EarlyWord

Speaking with YA author Laurie Halse Anderson, librarian Nancy Pearl asks about the term, “problem novels,” often applied to books about teens dealing with real-life situations. Anderson responds that she thinks of the genre as “Resilience Literature” because the goal of the books is to helps strengthen kids facing difficult situations.

As to the people who try to censor her books because they don’t want kids exposed to such realities, she says,”They need to sit down and have a cup of coffee with me.”

Anderson’s latest book, The Impossible Knife of Memory, (Penguin/Viking; Brilliance Audio; January), is about a teenager trying to deal with her beloved father, a former soldier struggling with PTSD. She tells Nancy how her own experiences influenced the book which is currently on both the NYT and the Indie best seller lists.

The interview is part of the series, Book Lust with Nancy Pearl on Seattle Channel 21.

After more than two years on best seller lists, John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars is coming out in paperback.

You can thank the movie. A tie-in trade paperback is being published in early April, as well as one with a version of the original hardcover art.

Any bets on whether, as with The Great Gatsby, consumers will prefer the original cover over the tie-in?

The movie arrives in theaters on June 6. The two stars, Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort, will first be seen together in the movie adaptation of Divergent, debuting in theaters next Friday.

The Fault in Our Stars (Movie Tie-in)
John Green
Penguin/Speak
April 8, 2014
9780147513731, 0147513731
Trade paperback
$12.99 USD / $14.99 CAD

The Fault in Our Stars
John Green
Penguin/Speak
April 8, 2014
9780142424179, 014242417X
Trade paperback
$12.99 USD / $14.99 CAD

In addition to new titles from best selling authors Harlan Coben, Terry Pratchett, and series regular Loren Estelman, below are several titles to pay special attention to next week.

Ordering information for these titles and more is on our downloadable spreadsheet.

Fiction

You Should Have Known, Jean Hanff Korelitz, (Hachette/Grand Central; Hachette Audio)

This book been called a “significantly superior addition” to the “chick noir” genre. Entertainment Weekly featured it in their spring preview, calling it, “The thriller we’re already obsessed with.”  Korelitz is the author of the well-received Admission. It’s the lead review in the new issue of  People magazine, with 3.5 of 4 stars; “a consuming, expertly plotted thriller [that] moves along at a slow burn, building up to shocking revelations…”‘ Oddly, the new issue of the magazine that first hearalded the book, Entertainment Weekly, is not so high on it, complaining that “the plot moves slowly, weighed down by superfluous detail”

A weird fact — if the author’s middle name reminds you of a favorite memoir about books, you have a great memory. Korelitz’a cousin was Helen Hanff, the author of 84 Charing Cross Road (made in to a movie starring Anne Bancroft), as she writes in an essay  in The Telegraph .

The Cairo Affair, Olen Steinhauer, (Macmillan/Minotaur; Macmillan Audio)

If, like the NYT’s Janet Maslin, some of your readers have found that Olen Steinhauer’s Milo Weaver series has become overly complex, you can encourage them to try this stand-alone by the author. Like his previous books, it is an “elaborate, sophisticated spy tale, a long, twisty road full of cleverly placed potholes and unexpected turns,” says Maslin that will reward readers  who “stay on your toes and enjoy the guessing game.”

LibraryReads Picks

   
The Divorce Papers, Susan Rieger, (RH/ Crown)

“When Sophie, a loveable 29-year-old lawyer, gets roped into working on a divorce case, her life takes an unexpected turn. Though this gives her a new perspective on life, it also forces her to confront some unresolved childhood issues. Except for a few tearful, poignant moments, I had a smile on my face for the entire book. Engaging and humorous, this debut epistolary novel has become a favorite read.” — Jennifer Asimakopoulos, Indian Prairie Public Library, Darien, IL

Kill Fee, Owen Laukkanen, (Penguin/Putnam; Recorded Books)

“In the third book in this series, Carla Windermere and Kirk Stevens find themselves reunited when people around the country seem to be dying from contract hits. Young war veterans, under the influence of a mysterious man, are turning into emotionless killers. Stevens and Windermere try piecing together who’s behind the crimes, but keep falling one step behind. Reminiscent of Thomas Perry’s novels, and fast-paced.” — Lora Bruggeman, Indian Prairie Public Library, Darien, IL

Media

The Promise of a Pencil, Adam Braum

PW calls this an “exuberant testimony to the power of idealism.” The author, who founded Pencils of Promise, a nonprofit that has built over 250 schools around the world, is scheduled for CBS This Morning and Morning Joe next week.

The book will be a Parade “Pick” this Sunday.

Among the new offerings for young readers are some enchanting picture books as well as new reasons to fall in love with sloths and poetry.

Picture Books

Jasper & Joop (Gossie & Friends series), by Olivier Dunrea; picture book, also a board book edition, (HMH)

When Gossie first appeared on the scene, I wept for joy. Dunrea has a way of paring down language to the essentials and cueing the reader with his now classic avian creatures on a stark white background.

Grown ups will recall Felix and Oscar, the original odd couple, as we get to know the tidy Jasper and not-so-tidy Joop. A delight.

   
Toot and Tickle, by Leslie Patricelli, Candlewick

I adore Leslie Patricelli’s board books. Babies love to look at babies and hers are having a lovely time. Silly age appropriate fun.

The Scraps Book: Notes from a Colorful Life, Lois Ehlert (S&S/Beach Lane Books)

Full disclosure: To me, Lois Ehlert is the unsung hero of picture books. Her careful collages and straightforward language, her sharp eye for design and subtle humor often gets lost among the piles of picture books produced every year. Her range is astounding from the marching, dancing graphic letters of her timeless read aloud classic Chicka Chicka Boom Boom to the pitch perfect poetic language of her informational book about metamorphosis Waiting for Wings, we are used to being astounded by her art. With this new book, count me astounded again.

The Scraps Book holds all the joy of an archival collection (like the one where I work, the Kerlan); being able to look at  manuscript pages and sketches to see how the artist is thinking and creating , but with the major advantage that you don’t have to get on a plane to experience it, it’s all in her book.

Reasons every library must have multiple copies of this book.

1. The hard to fill reference question from the beginning-to-read and beginning-to-write 1st or 2nd grader, “I need an autobiography.“ For this reading level, they are few and far between. Give this book
2. Ehlert lets us in on  her creative process. We witness the scraps and pieces of leaves, berries, and photocopies and watercolor paper arrange on the page to become birds and cats, a leafman and snowman, fish floating and a squirrel leaping. We see the growth of an artist and her process.
3. Intertextual connections. We see how a book, a story, a picture is made and we can go to that book and have many an ah-ha moment.
4. Anyone, adult or child would be inspired by this book to create their own art and tell their own story.

The Geisel Award, please.

Middle Grade

Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue: An Origami Yoda Book, Tom Angleberger (Abrams; Recorded Books)

Obviously, you don’t need me to tell you about this series (in fact, this book just hit the USA Today best seller list), but I can’t pass it by. All the books offer a core truth about life in Middle Quarry Middle School as the Origami Yoda Gang fight the menace of standardized tests.

Sloths

National Geographic Readers: Swing Sloth!, Susan B. Neuman, (National Geographic Children’s Books)

Sparky!, Jenny Offill, illus. by Chris Appelhans, (RH/Schwartz & Wade)

Is it me or are we being buried under sloth books? A quick check gives us 42 children’s books featuring sloths over the last year (you may recall my favorite from last year, Little Book of Sloth by Lucy Cooke, S&S/McElderry Books).

These two contenders arriving this week do not disappoint on the official sloth-o-meter. Cute, sweetly faced sleeping mammal? Check. Sly almost silly humor? Check. Child reader appeal? You have to ask? Did you know that there is an International Sloth Day? Start planning your programming now.

Poetry

Firefly July and Other Very Short Poems by Paul B. Janeczko, illus. by Melissa Sweet (Candlewick)

Just in time for Poetry Month, these are the perfect pocket poems. What, you never heard of Poem in Your Pocket Day? This is the day when people throughout the United States select a poem, carry it with them. Poems from pockets are unfolded throughout the day during events in parks, libraries, schools, workplaces, and bookstores. You can also share your poem selection on Twitter by using the hashtag #pocketpoem. Save the date: Thursday, April 24.

From Kirkus: “Choosing from works spanning three centuries, Janeczko artfully arranges 36 elegant poems among the four seasons…Scintillating!”

I agree.

People magazine presents an exclusive sneak peek, in the form of four photos from the second season of the Netflix series, Orange is the New Black, which made Piper Kerman’s 2010 memoir, (RH/Spiegel & Grau, 2011; tie-in, 2013) a best seller. It premieres on Friday, June 6.

They do their best to try to turn into a story. It’s almost as fun as watching Glamour magazine try to glean news from the 17-second teaser trailer that was released last month.

Here’s your chance to read the SECOND book in a trilogy, just as excitement begins to build for the first.

The books in Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy are arriving in such quick succession that the galley for the second book, Authority, (Macmillan/FSG, May 6), is available now (if you’re at PLA, Talia Sherer from Macmillan says they have it at their booth; it’s also available as an e-galley on Edelweiss). The publishing schedule is so accelerated, that it was the springboard for a NYT publishing story.

The first in the trilogy, Annihilation, (Macmillan/FSG, Feb 4), gets a remarkable review in the new issue of Entertainment Weekly. While the reviewer only gives it a B+, he is clearly captivated beyond that rating, saying it’s “one of the weirdest books” he’s ever read and that, “Like all the great weird books, Annihilation will scare you and move you, and you might never know why.” The Washington Post reviewer echoes that sentiment, “Annihilation is successfully creepy, an old-style gothic horror novel set in a not-too-distant future. The best bits turn your mind inside out.” For more on what inspired the author, read his interview in Wired.

It’s also received buzz from librarians on GalleyChat, as Robin Beerbower reported earlier this week.

The third in the series, Acceptance, is set to arrive in Sept. Happily, the series are in trade paperback, lowering the risk to try them. Several libraries we checked are showing holds.

A former Paris Reviw editor pays tribute in Wired this week to the “dazzling oddball masterpiece,” Geek Love, by Katherine Dunn (Knopf, 1989), on the 25th anniversary of its release, citing its many well-known fans. Author Karen Russell recalls discovering it at 15, “I felt electrocuted when I read that first page with Crystal Lil and her freak brood. I stood there in the bookstore and my jaw came unhinged. No book I’ve read, before or since, has given me that specific jolt.”

Although it had success in its day (it was a National Book Award finalist), the novel brought in more royalties for Dunn last year than in any year before.

The piece also includes some lore for publishing geeks; it was legendary editor Sonny Mehta’s first acquisition for Knopf and was designed by the then little-known Chip Kidd’s.

All copies are out in circulation at the libraries we checked.

The U.K. trailer for Half Of A Yellow Sun has just been released, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave). As yet, it has not been scheduled for release in the U.S.

When it premiered at the Toronto International Film festival, Variety damned it with faint praise, calling it an “attractive adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s bestseller … a diverting but surface-level saga that, true to its title, feels less than whole.”

The novel it is based on, Half Of A Yellow Sun, (RH/Knopf, 2006), fared much better with the critics. It won the Women’s Prize for Fiction (then called the Orange Prize) and the author was selected as one of the best writers under 40 by The New Yorker.

In a live interview in the Huffington Post last week, Adichie says her most recent novel, Americanah, (Knopf, 2013), is quite different from her earlier works, calling it her “middle finger” book, the one in which she does not “follow the rules.” It was just released in paperback and in audio (Recorded Books). UPDATE, 3/13/14: The book has won the NBCC prize for fiction

The producers behind The Hunger Games announced that they have acquired the option to adapt Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch, possibly as a TV mini-series. According to The Wrap, the producers are currently looking for a director and no stars have been named.

The novel, Tartt’s third, was named as one of the best books of the year by multiple sources and is on the NYT Hardcover Fiction Best Seller at #3 after 19 weeks.

Says producer Nina Jacobson: “We’ve been thinking we are more likely to make a limited series for TV. There’s so much scope to the book. At the same time, a film-maker could come in with a perspective that changes our mind.”

Some of you may have taken our advice to seek out the galley for Walter Kirn’s Blood Will Out: The True Story of a Murder, a Mystery, and a Masquerade, (Norton/Liveright).

On NPR’s Fresh Air yesterday, Kirn talked to Terry Gross about his fascinating memoir, released last week, of how he was drawn in by a master manipulator who passed himself off for fifteen years as a member of the Rockefeller family. The book originated from a story Kirn published the New Yorker last year.

Another book about the story,  Mark Seal’s The Man in a Rockefeller Suit is in development as a movie by Walter Selles (The Motorcycle Diaries). It also inspired the well-received novel, Schroder by Amity Gaige.

Many libraries are showing heavy holds.

The Fox/National Geographic reboot of the 1980 PBS phenomenon, Cosmos, has plenty of star power to bring to its goal of “making science cool again.” Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane is behind it along with the “Hollywood cool” astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who is also the host. The first episode on Sunday was introduced by President Obama. It even got the ultimate in cool promotions, its own Superbowl commercial.

Reviews of the first show are mixed, but cautiously optimistic for the rest of series. Unfortunately, as the L.A. Times reports, the ratings indicate that it drew “only” 6 million viewers and was “trounced by ABC’s premiere of Resurrection,” (reminder: that series is based on the book The Returned by Jason Mott, Harlequin/MIRA).

The original series made a best seller of Sagan’s  tie-in. With twelve more episodes to go, the new one could still do the same for the revised tie-in (RH/Ballantine).

It may also bring renewed attention to Tyson’s many books of his own, the most recent of which is Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier (Norton, 2012).

The man who, as the AP’s publishing reporter Hillel Italie puts it, was “the adventurous and news-making author and reporter” Joe McGinniss has died at 71.

He broke new ground with his book on Richard Nixon, The Selling of the President 1968, (Penguin), the first to look at the role of marketing in presidential campaigns. For his most recent book, The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin, (RH/Crown), he angered his subject by actually moving in to a house next door to hers.

Editor’s Note: We’re delighted to welcome Robin Beerbower as the regular “GalleyChatter” columnist for EarlyWord. Robin’s day job is as the  readers’ advisor and homebound services coordinator for the Salem [OR] Public Library. She has been a supporter of GalleyChat from its inception, calling those discussions “pure gold for selectors and readers advisors.” She’s enthusiastic about the importance (and fun) of reading books ahead of publication and tirelessly tracks down galleys, making her the local authority on new books. She is also very active on the Edelwiss Community Board, using it to spot titles and gauge developing buzz among librarians (you can join in; just register on Edelweiss and “friend” Robin). She plans to write regular roundups on the titles she discovers through the monthly GalleyChats, with regular updates on books to watch for.

From Robin:
Thanks to everyone on GalleyChat for their warm reception about my contributions to EarlyWord, and thanks to Nora for giving me this opportunity. The chats are  fast and furious with tweets flying everywhere. I’ll do my best to summarize each chat (for a full transcript, check our board on Storify).

GalleyChats are held on Twitter the first Tuesday of each month. The next one is on April 1. Please join us (details here).

Below are the titles that rose to the top of the TBR lists as we chatted last week. If you haven’t received print galleys of these titles, check for e-galleys on NetGalley and Edelweiss.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (Scribner, May 2014; Audio exclusive from MidWest Tape), a historical novel set in occupied France during WWII, received high praise from a couple of chatters including Susan Balla, who called it “A once-in-a-lifetime book.” The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin (Algonquin, April 2014), a moving novel set in a small island bookstore, also received an outpouring of love from multiple chatters. Vicki Nesting said she wanted to reread it as soon as she finished, and it has received “Much Love” from 47 peers on Edelweiss. Scroll through those reviews; you’ll be convinced (UPDATE: it’s the #1 title on the just released April LibraryReads list). Selectors, stock up on this one.

 Kristi Chadwick said the intriguing novel set in a beehive, The Bees by Laline Paull (HC/Ecco, May 2014), was amazing, and during the January chat, Wilda Williams from Library Journal called it “a Watership Down for insects.”

Two science fiction/fantasy books received several mentions. The e-galley of Jeff VanderMeer’s second book in the Southern Reach trilogy, Authority (Macmillan/FSG, May 2014), was well received by Megan McArdle, who loved the first book,  Annihilation. The Macmillan rep reported the good news that the third book, Acceptance, will be released next September. Katherine Addison’s The Goblin Emperor (Tor, April 2014) was mentioned by multiple members with Jane Jorgenson saying it was the best fantasy she’s read in years. Addison also writes the Doctrine of Labyrinth series as Sarah Monnette.

Suspense thrillers were popular during the exchange with the third in the Keye Street series, Don’t Talk to Strangers by Amanda Kyle Williams (RH/Bantam, July, 2014), at the top of the list. Jane Jorgenson said  “It’s got good, claustrophobic, small-town feel – kind of reminds me of the mood of  True Detective (love).”  This has been a popular readalike series for Karin Slaughter and Lisa Gardner fans. Chevy Stevens’That Night and Chelsea Cain’s departure from the Sheridan/Lowell series, One Kick,(Simon & Schuster, August 2014) received nods from fans of their earlier books.

My personal favorite of the past month was Robin Black’s Life Drawing (RH, July 2014), a gorgeously written suspenseful study of marriage and betrayal. Not exactly a Gone Girl readalike but just as compelling.

If you read any of these mentioned books, please let us know what you enjoyed by either entering your comments below or in Edelweiss.

Happy Reading!

The growing excitement about The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin (Algonquin) has been quantified; it’s the #1 pick for the April LibraryReads list as well as #1 on the IndieNext list. The annotation makes it clear why:

“A middle-aged bookseller mourning his lost wife, a feisty publisher’s rep, and a charmingly precocious abandoned child come together on a small island off the New England coast in this utterly delightful novel of love and second chances.”

Beth Mills, New Rochelle Public Library, New Rochelle, NY

Also on both lists is Emma Dongohue’s Frog Music, (Hachette/Little Brown), which may surprise fans who came to the author via the wrenching contemporary novel, Room, as this one is a historical novel. Diane Scholl of Batavia [Il) Public library says it is “based on the unsolved murder of Jenny Bonnet, a cross-dressing frog catcher with a mysterious past. Set in 1870s San Francisco, this brilliant book includes impeccable historical details, from a smallpox epidemic to period songs.”

A thriller with a great title and clever cover (click on the cover an it to get a closer look at the skull; can’t wait to see it as a tattoo), The Intern’s Handbook by Shane Kuhn (Simon and Schuster), is also featured on both list. Nancy Russell, Columbus [OH} Metro Library, says it manages to be both “funny and romantic, too! In a totally quirky way, of course. You have to read it to believe it.”

Many of the April titles are available as e-galleys on Edelweiss and/or NetGally until publication date. Those of you going to PLA can also check for print galleys at the publishers’ booths.

If you’re a procrastinator (and, believe us, we KNOW who you are!), you don’t have time to hunt down dozens of sources to put together your schedule for PLA in Indianapolis.

The major programs are easy; they are on highlighted on PLA’s Daily Schedule, (Ann Patchett! David Sedaris! John Green!) but the session listings can be overwhelming. It helps that you can sort through by keywords and The Readers Advisor offers a handy rundown of R.A. programs.

Below are a our favorites.

Note: We’ve listed the children’s breakfast on Friday first because it REQUIRES advance registration, which you need to do NOW. The rest of our picks are in sequence by day and time.

Friday, March 14, 7:00 am – 8:15 am
Children’s Book And Author Breakfast
Convention Center, Sagamore Ballroom 6-7

Why this belongs on your calendar: For the free breakfast, but more importantly, because it features several children’s and YA superstars, including Rainbow Rowell and William Joyce. Full program listing after the jump. — SEATING IS LIMITED. RSVP HERE NOW. You will receive a confirmation email if there is space.

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Thursday, March 13th 10:45 a.m. – 12 noon
The Best in Debut Authors 
Convention Center, Room #103 – 104

Why this belongs on your calendar: All the authors featured on this panel are being published for the first time this spring, so this is an opportunity to learn about new titles and GET FREE GALLEYS. Several of these authors come with advance buzz. On GalleyChat, we’ve been hearing about  Shotgun Lovesongs by Nickolas Butler, (St. Martin’s; Macmillan Audio) and we’re particular fans of Natalie Baszile, author of Queen Sugar, one of the authors in our Penguin Debut Authors series (check out the enthusiastic Peer Reviews for it on Edelweiss). Full program listing after the jump. — RSVP HERE (for headcount purposes only; seating is not limited, but don’t be angry if you don’t RSVP and they run out of galleys!).

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Thursday, March 13th, 10:45am-12:00 noon
YA Crossover Panel
JW Marriott Indianapolis, White River Ballroom

Why this belongs on your calendar: Aren’t you dying to meet Gene Luen Yang, author of the graphic novel stunner, Boxers & Saints, (Macmillan/First Second), which was on the majority of the year’s best books lists? If that’s not enough, Laurie Halse Anderson is also on the panel. Full program listing after the jump. —  RSVP HERE. (for headcount purposes only; seating is not limited, but don’t be angry if you don’t RSVP and they run out of galleys!).

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Thursday, March 13th, 2:00 – 3:15 pm
ABC – Always Be Circulating: How Public Libraries Meet Demand and Increase Use
Convention Center, 500 Ballroom

Why this belongs on your calendar: The subject and the speakers promise a smash-up program. You’ll learn how to increase circ. through selection, RA and programming from a group of people who have enviable track records in this area — Robin Nesbitt, Wendy Bartlett, Stephanie Chase and Alene Moroni. Full listing in PLA programs.

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Friday, March 14th, 10:45 – 12 noon
Mystery Authors Revealed
Convention Center, Wabash Ballroom 3

Why this belongs on your calendar:  Features he buzzy debut The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh (RH/Spiegel & Grau, coming out this week, as well as favorite mystery authors Sophie Hannah and Jeff Abbott and FREE GALLEYS. Full program listing after the jump. — RSVP HERE (for headcount purposes only; seating is not limited, but don’t be angry if you don’t RSVP and they run out of galleys!).

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Friday, March 14, 2:00 to 3:15 pm
Doing Time with Sisters in Crime
Convention Center, Wabash Ballroom 3

Why this belongs on your calendar: For that clever title alone, but also to learn about trends in the hottest genre in libraries. This panel includes RA godmother Joyce Saricks and librarian (and GalleyChatter) Lesa Holstine, who writes the influential Lesa’s Book Critiques blog, as well as several Sisters in Crime authors. Full listing in PLA programs.

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