In Brief: October 13

Actress and author Hilary Duff has been busy this week promoting her second YA novel Devoted (S&S, Oct.), the sequel to her 2010 novel, Elixir. On Monday she was in New York City for appearances on Good Morning America and on MTV, and later visited Barnes & Noble in Tribeca for a book signing. Duff has additional appearances scheduled for Ellen, Chelsea Lately, and Piers Morgan Tonight, as well as bookstore appearances in New York, New Jersey, Los Angeles, and at the Mall of America in Minnesota.

Macmillan recently hosted actor/author Taye Diggs at its headquarters in New York City’s Flatiron Building to celebrate the publication of his first picture book, Chocolate Me! (Feiwel and Friends, Sept.), about a boy with dark skin and curly hair who is teased for being different. Diggs (r.), seen here with the book’s illustrator, Shane Evans, appeared on Live! with Regis and Kelly and CNN’s American Morning to discuss the book, as well as Ellen and The View. Both collaborators also visited Barnes & Noble in Huntington Beach, Calif., and Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville, Ill.

On October 2, Arthur creator Marc Brown visited Books of Wonder in New York City for an “Arthur Goes Digital” event. Brown read from and discussed two of his first digital storybook apps available through the iTunes store—“Arthur Writes a Story” and “Arthur Turns Green,” which were both released by ScrollMotion in August. Here, Brown (far l.) gives a demonstration on how to draw Arthur’s sister, D.W.

Kids Ink Children’s Bookstore in Indianapolis hosted local author Mike Mullin (and son of Kids Ink owner Shirley Mullin) this past Saturday to celebrate his debut YA novel, Ashfall (Tanglewood, Sept.), a post-apocalyptic novel set in the U.S. just after the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts. In addition to being an author, Mullin is a black belt in taekwando, and he demonstrated his skills, breaking a board with his foot. The book party also featured more conventional activities—reading, signing, and enjoying volcano-shaped cupcakes.

At an event earlier this month at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, author and children’s advocate Gina Otto kicked off a 20-city tour for her picture book Cassandra’s Angel, illustrated by Trudy Joost, which Otto originally self-published in 2001, and which is being released this month by Sterling. The event featured a live musical stage show, which will also be performed when Otto’s bus tour gets underway, taking the author and performers to bookstores, schools, malls, and libraries across the country. Otto sold more than 35,000 copies of the original version of Cassandra’s Angel, about a girl who gains confidence with the help of an angel’s message.

More than 100 guests came out for a recent launch party for Stephanie S. Sanders’s novel Villain School: Good Curses Evil (Bloomsbury, Aug.), first in a middle-grade series about Rune Drexler, a young villain in training. The event was jointly organized by Mattingly Music & Book Store in Newton, Iowa, and the Newton Public Library. Here, Sanders signs a copy of the book, which sold out at the party, for two fans.