In Brief: July 29

Cover Reveal: Cal Ripken Jr.’s ‘Hothead’

You’re seeing it here first: a month after announcing it had signed up Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. for a new middle-grade series, Disney-Hyperion has revealed the cover for the first book, called Hothead. Due in March 2011 and co-written with Baltimore Sun sportswriter Kevin Cowherd, Hothead follows Connor Sullivan, a star shortstop on his Babe Ruth league team who has a bad temper. For his part, Ripken is a fan of the cover, saying, “The cover does a nice job of telling the reader what to expect before even flipping a page.”

Chicagoland members of the SCBWI packed the house at 57th Street Books in the city’s Hyde Park neighborhood last Friday for an author panel discussion, entitled, “What’s the Worst That Can Happen?” The participating authors—(l. to r.) James Kennedy, Matthew Cordell, Julie Halpern, and Stephanie Kuehnert, with moderator Kate Hannigan from the SCBWI—discussed negative reviews, poorly attended events (which didn’t include this one), angry parents, and more. The authors also tackled less dire topics, such as how to engage readers and plan joint events with other authors.

At the ALA’s annual conference last month, educational wholesaler The Booksource named Simon & Schuster its 2010 Publisher of the Year. “Simon & Schuster exemplifies the excellence that we love to see in the publishing industry,” said Booksource co-president Neil Jaffe. “This is a company that is committed to publishing top-quality children’s literature and getting it into the hands of readers in the most efficient, affordable manner possible. We simply appreciate all that they do.” Seen here at ALA (l. to r.) are Brian Kelleher, field sales director for children’s and education/library at S&S, author Laurie Halse Anderson, and Jaffe.