In Brief: February 10

Author Gennifer Choldenko began her tour for her latest book, No Passengers Beyond This Point (Dial, Feb.) with an event at Bank Street Books in New York City earlier this week. No Passengers is told from the perspectives of three siblings whose airplane ride to their new home takes an unexpected turn. Choldenko kicked off her tour with a pair of presentations and a bookseller dinner before heading to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., with additional stops in Los Angeles, Milwaukee, and Chicago. She’ll arrive in the Windy City in time to attend (and speak at) a performance of a stage adaptation of her book Al Capone Does My Shirts at the Children’s Theatre of Western Springs (a company that Choldenko’s grandmother founded), which runs through early March.

The Northern California Children’s Booksellers Association recently launches a series of four quarterly workshops with an event called “Bring on the Buzz,” which focused on planning book events for children. Valerie Lewis, co-owner of Hicklebee’s Children’s Books in San Jose, Calif., hosted and moderated the panel, which consisted of (l. to r.) Tracey Daniels of Media Masters Publicity, educator and library commissioner Catherine Graham, and Daisy Porter, manager of innovation at the San José Public Library. “When the first thing that comes to mind is, ‘That will never work,’ turn your no’s around,” Lewis told attendees. “Picture your final, spectacular event and then work your way backwards. You can make it happen.”

Blizzard conditions didn’t prevent a dedicated group of SCBWI-Wisconsin authors and illustrators from presenting at the Wisconsin State Reading Association’s annual convention in Milwaukee last Thursday. Ten of the 12 presenters braved the inclement weather to participate in a program about school visits. Seen here are the 10 writers/artists who made it: front row (l. to r.): Ann Angel, Deborah Lynn Jacobs, Carol Schwartz, and JoAnn Early Macken; back row (l. to r.): Sandra Ure Griffin, Bonnie Leick, Renee Graeff, Jacqueline Houtman, Lisa Moser, and Laura Schaefer.

Author Jessica Burkhart marked the release of the 12th book in her middle-grade Canterwood Crest series, Unfriendly Competition (S&S/Aladdin, Jan.) at an event last month at B&N Tribeca in New York City, which was attended by tween fans of the series and their parents. Burkhart (seated) is joined here by Jill Stacom, who has served the cover model for the series, appearing on the book jackets as narrator Sasha Silver, an equestrian student at the elite Canterwood Crest academy.