On ‘Julia’
Foodies, film-enthusiasts and book-lovers alike are awaiting the upcoming movie Julie & Julia, adapted from the memoir of the same name by Julie Powell, about her experiences blogging her way through the recipes in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking (click here to watch a trailer). But HarperCollins is trying to make sure readers remember its own recent Julia Child-themed YA novel. Dear Julia by Amy Bronwen Zesmer (Greenwillow, Oct. 2008) follows an aspiring chef who writes (but doesn’t send) letters to Child as she pursues her culinary dreams. To re-promote the book, Harper is sending copies to food bloggers and sending select booksellers a cooking-themed mailing. In a starred review, PW called Dear Julia “hilarious and surprisingly moving.”
He Ain’t Heavy...
Three middle-grade and YA authors from Chicago have teamed up to form the Brothers Delacorte, aimed at promoting both their books (published by Random House’s Delacorte imprint) as well as reading among boys. The group, similar in spirit to the Delacorte Dames and Dudes consists of novelists (seen here, l. to r.) Adam Selzer (I Put a Spell on You), James Kennedy (The Order of Odd-Fish) and Daniel Kraus (The Monster Variations). The writers will be making joint appearances, including a visit to The Book Cellar in Chicago on August 26, which will also serve as the launch event for Kraus’s The Monster Variations. Kennedy and Kraus will also be on YA panels during the Illinois School Library Media Association on October 31. Additional info about the group (and some funny photographs) are available on the Brothers Delacorte Web site.
A Campy Contest
Author Brenda A. Ferber’s latest book, Jemma Hartman: Camper Extraordinaire (FSG, Apr.), follows the eponymous heroine through a tumultuous trip to summer camp. But while authors generally don’t want their books judged by their covers, Ferber has built a giveaway contest around the cover for Jemma Hartman, which features the bespectacled heroine on a boat. Having received some lookalike photos of girls who resemble Jemma, Ferber is offering a signed copy of the book to girls who look most like her heroine. Visit Ferber’s blog to see some of the photos and follow the contest.
S&S Gets Justice
Simon & Schuster’s Aladdin Mix imprint has partnered with tween-centric Justice stores (formerly Limited Too) to promote a different Aladdin Mix title each month, both in 900 stores nationwide as well as online. The first featured book, for the month of July, is LibertyPorter, First Daughter by Julia DeVillers. Subsequent books in the promotion will be Things Are Gonna Get Ugly by Hillary Homzie, Four Truths and a Lie by Lauren Barnholdt, DeVillers’s Trading Faces, Maggie Bean in Love by Tricia Rayburn and The Cupid Chronicles by Coleen Murtagh Paratore. An excerpt from Liberty Porter is currently available on the Justice Web site.
The Wiggles Tour for Books
Australia’s fab four for preschoolers, aka The Wiggles, recently set off on a 34-city U.S. tour to promote their newest album, The Wiggles Go Bananas—and literacy. At each stop on their Go Bananas Live! tour, the group is setting up information tables, placing Public Service Announcements and collecting new books for Reach Out and Read. According to ROR spokesperson Matt Ferraguto, the book drives have been very successful. The first stop in Everett, Wash., netted 900 new books. Other stops on the tour include: Denver, Los Angeles, Dallas, Philadelphia, Long Island and a final concert in Louisville, Ky., on August 30. Pictured here at their Seattle-area concert, the Wiggles are joined by Washington state ROR program director Page Pless (l.) and director Jill Sells (r.).
