In Brief: December 8

More than 350 fans came out to Barnes & Noble Union Square in New York City Tuesday night for Cassandra Clare’s launch event for Clockwork Prince (S&S/McElderry), the second book in her Infernal Devices series, a prequel series to her bestselling Mortal Instruments books. Attendees were also treated to an appearance from actor Ed Westwick, who plays Chuck Bass on the Gossip Girl TV series and narrates the audiobook version of Clockwork Prince (simultaneously available from S&S)along with Heather Lind. The third book, Clockwork Princess, will be published in late 2013.

This past Saturday, the National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance and the Cambridge Public Library hosted a free program called “The Exquisite Conversation: An Adventure in Creating Books” on the campus of MIT. The event featured several of the authors who participated in the Exquisite Corpse Adventure, a joint story originally published serially on the Library of Congress’s Read.gov Web site, and published in print by Candlewick back in July. Seen here, l. to r., are moderator Mary Brigid Barrett, Steven Kellogg, Susan Cooper, and Katherine Paterson (also appearing were M.T. Anderson, Natalie Babbitt, Timothy Basil Ering, Patricia MacLachlan, and James Ransome).

The New York City Transit Museum in Brooklyn was an ideal setting for an author event this past Saturday for writer Julia Sarcone-Roach, who discussed her picture book Subway Story (Knopf, Oct.), about a subway car that eventually becomes part of an artificial reef in the Atlantic Ocean. Fittingly, Sarcone-Roach, seen here with some of the children in attendance, was able to talk about her book in one of the museum’s vintage Redbird subway cars that were used in the creation of the reef.

Author Jason Pinter visited Bank Street Books in New York City last Thursday to celebrate the release of his first book for children, Zeke Bartholomew: Superspy! (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, Nov.), about a seventh grader who is drawn into a series of chaotic adventures after he is mistaken for a spy. Pinter is the author of the bestselling Henry Parker thriller series for adults. Here, a young fan helps Pinter approve cover sketches for the forthcoming Zeke Bartholomew and the Summer Camp of Doom, due out next summer.