A Double Hitter
While in New York City for Major League Baseball’s annual Jackie Robinson Day on April 15, Sharon Robinson, author of Under the Same Sun (Scholastic) and Jackie Robinson’s daughter, took part in an April 13 picture book panel event at Books of Wonder. Robinson was joined by Marc Brown, Phil Bildner, Barbara McClintock, and others. During the event, the authors and artists discussed writing and illustrating their books and met with fans. Robinson (l.) also attended Yankee Stadium’s Jackie Robinson Day festivities with her mother, Rachel Robinson, on the April 16 rain date. During this year’s celebration, the New York Yankees also honored Nelson Mandela.
Author Undercover
Debut author Marcia Wells celebrated the release of her middle-grade book Eddie Red Undercover: Mystery on Museum Mile (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), illus. by Marcos Calo, at Vermont Book Shop in Middlebury. The Vermont resident gave a talk about writing and signed copies of the book, which was chosen as an Indies Introduce New Voices and Kids Indie Next List pick for spring 2014. Guests also enjoyed cookies shaped like badges with the words “NYPD Red” written on them, in honor of the book’s protagonist, who assists the NYPD in cracking a tough case. Wells is part of HMH’s Middle Grade Mania campaign and she will be touring later this month with fellow authors Kwame Alexander (The Crossover, HMH), Kate Samworth (Aviary Wonders Inc. Spring Catalog and Instruction Manual, Clarion), and Audrey Vernick (Screaming at the Ump, Clarion).
A Big Apple Adventure
In the Harry Potter series, Polyjuice Potion magically allows the drinker to temporarily transform from one person into another. But for the fourth-grade winner of Scholastic Reading Club’s national Polyjuice Potion essay contest, being Ellie Atkins (center) is just fine. The contest asked students from second to sixth grades to write about who they would want to become and what they would do if they drank some of the magical potion. (Read Ellie’s grand prize-winning essay here). The Walkinsville, Ga., resident won a trip to New York to meet Harry Potter editors Cheryl Klein (l.) and Arthur Levine, and to go on a shopping spree at the Scholastic Store.
