ThePen Is Mightier, But the Sword's Pretty Cool, Too
Themedieval-esque kingdoms from Kristin Cashore's novels Graceling and Fire likelyresemble parts of Bologna, making the Italian city an ideal location for aswordfight (staged, of course) during last week's Bologna Book Fair.Cashore's Italian publisher, De Agostini, arrangedthe "fight" to promote the Italian editions of her novels. Here, the author(r.) faces off against her Italian translator, Claudia Resta. Cashore remained inEurope this past week, and will be meeting fans and signing books in Barcelona and Madrid, aswell as traveling to Lisbon.Photo: Federico Borella.
NewHarry Potter Campaign for New Readers
Millionshave already read J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books, but kids who were tooyoung for them the first time around are just now growing into the books.Scholastic is targeting these new readers with its The Real Magic of HarryPotter Campaign that incorporates a new Web site(with quizzes and a glossary of Potter terms) and a sweepstakes (runningthrough June 1) for a trip to Universal Orlando Resort's The Wizarding World ofHarry Potter, which opens to the public on June 18. Also included are April promotions for retailers and Scholastic Book Clubs andFairs (including special signage and offers), as well as online and radiopromotions.
SourcebooksGets Fired Up
Morethan 150 people came out on March 18 to celebrate the launch of SourcebooksFire, a new YA imprint making its debut this spring. Books of Wonder in NewYork City hosted the party, which featured a performance by Tiger Beat, a YArock band whose members include author and Sourcebooks editor Daniel Ehrenheft,Libba Bray, Natalie Standiford, and Barnabas Miller (click here for a video of the band's performance). Seen here are the writers behind twoforthcoming Sourcebooks Fire titles: Diane Salerni (l.), author of We Hear the Dead (May), and Bekka Black,author of iDrakula (Oct.).
AGood Night's Read
LauraNumeroff hit the road this week for a tour of the northeastern U.S.in conjunction with Sleepy's Bedtime Stories, a campaign by the mattressretailer to encourage family bedtime reading. Parents who pledge to increasethe time spent reading to their kids can enter a sweepstakesfor a chance to win lunch with Numeroff. Numeroff is visiting Sleepy'slocations in New York City (seen here, with someexcited young fans), Cambridge, Mass., Arlington, Va., Baltimore, and Philadelphia. Numeroffgot a nice sendoff for her tour, too—her latest book, The Jellybeans and the Big Book Bonanza (Abrams) hit the New York Times bestseller list this pastweekend.
