EarlyWord

Arriving just in time for National Poetry Month (April, if you have been under a rock), is Poems to Learn by Heart, collected by Caroline Kennedy and  illustrated by Jon J. Muth, (Disney/Hyperion, 3/26/13).

Caroline Kennedy thrilled us with an anthology of her family’s favorite poems in A Family of Poems: My Favorite Poetry for Children, (Disney/Hyperion, 2005). She follows up with a delightful collection of poems that are terrific for memorizing. It includes old favorites like Mary Ann Hoberman’s Brother,

I had a little brother
And I brought him to my mother
And I said I want another
Little brother for a change.

Also included is A.A. Milne’s Disobedience that begins “James James Morrison Morrison Weatherby Dupree took great care of his Mother, though he was only three.”

Poems by Langston Hughes, Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson, join new ones sure to become classics like Jeff Moss’s If Little Red Riding Hood…,  a delightful imagining of how the storybook character would be instructed in the differences between a wolf and grandma by her dad.

We don’t have to wait all year to read poetry but it’s great to have a whole month to celebrate the reading, the sharing, and the writing of poetry. When and where? Everywhere! Try memorizing a verse or two while waiting in line at the grocery store, or a few short ones while waiting for those cookies to come out of the oven. Begin a class visit or a meeting or an assembly with a poem.

Try celebrating my favorite day of the year, national Poem in Your Pocket Day on Thursday, April 18, 2013. The idea is simple: poems are unfolded from pockets throughout the day during events in parks, libraries, schools, workplaces, and bookstores. Select a poem you love during National Poetry Month, then carry it with you to share with co-workers, family, and friends or on Twitter by using the hashtag #pocketpoem.

At Bank Street College of Education, we would paper the hallways of our school with children’s selections. Let us know your plans, projects, and suggestions for Poem in Your Pocket Day by emailing npm@poets.org.

Need a little help on the poetry front? There is no more practical or current guide than The Poetry Friday Anthology: Poems for the School Year with Connections to the Common Core, by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong, an essential purchase.

After the jump, more helpful titles

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Major media is lining up for a book about the CIA by Pulitzer Prize winner and NYT reporter, Mark Mazzetti. Titled The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth, it is embargoed until release next Tuesday (probably to give the New York Times the first crack at it).

Covering the hot topic of the day, it examines the use of drone strikes that have been referred to as “surgical” (thus, “the way of the knife“) and the consequences of that policy.

Coverage begins Sunday with a New York Times page one story and the author’s live one-on-one with Bob Scheiffer on CBS’s Face the Nation. On publication day, 4/9, the author is scheduled to appear on NPR’s Morning Edition, CNN’s Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, and PBS’s Charlie Rose Show. Later in the week, comes MSNBC’s Morning Joe and NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, among others. The next week, Mazzetti is scheduled for the Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

In addition, the first serial will appear in the 4/12 issue of the New York Times Magazine (online on 4/9)

“People’s eyes are going to bug out of their heads,” predicts Stephen King, about the CBS series based on his book, Under the Dome, for which he is also executive producer. The series doesn’t begin until June 24, but the “first look” trailer has just been released. The L.A. Times speculates that CBS released the promo early because they are “wisely taking advantage of the apocalyptic mania stoked by Sunday’s season finale of The Walking Dead.”

The producers told a crowd at WonderCon on Saturday that the series may deviate from the book, with King’s blessing, “He told us, ‘Really use the book as a jumping off point. Use the characters, use the themes, but don’t be afraid to go to new places.’ ”

It stars Mike Vogel, Dean Norris, and Rachelle Lefevre.

Tie-in:

Under the Dome, Stephen King
Trade paperback; 9781476735474, 1476735476
On Sale Date: May 14, 2013

It seems that CBS was also wise to go straight to series with this one, keeping it out of the network pilot season pile-up.Vulture writes that networks are dealing with over 100 shows, some scrambling for name actors (Christina Ricci recently walked away from the lead in Girlfriend in a Coma, based on Douglas Coupland’s book, delaying that project as NBC tries to find a replacement).

See our updated round-up of the pilots based on books.

The New Yorker‘s august literary critic James Wood gives Rachel Kushner a rave for her new book, The Flamethrowers, (S&S/Scribner; Brilliance Audio), just don’t be put off by the opeining paragraph which begins “Put aside, for the moment, the long postwar argument between the rival claims of realistic and anti-realistic fiction.”

He calls the book, “scintillatingly alive. It ripples with stories, anecdotes, set-piece monologues, crafty egotistical tall tales, and hapless adventures: Kushner is never not telling a story.”

Equally enthusiastic, but without the academic trappings, is Sherryl Connelly in the New York Daily News; “The Flamethrowers slowly and seductively becomes a novel you just can’t quit.”

Airing just before last night’s premiere of the new season of Game of Thrones was the promo teaser for another HBO book series adaptation, True Blood, season six, which debuts on June 16.

The trailer for Game of Thrones used the voice over, “Will it never end?” This one seems to address that question, warning, “…it is the beginning of the end.”

In a sense it is, since this is the first season without show creator Alan Ball at the helm. Not to worry, however, although HBO has made no official announcement, a casting call has gone out for season seven.

There is a definitive end to the book series, however. Charlaine Harris announced that the upcoming 13th title will be the final one, Dead Ever After (Penguin/Ace Hardcover, May 7).

The new HBO series is based on book six in the series, Definitely Dead. The tie-in edition arrives June 4 (Penguin/Ace, mass mkt pbk).

Now that Amazon has announced they are buying Goodreads, speculation is growing about what this means. Below are a few signal reactions:

Interview with Goodreads CEO Otis Chandler and Amazon’s VP of Kindle content, Russ Grandinetti, on paidContent raises many of the questions that people are asking, although answers are mostly variations of “we don’t know yet” and assurances that things will remain the same (the headline “First Do No Harm” comes from Grandinetti’s response to the question of whether Amazon reader reviews will migrate to Goodreads, “Our mentality here is to first do no harm, and make sure that if we’re going to do integrations, users genuinely find it to be a big benefit.”)

Tim Spalding, creator of Goodreads competitor, LibraryThing writes on his blog that he’s been “wanting for this forever” and expects publishers and readers will defect from Goodreads to LibraryThing

ShelfAwareness rounds up industry reactions

So far, we haven’t heard whether Goodreads members are concerned that Amazon may soon own their content.

There’s so many significant titles coming out next week, that it’s almost a relief to note that one of them has been postponed; Jane Goodall’s Seeds of Hope (Hachette/Grand Central), due to accusations of plagiarism.

The media will have plenty to choose from next week. In addition to the titles featured below, Debbie Reynolds and Maya Angelou release their first memoirs in years, Gwyneth Paltrow brings out a new cookbook and Marie Osmond writes about losing her son (an excerpt is featured in People magazine this week). But the lion’s share of attention will likely focus on Mary Roach‘s examination of the alimentary canal, Gulp.

All the titles highlighted here, and more, are list on our New Title Radar, Week of April 1

Watch List

Life After Life, Kate Atkinson, (Hachette/Little, Brown/Reagan Arthur; Hachette Audio; Hachette Large Print)

Reviewers are expecting a great deal from the author of  Started Early, Took My Dog, as evidenced by the fact that Janet Maslin jumped the pub date to review it in the New York Times this week. She calls this novel about a woman who lives her life over and over again, a “big book that defies logic, chronology and even history in ways that underscore its author’s fully untethered imagination.” It shares the #1 spot as an IndieNext Pick for April (along with Jill McCorkle’s book, which happens to have the same title), Atkinson is featured in the New York Times Magazine and gets an unequivocal “A” from Entertainment Weekly.

Reconstructing Amelia, Kimberly McCreight (Harper)

Also receiving an “A” from Entertainment Weekly is this debut which actually live up to the claim that it is “this year’s Gone Girl.” Excitement about it has been building on GalleyChat for months. Booksellers agree, making it an IndieNext Pick for April — “Throw out all the cliched superlatives! McCreight’s remarkable debut novel is about Kate Baron, a high-powered lawyer who believes that her daughter Amelia has committed suicide — until she receives the anonymous text — ‘She didn’t jump.’”

All That Is, James Salter, (RH/ Knopf)

Salter’s first novel in 30 years is featured as an “Exclusive First Read” on NPR’s web site, which describes him as a “writer’s writer” and notes “Salter’s deceptively simple prose…His sentences flow one to the next with a limpid inevitability that carries us along.” Entertainment Weekly, gives it a “B+”,  marking him down because he “opts for a panoramic view of [main character] Bowman’s life, bloating the narrative with minor characters’ backstories.” Still, it is the prose that wins the reviewer over, “the sentence-to-sentence craftsmanship is stunning, and Salter can still write a perfect love scene.”

The Flamethrowers, Rachel Kushner, (S&S/Scribner; Brilliance Audio)

The author’s previous title, Telex From Cuba garnered an enviable line in Carolyn See’s Washington Post review, ” It’s the kind of thing you should stock up on to give sick friends as presents; they’ll forget their arthritis and pneumonia.” It went on to become a National Book Award finalist. In anticipation of this, her next book, Maud Newton wrote in the NYT ‘Room for Debate’: I’m already gearing up to be annoyed if Rachel Kushner’s second novel, The Flamethrowers, doesn’t win something major.”  David Ulin writes in the L.A. Times that this book operates “…in the space between creativity and politics, the saga of an artist who travels from Lower Manhattan in the late 1970s to become immersed in the white hot center of Italian radical politics. Kushner is a vivid storyteller, worth reading for her sentences alone.” It is scheduled for coverage on NPR‘s“Weekend Edition” on Sunday.

Without a Summer, Mary Robinette Kowal, (Macmillan/Tor Books)

The third in series, a GalleyChat favorite described as “Regency romance with magic,” that will appeal to both fans of Jane Austen and those who find her a bit to stilted.  Check out what Ali Fisher has to say about it on “Uncharted Pages”

Media Magnets 

Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal, Mary Roach, (Norton; Tantor Audio)

In Mary Roach’s last book, Packing for Mars, she revealed how astronauts deal with poop in space. Will her new book deliver equally memorable moments? Tons of media attention is in the works next week, so we will soon be hearing about “poop transplants,” rectal smuggling and Elvis Presley’s megacolon. Hats off to the creative person in St. Louis who came up with the idea of a  “Dinner and Digestion” program, featuring the author. She is scheduled to appear on Fresh Air on Monday (which happens to be April Fool’s Day), and gets to again match wits with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show (see below for her previous appearance).

Instant Mom, Nia Vardalos, (HarperOne)

Wonder what happened to the writer and star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding? She became a parent, but not instantly as the title suggests. Here she recounts her efforts to become pregnant, what happened after she did and what her Hollywood life is like. Appearances are scheduled next week for the Today Show, The Katie Couric Show, and many others.

All You Could Ask For, Mike Greenberg, (HarperCollins/Morrow)

The cohost of ESPN’s popular sports show, Mike and Mike in the Morning, Greenberg’s most recent book was titled, Why My Wife Thinks I’m an Idiot, so his shift to what Kirkus describes as “chick lit, with somber overtones” is, as Booklist dryly notes, a”seemingly incongruous choice of subject matter.” It will be fun to see how this one is handled on talk shows.

Next week brings the inspired collaboration of Lemony Snicket and Jon Klassen on a picture book about childhood’s greatest demon; the dark. Many series continue, of course, including the 53rd outing of Geronimo Stilton, which keeps on giving first-time fluent readers the opportunity to zip through another adventure. In Young Adult, the second in His Fair Assassin series will not disappoint the legions of Grave Mercy fans.

All the titles highlighted here and many more coming next week, are listed on our downloadable spreadsheet Kids New Title Radar, Week of April 1.

Picture Books

The Dark, Lemony Snicket, illus. by Jon Klassen, (Hachette/Little, Brown BYR)

Snicket takes the ordinary childhood fear and elevates it as he gives voice to “the dark.” Caldecott winner (This Is Not My Hat) Klassen represents light and dark so that we “see” the anxiety yet understand that there is really nothing to be afraid of … Really.

Can You See What I See?: Out of This World: Picture Puzzles to Search and Solve, Walter Wick, (Scholastic/ Cartwheel Books)

The ninth title in a series from the creator of the I SPY books, who is a wizard, packing each photograph with interesting objects and clues for the younger set.

Easy Readers

Mia Sets the Stage, Robin Farley, illus. by Olga Ivanov, (HarperCollins)

I am thrilled to get my hands on more of the adventures of this dancing cat and her cohort. These emergent readers with limited language are some of the best new easy-to-read books.

Middle Grade

Genie Wishes, Elisabeth Dahl, (Abrams/Amulet)

Genie, the official blogger for her 5th grade class, is dealing with her own set of issues; a BFF who seems ready to defect. This debut will resonate with middle grade readers.

Write This Book: A Do-It-Yourself Mystery, Pseudonymous Bosch, (Hachette/Little, Brown BYR)

The readers who cut their teeth on Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events took to Pseudonymous Bosch with ease, delight and fervor. This entry into the series that began with The Name of This Book Is Secret is more of a “consumable” as readers are encouraged to participate in the creation of the story. Yet, if you are thinking about satisfying a rabid reader, this is a must-have (just catalog it as reference for programming or as part of your Writing Box program. You do have a Writing Box program? If not, download this Writing Box How-to).

Hollywood, Dead Ahead, Kate Klise, illus. by M. Sarah Klise, (Harcourt)

I have read everything by the sisters Klise since a special education reading teacher turned me on to Regarding the Fountain. Kirkus calls this one,  Number 5 in the 43 Old Cemetery Road, series that began with Dying To Meet You, “Another winner for this inventive series.”  Agreed.

Goosebumps Most Wanted #3: How I Met My Monster, R.L. Stine, (Scholastic Paperbacks)

A little creepier than the originals (these have real nightmare-inducing covers), but still embedded with humor. Must-have horror for the early chapter book readers.

Spy Mice series, Heather Vogel Frederick, (S&S, pbk reprint)

The Black Paw
For Your Paws Only
Goldwhiskers

Okay, I admit I missed this exciting middle grade series on its first go-round. Simon and Schuster caught my attention with sharp paperback repackaging. The first three — The Black Paw, For Your Paws Only and Goldwhiskers –are about the unlikely relationship of misfit Oz Levinson and spy mouse in-training Glory Goldenleaf as they embark on James-Bond-like adventures. Heather Vogel Frederick knows how to tell a story. Most librarians are familiar with her delightful Mother-Daughter Book Club series.

Young Adult

Dark Triumph, Robin LaFevers,  (Houghton Mifflin)

This sequel to last year’s Grave Mercy holds up to the first. A fantasy world of court intrigue and killer nuns. What’s not to like?

Like many library reference sections, Frommer’s print travel guides recently became the latest victim of Google. In this case, the link is even more direct, since Google actually owns Frommer’s (they bought the series from Wiley for $22 million last year).

The reasons may seem obvious, but Fortune explores them anyway and notes that other guidebooks may be under the gun. The L.A. Times objects that there are still places in the world that don’t get decent cell service (there’s a business opportunity; print travel guides for places without cell service).

Frommer’s continues as a Website, featuring the indefatigable Arthur Frommer’s blog. Long before Rick Steves, he encouraged Americans to travel, self-publishing his first book, The GI’s Guide to Traveling In Europe in 1955 and followed that with the first Europe on 5 Dollars a Day (cover above).

Libraries can once again offer Penguin’s ebooks to their users on the same day that the hardcovers are released, reports the Associated Press. Beginning Tuesday, libraries will no longer have to wait six months after the hardcover release date.

The AP further reports that Penguin’s ebook pilot programs with libraries have shown that the “effect of library downloads on commercial revenues has been acceptable.”

Libraries will be charged the same as consumers, but, according to American Libraries, Penguin is expected to impose a one-year expiration date.

This is the opposite of the Random House model, which charges more to libraries than consumers, but for an unlimited period. Since the two companies are merging, many wonder which approach will prevail.

NPR’s Fresh Air examined the passionate fights over whether the U.S. should enter World War II, with Lynne Olson, author of Those Angry Days: Roosevelt, Lindbergh, and America’s Fight Over World War II, 1939-1941, (Random House). The book releases today.

Olson says we may have difficulty understanding it now, but up until Pearl Harbor, Americans looked on the war as “kind of like a movie. … It was something that just didn’t affect them … most Americans, especially those who lived in the heartland — really didn’t feel that they had anything in common with Europe. They hadn’t been there. They thought this was a distant place that they really had nothing to do with.”

A book about The Searchers, a movie that even the author calls, “…perhaps the greatest Hollywood film that few people have seen,” hardly seems a candidate for popular interest, but library holds are heavy (although on modest orders).

Directed by John Ford, starring John Wayne and Natalie Wood, the movie is based on a true story of a woman who was abducted as a young girl by Comanches. Glenn Frankel’s book about the movie, The Searchers: The Making of an American Legend (Macmillan/Bloomsbury) was featured on PBS News Hour earlier this month and on NPR’s Diane Rehm Show yesterday. Director Martin Scorsese reviews in the 3/15 issue of  The Hollywood Reporter. 

The first poster for the forthcoming movie of Orson Scott Card’s SF novel, Ender’s Game (Macmillan/Tor, first pubbed, 1985), debuted online late yesterday and already fans are piling on to identify differences from the book. The appearance also caused the book to rise on Amazon’s sales rankings

The movie, directed by Gavin Hood and starring Asa Butterfield, Ben Kingsley, Harrison Ford, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin, and Viola Davis, arrives in theaters on Nov. 11.

The author of Eat, Pray, Love, asked her  fans to help choose the US cover for her forthcoming novel The Signature Of All Things, (Penguin/Viking, Oct. 11).

The results are in and the one on the right, which we were betting on, came in DEAD LAST (click on image to see a larger version).

Below, Gilbert talks about the aspects of the book that each cover represents and why she is delighted that the middle cover won.

A new trailer for the film adaptation of Max Brook’s zombie apocalypse novel, World War Z (RH/Crown, 2006), was released today. The movie was originally scheduled to arrive in theaters last December, but was pulled to re-shoot some scenes and is now scheduled for June 21.

The movie tie-ins include an entirely new audio with an enormous cast, featuring Martin Scorsese (yes, the director), Alfred Molina (Spiderman), Frank Darabont (creator of The Walking Dead), the author’s father, Mel Brooks, David Ogden Stiers, and John Turturro. Max Brooks returns as The Interviewer.

The novel is written in the form of first-person stories about the Zombie War. Unlike the movie, which is entirely from the point of view of Brad Pitt’s character, the audio stays true to the original. Many fans, who are already raising concerns about changes from the book, may find this a preferable take.

World War Z: The Complete Edition (Movie Tie-In Edition): An Oral History of the Zombie War
Max Brooks, RH Audio/BOT, 9780449806951, 0449806952

World War Z (Mass Market Movie Tie-In Edition) : An Oral History of the Zombie War
Max Brooks, RH/Broadway, May 21, 2013, Mass market paperback