Tom Clancy and Robin Cook. In nonfiction, Elie Wiesel publishes a memoir about his recent heart surgery and Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings will anger parents with a new book that debunks the myths they tell their kids.

Usual Suspects

Clancy, Tom and Mark Greaney, Threat Vector (Penguin/Putnam; Brilliance Audio; Thorndike large print)

The man who invented the techno thriller follows up last year’s Locked On (also with co-writer Greaney) with a new title about President Jack Ryan Sr. now facing a new threat from China. His son, Jack Ryan Jr.’s secret secret intelligence group could be an asset, but it’s being threatened with exposure.

Cook, Robin, Nano, (Penguin/Putnam; Penguin Audio; Thorndike large print)

The man who invented the medical thriller with Coma in 1977 has published a new book nearly every year since. This one features a company called Nano, which is developing microbivores, tiny (nano) robots that attack and destroy viruses and bacteria. But the company may not be all that it seems.

Robards, Karen Shiver, (S&S/Gallery Books; Brilliance Audio; Thorndike Large Print)

Romantic suspense veteran Robards (her first title in the genre, To Love A Man, was published in 1984) returns with a book that caused Kirkus to nearly come undone, saying it’s “Packed with fast-paced action, nail-biting suspense and blazing sexual tension.”

Vine, Barbara The Child’s Child (S&S/Scribner; Brilliance Audio; Center Point Large Print)

Barbara Vine is the pseudonym Ruth Rendell adopts for her darker books. This one is about a woman who becomes pregnant after a one-night stand with her brother’s gay lover. She finds her life eerily echoing a novel titled The Child’s Child, set in the ’30′s and ’40′s. Both Booklist and Publishers Weekly both said it not as strong as her acclaimed previous novel, The Birthday Present, but still found it absorbing.

Childrens

Park, Linda Sue The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers Book 5: Trust No One, (Scholastic; Scholastic Audio)

The original 39 Clues was is an 11 volume series about two orphans’ efforts to find the clues to a magic serum that will create the most powerful person on earth. Written by different authors, the first, The Maze of Bones (2008) is by Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jones and the Kane Chronicles series. This new book is the penultimate in a second  39 Clues series, the Cahills vs. Vespers. The author, Linda Sue Park, won the Newbery Medal in 2002 for A Single Shard. She also wrote an earlier 39 Clues novel,  Storm Warning (2010). This series stops with the next volume, Day of Doom, coming in March, by David Baldacci. But, don’t despair, a third, four-volume series, Unstoppable, is on its way.

Nonfiction

Jennings, Ken Because I Said So! (S&S/Scribner; Tantor Audio; Thorndike Large Print)

Jeopardy! champion and Brainiac author Ken Jennings explores the myths that parents perpetrate on their kids (the book is subtitled, The Truth Behind the Myths, Tales and Warnings Every Generation Passes Down to Its Kids). USA Today already featured a chat with the author.

Giunta, Sal Living with Honor (S&S/Threshold Editions

This memoir by an Afghanistan veteran, the first living person to received the Medal of Honor since Vietnam, is published by Simon and Schuster’s conservative imprint. It will be featured on various shows in the upcoming days, including NBC’s Weekend Today, CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight, FOX-TV’s Fox & Friends, and MSNBC-TV’s Morning Joe.

Wiesel, Elie, Open Heart (RH/Knopf; RH Audio)

Wiesel, who has written over 50 books, recently made news with the announcement that has said he is working on a book with President Obama. In Open Heart, the 84-year-old writes about his emotions, including worry about what might be left undone, on the eve of his  open heart surgery two years ago.

Last December, a biography of General David Petraeus, All In: The Education of General David Petraeus, by Paula Broadwell (Penguin, Jan. 23) made headlines because the author was regarded as implying that Petraeus nearly quit as the commander of troops in Afghanistan over Obama’s plans for a drawdown.

That inference was quickly denied. Several reports, including Fox News’, noted how adulatory the author was about her subject; “The book unapologetically casts Petraeus in the hero’s role” and Broadwell says “his critics fault him for ambition and self-promotion,” but “his energy, optimism and will to win stand out more for me.”

Jon Stewart speaks for many when he upbraids himself on last night’s show for missing the real story.

The above two titles may eventually have more in common than their genre and cover designs.

In a tersely-worded “Statement on media coverage regarding Penguin” yesterday, Pearson set off a round of speculation and gossip in the publishing world:

Pearson notes recent media coverage regarding Penguin, its consumer publishing division, and Random House (part of Bertelsmann). Pearson confirms that it is discussing with Bertelsmann a possible combination of Penguin and Random House. The two companies have not reached agreement and there is no certainty that the discussions will lead to a transaction. A further announcement will be made if and when appropriate.

Reports in European news sources, beginning with a story in Germany’s Manager Magazin on Monday, forced Pearson’s response.  When Bertelsmann, which owns Random House, was asked to comment, they simply pointed to the Penguin statement.

Speculation is now rife as to the reasons for proposed merger, with some saying it’s necessary because ebooks have changed the business and others that publishers need to gain enough clout to stand up to Amazon. Those are side issues, however; the major reason is that Pearson is focusing on their education business, and Bertelsmann’s new CEO Thomas Rabe has promised major acquisitions and strategic partnerships.

The New York Times story quotes literary agents saying that the deal will not be good for authors. Says agent David Kuhn, “a shrinking book industry could be compared to the situation in Hollywood, where studios under financial pressure now focus on churning out a handful of blockbusters a year, rather than taking risks on smaller films.”

If the merger were in effect today, seven of the fifteen NYT Fiction best sellers would be published by the new company.

Whatever the speculation, this is far from a done deal. There are still hurdles to jump, like gaining approval from U.S. and U.K. regulatory agencies (although, as many news stories point out, those agencies have allowed the music business to shrink to three major companies). The most meaningful part of Pearson’s statement may be the “if” in the final line.

John Grisham’s next blockbuster, The Racketeer (RH; RH Audio and Large Print; BOT Audio) which arrives on Tuesday, gets an early review from the NYT‘s Janet Maslin today.

“Like any Grisham book not involving baseball, The Racketeer has a plot built around a particular legal principle,” she says. However, unlike his more recent books, this one is not based on fact, which Maslin says is a good thing because “Mr. Grisham writes with rekindled vigor here. Perhaps that’s because he hasn’t mired this book in excessive research” and that he has “gone back to what he does best, storytelling rather than crusading.”

Entertainment Weekly agrees, giving it an A minus, and calling it a “bit of a departure” and a “tautly plotted new thriller.”

J.K. Rowling’s appeared on Jon Stewart’s show last night to discuss her first book for adults, The Casual Vacancy. Part 1 is below. Click here for Part 2.

On NPR’s Morning Edition today (audio goes up around 9 a.m. EST), a book that warns, “Forget the 1 percent; it’s the wealthiest .1 percent who are outpacing the rest of us at breakneck speed.”

Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else Chrystia Freeland Retail Price: $27.95 Hardcover: 336 pages Publisher: Penguin Press – (2012-10-11) ISBN / EAN: 1594204098 / 9781594204098

Brace yourselves — officially licensed “Fifty Shades of Grey” products are about to hit shelves (including a version of the iconic necktie from Van Heusen).

EMI Music hosted a launch party in NYC for a classical music “soundtrack” on Monday, which uses the book’s cover art. It includes 15 classical pieces selected by E.L. James, the trilogy’s author (it should be safe even for those libraries who have shied away from stocking the books).

The VP of Classics at EMI predicts it will sell 15,000 copies in the first week.

Image Credit: George Burns/Harpo, Inc.

The first installment of Oprah’s Book Club 2.0 concludes this Sunday, capped by Oprah’s two-hour interview with the author of Wild, Cheryl Strayed on OWN’s Super Soul Sunday (11 a.m. ET/PT; also on Oprah Radio on Sirius and the club’s Facebook page).

Will she announce a new title? Winfrey is not saying, but publishers hope she will continue the club. Even though, as USA Today writes, Wild did not get as large a boost from Book Club 2.0 as titles did from the old club, sales still rose significantly. Prior to the announcement, Wild had sold 85,000 copies. After it was chosen, sales jumped by approximately 185,000 copies. In the days of Book Club 1.0,  publishers would print an additional 500,000 copes of an Oprah pick.

Curiously, however, a reduced Oprah book club may be a good thing. USA Today quotes a study that shows overall sales of fiction declined when the old club was in session. Why? The audience may have stopped buying other, “easier” titles because they were spending more time concentrating on Tolstoy or Toni Morrison. The author of the study, Northwestern University economist, Craig Garthwaite, told the NYT,

The results suggest there’s a fixed market of readers. Oprah isn’t bringing new readers into publishing; she’s just shifting around people who were already participating in the market. And in that situation, there are always going to be winners and losers.