After months of anticipation, Erin Morgenstern‘s impossible-to-miss debut novel The Night Circus finally comes to town. Now it’s time to see how the hype plays out. The book that will rival it for attention is Brian Selznick’s middle grade novel, Wonderstruck, which has stirred great excitement among prepub reviewers. In nonfiction, Jackie Kennedy will be making news again, along with Michael Moore.

Watch List

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (Doubleday; Random House Audio; Center Point Large Print) has already received a bevy of press attention. Comparisons to other titles in terms of expected commercial success range from The Help and The Da Vinci Code (USA Today), to the Harry Potter and Twilight (WSJ). PW set its sights a bit lower, saying, “This is an electric debut on par with Special Topics in Calamity Physics [by Marisha Pessl, Viking, 2006],” which was a best seller, but briefly. It’s also been compared to another book about English magicians, the 2004 bestseller Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, (Bloomsbury), which also arrived with great expectations and comparisons to Harry Potter. It did well, but not nearly as well as HP. It was in the top ten on the Indie Best Seller list for 13 weeks, four of them at #2.

Two reviews have appeared already; many more are sure to come next week. The 9/19 issue of People awarded it 3.5 of a possible 4 stars. Why not the full Monty? People warns the book can be disorienting with chapters that “leap from city to city across oceans and continents on no discernible schedule.” Laura Miller in Salon assesses the book as  “sentimental enough to win over a large audience but unlikely to cloy the palates of more sophisticated readers.” She warns, “Plot is this novel’s flimsiest aspect, however, serving mostly as a pretext for presenting readers with a groaning board of imaginative treats.” That may just undercut the potential for “large audiences” to embrace it. Miller calls it “the first Etsy novel” (sorry, you have to read the review to find out what that means).

Lamb by Bonnie Nadzam (Other Press; Blackstone Audio) gives Lolita a 21st century spin in this tale of a man whose wife has left him and whose father has died. He stumbles on a seventh grade girl who enters a fantasy friendship with him with a creepy edge. PW says, “Nadzam has a crisp, fluid writing style, and her dialogue is reminiscent of Sam Shepard’s. The book suffers from the inevitable Nabokov comparison, but it’s a fine first effort: storytelling as accomplished as it is unsettling.” On our GalleyChat, librarians report that there’s “lots of talk over the twitterverse about Lamb! People sucked in from the get-go.” It’s also a Sept Indie Next Pick.

The Winter’s in Bloom by Lisa Tucker (Atria; Brilliance Audio) is a suspenseful tale about overprotective parents whose child disappears. Library Journal is on the fence: “if the characters had been more fully developed, the novel would have blossomed.” Booksellers are more enthusiastic; it’s a Sept Indie Next Pick. Tucker recently wrote an essay in the New York Times about how the novel was unintentionally shaped by her diagnosis and treatment for a brain aneurysm while she was writing it.

Kids and Young Adult

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick, (Scholastic), Prepub reviewers were practically sputtering in their excitement over Selznick’s follow up to The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which also inventively combines text and graphics. The consumer press, though slightly more measured, is showing equal excitement, as in yesterday’s review on the NPR Web site. Even the Wall Street Journal joined in, offering an “exclusive preview” on its SpeakEasy blog earlier this month. We probably don’t have to remind you that Martin Scorsese’s first 3-D family film, Hugo (see trailer here), releasing on Nov. 23, is based on The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

Perfect by Ellen Hopkins, (McElderry/S&S); continues the author’s signature verse poetry style in this story about four 12th-graders who are expected to be perfect

Usual Suspects

Robert B. Parker’s Killing the Blues (a Jesse Stone) novel by Michael Brandman (Putnam; Random House Audio; Books on Tape; Thorndike Large Print); Before you (or your customers) get too excited about a new Robert Parker book, look closely at the fine print. This one is actually written by Michael Brandman, who collaborated with Parker on TV adaptation of his books. In his first effort to fill in for the departed author, PW found the plot lacking, but praised Brandman for maintaining Parker’s “easy, banter-filled writing, balanced with the lead’s apparently limitless compassion, informed by bitter experience.” Booklist felt exactly the opposite, calling it “strong on plotting but derivative on everything else.” Parker’s Spenser series will also continue, written by author Ace Atkins. The first title will be released in the spring of 2012. Sixkill, the final Spenser novel from Parker’s hand, was released in May.

Goddess of Vengeance by Jackie Collins (St. Martins, Macmillan Audio, Thorndike Large Print); Lucky Santangelo is back and still looking great since her 1981 debut in Chances.

Forbidden by Ted Dekker, (Center Street; Hachette Audio and Large Print); mega seller Dekker begins a new trilogy (The Books of Mortals) with a new collaborator. Says Booklist, “Dekker and Lee have created an intriguing future world in which human beings are fundamentally different from what they are today but who still operate with the same basic motivations, even if they don’t know that they do.”

Kings of Vice by Ice-T with Mal Radcliff (Forge Books) is the first novel by the rapper (and husband of Coco, whose first novel, Angel is also coming out this week). Says Booklist, “Ice-T takes readers into the murky world of gangs and organized crime. A solid crime thriller.” Kirkus was not as appreciative, “a relatively slow-moving crime caper, with much rationalization and philosophical musings apparently meant to add gravitas.”

Angel by Nicole “Coco” Marrow and Laura Hayden (Forge Books); expect plenty of cross-promotion with the title above.

The Ballad of Tom Dooley by Sharyn McCrumb, (Dunne/St. Martin’s; Brilliance Audio); Set in North Carolina after the Civil War, the next in McCrumb’s Ballad series looks in to the violent crime that inspired the popular song.

New York to Dallas by J. D. Robb, (Putnam; Brilliance Audio); The publisher claims that this, the 33rd in the Eve Dallas series, “takes readers deeper into the mind of Eve Dallas than ever before.”

Nonfiction

Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy by Caroline Kennedy, (Hyperion), arrives on the 50th anniversary of Kennedy’s first year in office. It is already rising on Amazon as news begins to leak that Jacqueline dishes on LBJ and Lady Bird. The book includes eight audio CDs. It will be featured on ABC’s Primetime and on Good Morning America next week.

Life Itself: A Memoir, Roger Ebert, (Grand Central/Hachette); the film critic, who was silenced by throat cancer, writes about the importance of life. It was previewed in USA Today this week

Happy Accidents, Jane Lynch, (Voice/Hyperion); the star of TV’s Glee on finding happiness. In a video promo, she’s every bookseller’s nightmare.

Here Comes Trouble: Stories from my Life, Michael Moore (Grand Central/Hachette); vignettes from Moore’s early life.

Movie Tie-ins

Killer Elite (original title, The Feather Men) by Ranulph Fiennes (Ballantine) is the basis for a movie opening September 23 and starring Robert DeNiro. This mass market paperback, which Kirkus called “marvelously entertaining,” recounts the true story of an elite group of vigilantes drawn from the ranks of England’s select paramilitary operatives and charged with eliminating four contract killers so deftly that their hits appeared to be merely accidents.

Anonymous and the Shakespeare Authorship Question (Newmarket) one of the two official ties-in to the movie Anonymous, opening 10/28, this provides backgrounds and debate on the playwright’s identity. Movie trailer here.

Anonymous: William Shakespeare Revealed, (Newmarket), this is the “visual companion” to the movie.

With the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 pervading the news, librarians who work with children, are faced with special challenges in helping them understand the tragedy.

My school, the Bank Street College School for Children, has provided some guidelines for teachers that may be adapted for the rest of us who work with children, especially young children.

• We can focus on the good rather than the horrific; the bravery of individuals, the people who were heroic, the focus going forward on security and public safety.

• We can assure children that we are together in a safe place and a caring community, in which adults take good care of children

Language for our teachers and families has been adapted from the NYU Child Study Center. What we discuss with children may include:

• It was a terrible thing that happened on September 11, ten years ago

• Before you were born, a small group of people who did not like our country did a very bad thing. They hijacked four airplanes, which means that they forced the pilots to let them fly the planes. Instead of landing the planes, they made them crash into the Twin Towers in New York, a building called the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a field in Pennsylvania. None of this usually happens when people travel on airplanes.

• Lots of people escaped the Twin Towers and the Pentagon and were helped by many rescuers. Sadly, some people did not escape and died that day.

• Adults and older children who were living when it happened might feel sad when they remember that day.

• It is okay to feel sad and to talk about and ask questions about what happened.

• Since then, many people in the United States and around the world have been working hard to keep everyone safe and to make airports, airplanes, and buildings safer.

• Many people have been working together to make the world better and to take care of other people. These are good things.

Tips for Parents and Caregivers

Please do not interpret these talking points to mean that everyone must sit down with a child and tell him/her about 9/11. Each family decides how and what to share with their child about this or any subject. Instead, here are some general thoughts in preparation for the anniversary:

• Be prepared to be present for your children more than usual. More than words, your presence is the most reassuring thing they can have.

• Tune in to coverage of the anniversary only when you know your child is asleep or not home. Even if it looks like they’re busy playing in another room, they hear everything! Keep newspapers and other sources of images out of view.

• Listen to your child. Answer the questions they ask, trying not to give them more information than they need.

• Turn their questions back to them. You can find out more about what they’re thinking. (It also buys you time to think!)

• Say you don’t know, if you don’t. You can think about it together.

• Say you’d like to talk about it with them, but you need time to think first. Set a time to talk—make sure you return to it. In between, seek out resources if you feel nervous or worried about what to say.

• Telling your own story as one way to address your child’s questions and curiosity: Where were you and what were you doing on Sept 11, 2001? How did you find out what happened? What did you think, feel, and do? How do you think and feel about the anniversary? Without graphic or inappropriate information, your personal story can be more meaningful than the overwhelming big ideas and horrific facts. Additionally, since it’s your story, it can be easier for you to answer questions your child might have.

• Avoid speaking over children’s heads to other adults assuming that the child won’t understand or isn’t listening to grownup conversations.

Other Resources

For Parents and Teachers

At the Bank Street Library website, you will find a useful link to Teaching through a Crisis: September 11 and Beyond. Published in 2003, this collection of essays was fueled by a desire to provide a vehicle through which educators could share their experiences of those events. Contributors wanted to know how teachers were addressing the questions raised by the tragedy: What kinds of conversations had been sparked among children, teachers and parents?

For Older children ages 8 and up

America Is Under Attack: September 11, 2001: The Day the Towers Fell (Actual Times) Don Brown Retail Price: $16.99 Hardcover: 64 pages Publisher: Flash Point – (2011-08-16) ISBN / EAN: 1596436948 / 9781596436947

A dispassionate accounting of that day illustrated and age appropriate giving an easy to understand timeline of the events, includes an author’s note, sources and brief bibliography. America is Under Attack teachers’ guide written by Emily Linsay, a Bank Street School for Children teacher can be downloaded here.

14 Cows for America Carmen Agra Deedy Retail Price: $17.95 Hardcover: 36 pages Publisher: Peachtree Publishers – (2009-08-01)

Storyteller Deedy collaborated with Kenyan, Kimeli Naiyomah who tells of returning home to his Maasai village after 9/11 and related the events that he had witnessed to his community. The elders decided that to ease the sorrow of the citizens of New York, they would provide fourteen cows to comfort them in their loss. The herd exists to this day. Gonzalez’s vibrant paintings draw the audience into this picture book bringing the reader into a very different community than their own.

Entertainment Weekly is one of the “lucky few” (one million) beta users of J.K. Rowling’s new site, Pottermore.com. They take it for a test drive and report on the experience.

No need to wonder if there will be a sequel to The Hunger Games. Lionsgate has announced Nov. 22, 2013 as the release date for Catching Fire, based on the second book in the trilogy by Suzanne Collins (via Deadline). That’s nearly a year and nine months, after the release of the first in the series, scheduled to open March 23, 2012.

Why such a long wait? The Lionsgate press release does not address that question although it does state that the pre-Thanksgiving time slot is a good one for family movies. That slot in 2012 is already spoken for by Breaking Dawn, Part 2, the finale of the Twilight saga. Given the success of the finale of Harry Potter, what studio would want to go up against it?

The first movie, Hunger Games, is in the midst of filming. No word on the third book in the series, Mockingjay, but we’re betting it will be made and will be released in November, 2014.

Watch for three notable debuts next week: two of them are comic family sagas – Kevin Wilson’s The Family Fang and Matthew Norman’s Domestic Violets – and the other is a modern update of Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca set in Provence. Usual suspects include Lev Grossman, Julie Garwood and W.E.B. Griffin. In nonfiction, look for Geoffrey Gray’s account of notorious skyjacker D.B. Cooper.

Watch List

The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson (Ecco) is a debut novel about surviving the ultimate dysfunctional family: a clan of performance artists who create events in shopping malls that result in chaos, as a protest against superficiality. As we reported earlier, it’s received a strong NYT review today and a B+ from Entertainment Weekly. Featured in one of our GalleyChats in February, this one has been gathering buzz since then, and was a GalleyChat Pick of ALA.

Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman (HarperPerennial; Trade Pbk Original) is a debut comedic novel about a divorced novelist father who moves in with his son, and takes on everything from the corporate machine and the literary machine, to adultery, family, and dogs with anxiety disorders. PW says, “despite a heavy reliance on pop-culture references and some stock characters — the pompous writer, his tough agent, the trophy wife — this is a thoroughly entertaining, light but thoughtful read.” It was also a buzz title in our own GalleyChat in July.

The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson (HarperCollins; Dreamscape Media; HarperLuxe) is a modern gothic about a younger woman married to an older man who refuses to discuss his former wife – think Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, but set in contemporary Provence. It was a Galley Chat Pick of ALA, and the GalleyChatters agree with the publisher that it will be BIG. PW says, “Lawrenson expertly manages suspense and intrigue throughout and breathes great, detailed life into her lush French countryside setting, making one wonder why this, her sixth novel, is the first to be published in the U.S.” Kirkus, however, warns that “it never captures the delicious psychological creepiness of the original.”

Spycatcher by Matthew Dunn (Morrow; HarperLuxe), is about the  CIA and the MI6 as they are today by someone who knows the territory; he was a field agent. The publisher is backing it with a 150,000 first printing.

Rising Star

Thirteen Million Dollar Pop: A Frank Behr Novel by David Levien (Doubleday) is the third thriller to feature private investigator Frank Behr and the American heartland setting which began with the author’s first hit, City of the Sun.

Usual Suspects

The Magician King by Lev Grossman (Viking; Penguin Audio) is a sequel to The Magicians, a previous novel by the book critic for Time magazine. Here, Quentin and his friends are now kings and queens of the magical land of Fillory, but a life of royal luxury goes wrong when a magical ship brings Quentin back to his parents’ house in New England. LJ says “Grossman’s flawed characters struggle for what they want and often lose their way, a refreshing twist. Fillory’s pointed resemblance to Narnia gets a bit tiresome, however. This is best for readers who like some grit and realism in their fantasy and who have read the first book.”

The Ideal Man by Julie Garwood (Dutton) is a romantic suspense novel featuring FBI agent Max Daniels, who promises to protect shooting witness Ellie Sullivan through a dangerous trial – but it isn’t long before the sparks start flying. Booklist says, it “has all the literary ingredients her readers expect: snappy writing, sharp humor, a fast-paced plot spiced with plenty of danger and suspense, and an abundance of sexy chemistry between two perfectly matched protagonists.”

Victory and Honor: An Honor Bound Novel by W.E.B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV (Putnam; Penguin Audio) takes place weeks after Hitler’s suicide, as Cletus Fraude and his fellow OSS agents are fighting for the agency’s survival with other U.S. government departments and facing the growing threat of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. PW calls it “slow-moving,” but adds that the detailed descriptions of weapons and aircraft won’t disappoint techno-thriller fans.

Acceptable Loss: A William Monk Novel by Anne Perry (Ballantine) begins when a dead man surfaces in the river Thames, returning William Monk to a heinous case that he thought he’d left behind.

Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Ascension (#8) by Christie Golden (LucasBooks/RandomHouse; Books on Tape; Random House Audio) is the eighth installment in a nine-volume saga that takes palce 40 years after the Star Wars trilogy, and features Luke Skywalker, his Jedi son, Ben, and an apprentice as they travel the galley. LJ says, “Golden’s excellent storytelling captures the essence of the beloved space opera and should leave series followers eagerly anticipating the story’s conclusion.”

Young Adult

Thirst: The Shadow of Death #4 by Christopher Pike (Simon Pulse, Trade Pbk) is the conclusion to bestselling Thirst series, and follows five-thousand-year-old vampire Alisa Perne as she battles a new race of immortals: the Telar.

Nonfiction

Skyjack: The Hunt for D.B. Cooper by Geoffrey Gray (Crown; Books On Tape; Random House Audio) is based on a New York magazine story about the search for the identity of the famed skyjacker, which immersed the author in the subculture that sprung up after his death four decades after Dan Cooper (a.k.a D. B. Cooper) parachuted out of a plane somewhere over Oregon or Washington, carrying a sack full of money.

Movie Tie-in

I Don’t Know How She Does It, by  Allison Pearson, (Anchor Books, Movie Tie-In Edition); The movie, coming in September (see trailer here), stars Sarah Jessica Parker, and sounds like Sex and The City with Kids. Will the book that was “the national anthem for working mothers” (Oprah) still resonate in its movie incarnation during a recession?

J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore.com Web site launches in October, but a tiny segment of Harry Potter fans (just one million) will be granted early access. To select winners, the site is running The Magical Quill challenge. Each day, a clue appears on the site. Those who guess it correctly will be directed to the registration page (if it is still open that day). The contest began on Sunday and runs through this Saturday, August 6.

Entertainment Weekly is all over the movie of Suzanne Collins’ YA novel, The Hunger Games. They’ve even created an online site, The Hunger Games Central.

The cover of the new issue features The Hunger Games guys (Katniss was featured back in May). Tom Cruise isn’t the only one getting grief over his physical size; there’s been online “hand-wringing”  from fans that Katiniss will “tower” over Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark. In the EW interview, he sets the record straight; she’s a mere half inch taller, if that.

The movie is scheduled to open March 23, 2012.

A debut dystopian YA title, Legend by Marie Lu (Putnam) arriving at the end of November, gets early attention from USA Today.

A movie is already in the works, with the producers who worked on the Twilight Saga. Author Marie Lu will appear at Comic-Con this week on a panel with several other women writers, about “kick-ass heroines” in science fiction and fantasy. Lu is the creator of a popular Facebook game, on which the book is based, also called Legend.

In the prepub media, the book has so far only been reviewed by Kirkus, which gave it a star. The first in a planned trilogy, it has an announced a 200,000 first printing.

Legend Marie Lu Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 336 pages Publisher: Putnam Juvenile – (2011-11-29) ISBN / EAN: 039925675X / 9780399256752

Penguin Audio; 9781611760088

More was going on at the box office this weekend than the confrontation between the HP gang and Lord Voldemort. There was also a battle between the old-fashioned, hand-drawn 2-D animation of Disney’s Winnie the Pooh and the the 3-D live-action HP finale.

HP came out more than victorious, breaking box office records, including its own. The silly old bear? Way behind, in sixth place.

Why did Disney submit Pooh to this humiliation? It seems test marketing made the producers confident that Pooh could stand up to the competition. Don’t count him out yet, says the movie news site Thompson on Hollywood; word of mouth is likely to bring Pooh a wider audience, including adults nostalgic for their childhoods.

Several tie-ins are available:

Winnie the Pooh: A Day of Sweet Surprises Retail Price: $6.99 Paperback: 32 pages Publisher: Disney Press – (2011-05-03) ISBN / EAN: 1423135903 / 9781423135906

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Winnie the Pooh: Forever Friends (Disney Early Readers) Lisa Ann Marsoli Retail Price: $3.99 Paperback: 32 pages Publisher: Disney Press – (2011-05-03) ISBN / EAN: 1423135784 / 9781423135784

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Winnie the Pooh: Hundred-Acre-Wood Treasury (Disney Winnie the Pooh) Retail Price: $15.99 Hardcover: 128 pages Publisher: Disney Press – (2011-05-03) ISBN / EAN: 1423135911 / 9781423135913

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Winnie the Pooh: The Essential Guide (Dk Essential Guides) DK Publishing Retail Price: $12.99 Hardcover: 48 pages Publisher: DK CHILDREN – (2011-06-20) ISBN / EAN: 0756672112 / 9780756672119

The title of Brian Selznick’s book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret has been reduced to simply Hugo for the Martin Scorsese adaptation (that’s right, the director of Taxi Driver, Goodfellas and Gangs of New York, goes family-friendly and 3-D this time).

It arrives in theaters this Thanksgiving. The first trailer has just appeared on the Web (watch the HD version here).

This Fall, Scholastic will publish The Hugo Movie Companion (Oct), and the Hugo Cabret Notebook (Nov), a facsimile of the notebook that Cabret uses in the movie. Both are by Brian Selznick.

The Guardian examines J.K. Rowling’s history of  hints that she has new books in the works.

Interviewed during the London premiere of the final HP movie last week, Rowling told MTV News that she has been doing “quite a lot” of writing and elaborated to BBC News, “I’ve got a lot of stuff and I suppose it’s a question of deciding which one comes out first. But I will publish again.”

Back in 2009, she talked about writing a political fairy tale for younger children. In 2007, she said she was working on a book for adults and another one for children, but ruled out another fantasy series. She has also said she will not write another HP.

But, at the London premiere, she teased, “Maybe I’ll just write another [Harry Potter].”

No further teases surfaced at  the New York premiere last night, which Rowling did not attend.

The only definite is the launch of the site Pottermore.com in October. A lucky few (just one million) will get early access; information on how to enter for a chance to be one of the million will be announced on the site on July 31st.

The first trailer for Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of The Adventures of Tintin, hit the Web yesterday. The director’s first animated film, it features the voices of Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot, Defiance) as boy reporter Tintin, with Daniel Craig (Quantum of Solace, Defiance) as the pirate, Red Rackham and uses performance-capture technology (the actors’ actual movements are the basis of the computer-generated animation).

The film, the first in a planned trilogy, is based on the first two books in Belgian artist Georges “Hergé” Remi’s Tintin comic series, Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham’s Treasure and is a joint project between Spielberg and Peter Jackson, who will direct the second in the series.

It is scheduled for release on Dec. 23.

Official Web site: TinTin.com

For information on Little Brown’s TinTin publishing program, including tie-in and re-releases of the original titles, see our earlier post.

A childhood favorite, The Borrowers by Mary Norton (Harcourt, 1953) is coming to screens in two forms; an animated movie from Japan and a BBC live-action film, to be shown on BBC-One at Christmas (no news on when it may appear in the US).

Called Arrietty, after Arriety Clock, the borrower family’s teenage daughter, the Japanese film will be dubbed in the US by Amy Poehler, Will Arnett and Carol Burnett (the trailer below is the British version, dubbed by other actors) and is scheduled for release next year, on February 17.

The BBC adaptation, called The Borrowers and starring Stephen Fry, Victoria Wood and Christopher Eccleston, just began filming.

The Borrowers was adapted as a film in 1997 with John Goodman, Jim Broadbent and Celia Imrie, as well as an American 1973 made-for-TV movie and a 1992 BBC TV series.

We noted last Wednesday that John Green’s forthcoming YA novel, The Fault in Our Stars, rose to #1 on Amazon’s sales rankings the day the title was announced, nearly a year in advance of publication (it’s currently at #3).

The Wall Street Journal also took note. On Friday, they looked in to Green’s social networking success. Green being Green, the story went instantly to his head, causing him to don a suit and give out financial advice.

Almost a year in advance of publication, immediately after he announced the title, YA author John Green’s next book, The Fault in Our Stars, zoomed to #1 on Amazon sales rankings and #2 on BarnesAndNoble.com.

The only additional information Green gives about the book is that,

The title is inspired by a famous line from Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar. The nobleman Cassius says to Brutus, “The fault, dear Brutus is not in our stars, / But in ourselves, that we are underlings.”

Green notes that  the May 1, 2012 publication date is wrong, but that he doesn’t know what it actually is.

There is no cover yet. Green invites fans to try their hand at designing one.