Howe and Stein Pick Up ‘Please Touch’ Awards
Authors James Howe and David Ezra Stein were in Philadelphia this past weekend to accept Please Touch Museum Book Awards for Brontorina, illustrated by Randy Cecil (Candlewick, 2010), and Interrupting Chicken (Candlewick, 2010), respectively. The awards, now in their 26th year, are “given to books that are imaginative, exceptionally illustrated, and that help foster a child's lifelong love of reading.” Here, Howe (l.) and Stein stand in front of the museum’s carousel.
Launching ‘Divergent’
Debut author Veronica Roth celebrated the release of her first novel Divergent (HarperCollins/Tegen, May) at a launch event at The BookStall in Winnetka, Ill., a fitting location since Divergent is set in Chicago (albeit a futuristic, dystopian version), which has been divided among five factions that coexist tenuously. Roth (seated) is seen here with two fans as well as Harper rep Jenny Sheridan. Foreign rights for the book have been sold in 16 countries to date, and Summit Entertainment (which produced the Twilight films) acquired film rights in March. Divergent is the first book in a planned trilogy.
A Springtime Celebration of ‘Summer’
Children’s bookstore Books of Wonder in New York City played host to a launch party for Jenny Han’s We’ll Always Have Summer (Simon & Schuster, Apr.), the third and final book in her Summer trilogy, which began with The Summer I Turned Pretty. Since the third book revolves around a wedding, the event was fashioned as a summer wedding reception, with lemonade, cupcakes, and hors d’oeuvres. Han (second from l.) is joined here by members of a local YA book club (by day, they’re staffers at Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group).
Take Me Out to the Library
This past Sunday, author (and PW contributor) Sue Corbett visited the Great Neck Library in Great Neck, N.Y., to mark the close of the library’s second annual Great Neck Kids Read. This year, the program centered on Corbett’s middle-grade novel Free Baseball (Dutton, 2006), about a baseball-loving 11-year-old eager to learn more about the father he and his mother left behind in Cuba. Corbett, seen here in a Mets jersey along with team mascot Mr. Met, is joined by several kids in attendance and library staffers (l. to r.) Lisa Wu Stowe, Janet Gillen, Judy Axler, and Justin Fuchs.
