In Brief: July 14

BookPeople in Austin, Tex., hosted a launch party for local author Jeff Crosby on July 2 to celebrate the release of his latest picture book, Wiener Wolf (Disney-Hyperion, July), about a dachshund that answers the call of the wild—if only briefly. The event included costume contests for both dogs and kids, the winners of which (seen here) won framed original artwork from Crosby. Food was on hand as well (hot dogs, of course), as were some actual dachshunds, courtesy of the Central Texas Dachshund Rescue. A recap of the event is available on BookPeople’s blog.

Late last month the Amulet Books imprint at Abrams announced the winner of its Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Comics Contest, which invited children and teens to submit original comics. Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney chose 16-year-old Chudney Patterson of Tinton Falls, N.J., as the grand prize winner (an excerpt from her winning comic can be seen here). Patterson won a $500 prize for her comic, and her school, Monmouth High School, received a $1000 prize. Patterson’s full comic, as well as those of the runners-up, can be seen on the contest’s Web site. The contest tied in to the May release of a revised and expanded version of Kinney’s Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book.

Author Alan Lawrence Sitomer visited Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles in late June to launch his middle-grade novel Nerd Girls: The Rise of the Dorkasaurus (Disney-Hyperion, July), as well as his online efforts to promote the book, which includes Nerd Girls: The Game, a free puzzle app available in Apple’s App Store, and the Nerd Girls World Web site, featuring videos, downloadable content, cartoons, and a newsletter. The book follows the misadventures of a trio of eighth-grade outcasts as they face off against the popular girls who torment them.