Meet the authors behind some of the adult, children’s, and graphic titles on PW’s radar.
Adult
Wednesday, May 24, 11:05 a.m.–noon
Elizabeth Acevedo, Family Lore
(Ecco, $30, Aug. 1)
Elizabeth Acevedo is the bestselling author of The Poet X, which won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature and the Printz Award, among other accolades. She is also the author of YA titles With the Fire on High and Clap When You Land. She holds a BA in performing arts from George Washington University and an MFA in creative writing from the University of Maryland, and she is a National Poetry Slam Champion. In September, the Poetry Foundation named Acevedo the 2022–2024 Young People’s Poet Laureate. Her first novel for adults tells the story of one Dominican American family through the voices of its women as they gather for a living wake to celebrate the life of one of their matriarchs.
Mitch Albom, The Little Liar
(Harper, $26.99, Nov. 14)
Mitch Albom’s numerous inspirational books have collectively sold more than 40 million copies worldwide including eight consecutive #1 New York Times bestsellers, such as Tuesdays with Morrie, the bestselling memoir of all time, and The Five People You Meet in Heaven. Albom is renowned as a journalist, screenwriter, playwright, radio and television broadcaster, and musician. His newest novel follows the stories of 11-year-old Nico, his brother, and their school friend who survive the Holocaust in their small village in Greece and find their lives interconnected decades later in America.
Alice McDermott, Absolution
(FSG, $28, Nov. 7)
A National Book Award winner for her novel Charming Billy, Alice McDermott is also the author of the Pulitzer finalists That Night, At Weddings and Wakes, and After This, and several other titles. Her forthcoming novel spotlights the experiences of two young American wives in 1963 Saigon. They form a wary alliance as they support their husbands’ work during the Vietnam War and take up the mission to do good for the Vietnamese people.
Kiley Reid, Come and Get It
(Putnam, $28, Jan. 9, 2024)
Kiley Reid’s bestselling debut novel, Such a Fun Age, was longlisted for the Booker Prize and was a celebrated pick of many book clubs, including Well-Read Black Girl Book Club, Reese’s Book Club, and others. Reid, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan, set her latest book at the University of Arkansas in 2017, where senior resident advisor Millie finds herself navigating intrigue and bad behavior when she accepts an unusual opportunity from visiting professor Agatha.
Moderator: Maris Kreizman
Maris Kreizman hosts the Maris Review, a literary podcast from LitHub. Her essays and reviews have appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times and the Atlantic. She’s also the author of Slaughterhouse 90210, which grew out of her popular Tumblr of the same name and explores the intersection of literature and pop culture. A former book editor at S&S’s Free Press, Kreizman has held previous positions as editorial director of Book of the Month as well as editorial director of digital content at B&N.com.
Children’s & YA
Wednesday, May 24, 11:05 a.m.–noon
Melissa de la Cruz, The (Super Secret) Society of Octagon Valley
(Disney-Hyperion, $17.99, Sept. 5)
The author of more than 50 books for readers of all ages, Melissa de la Cruz is best known for the Descendants books, based on the Disney Channel films, and the YA series Blue Bloods and Witches of East End. Melissa de la Cruz Studio, her recently launched Disney Publishing imprint, focuses on middle grade and YA books that will provide original content to multiple Disney platforms. As an author, she’s kicking off a humor-adventure middle grade series set at an exclusive high-tech institute.
Candice Iloh, Salt the Water
(Dutton, $18.99, Oct. 3)
Candice Iloh is a first-generation Nigerian American writer, teaching artist, and youth educator. Their YA debut, the novel in verse Every Body Looking, was a National Book Award Finalist and a Printz Honor Book. Iloh’s sophomore book, Break This House, was published in 2022. Their forthcoming verse novel focuses on nonbinary Black teen Cerulean and their efforts to make it through a challenging postpandemic senior year, become self-sufficient, and build a new life outside of the Bronx.
Karen M. McManus, One of Us Is Back
(Delacorte, $19.99, July 25)
Karen M. McManus is an international bestselling author of young adult thrillers. Her work includes One of Us Is Lying, which has been turned into a television show on Peacock and Netflix; its sequel, One of Us Is Next; and the standalone novels Two Can Keep a Secret, The Cousins, You’ll Be the Death of Me, and Nothing More to Tell. Her next book closes out the One of Us Is Lying trilogy
as someone unexpected returns to Bayview, bringing potentially deadly consequences.
Peter H. Reynolds, All We Need Is Love and a Really Soft Pillow!
(Orchard, $18.99, Sept. 19)
Bestselling author-illustrator Peter H. Reynolds—in addition to owning The Blue Bunny Bookstore in Dedham, Mass., and founding the educational media firm FableVision Studios—is acclaimed for his signature inky illustrations and hand-lettering and picture books with messages that foster creativity, bravery, and self-expression. In addition to his popular self-illustrated books like The Dot and The Word Collector, he has illustrated titles by numerous authors including the long-running Judy Moody and Stink series by Megan McDonald and the I Am series by Susan Verde. In his latest book, created with his young son Henry Rocket, two fluffy creatures, Poppy and Little One, inventory all the essential things they need in life—most important of all, love.
Moderator: Maria Russo
Maria Russo is editorial director of Astra Publishing House’s MineditionUS imprint. She is the former children’s books editor at the New York Times Book Review and coauthor, with Pamela Paul, of How to Raise a Reader. Russo has also been a writer and editor at the Los Angeles Times and the New York Observer.
Adult Comics & Graphic Novels
Tuesday, May 23, 2:20–3:15 p.m.
Mattie Lubchansky, Boys Weekend
(Pantheon, $28, June 6)
Mattie Lubchansky is widely recognized for their satirical political cartoons. The associate editor at comics magazine and website The Nib and creator of the webcomic Please Listen to Me, they are also the author of The Antifa Super-Solider Cookbook. In their new horror graphic novel, Sammie, an artist’s assistant who’s newly out as trans, attends an old buddy’s swanky bachelor weekend and is the only one who notices the murderous cult that’s staying at the same posh hotel.
Edel Rodriguez, Worm: A Cuban American Odyssey
(Metropolitan, $29.99, Nov. 7)
Cuban American artist Edel Rodriguez’s images have appeared in Time, the New York Times, and the New Yorker, and he has created more than 200 magazine and book covers. The 10 children’s books he’s illustrated include Sonia Sotomayor: A Judge Grows in the Bronx, and he is also the author-illustrator of two picture books featuring Sergio the penguin. His artwork, which he has exhibited internationally, appears in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution and others. In his graphic memoir, Rodriguez recalls his childhood in Cuba and his family’s passage to Florida via the Mariel boatlift.
Jillian Tamaki, Roaming
(Drawn & Quarterly, $34.95 paper, Sept. 1)
Jillian Tamaki and her cousin Mariko Tamaki previously collaborated on graphic novels Skim and This One Summer, the latter of which was the first graphic novel to receive a Caldecott Honor; it was also an Eisner winner and a Printz Honor book. Roaming marks the duo’s entrée into new adult fiction and follows three friends during a spring break trip to New York City in 2009 as they visit museums, eat too much pizza, and navigate a spontaneous queer fling.
James Tynion IV, W0RLDTR33, Vol. 1
(Image, $9.99 paper, Nov. 14)
James Tynion is best known for co-creating popular horror comics series including The Department of Truth with artist Martin Simmonds, The Nice House on the Lake with artist Álvaro Martínez Bueno, and the Eisner–winning Something Is Killing the Children with artist Werther Dell’Edera. His YA comics series include Wynd and GLAAD Media Award winner The Woods, both illustrated by Michael Dialynas. For 10 years Tynion wrote Batman titles at DC Comics, including the bestselling Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trilogy. His fall book, created with artist Fernando Blanco, launches a horror comics series in which Gabriel and his friends discover a secret architecture to the internet, the Undernet.
Moderator: Tahneer Oksman
Tahneer Oksman is an associate professor at Marymount Manhattan College, where she teaches journalism, literature and comics, and writing. She is the author of “How Come Boys Get to Keep Their Noses?”: Women and Jewish American Identity in Contemporary Graphic Memoirs and coeditor, with Seamus O’Malley, of the anthology The Comics of Julie Doucet and Gabrielle Bell.
Children’s Comics & Graphic Novels
Tuesday, May 23, 11:05 a.m.–noon
Ryan Estrada, Occulted
(Iron Circus, $15 paper, May 2)
Globetrotting adventurer Ryan Estrada barely escaped being eaten by lions in Kenya and fainted atop Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, among other close calls. Less treacherous pursuits including coauthoring, with his wife Kim Hyun Sook, the critically lauded graphic novel Banned Book Club featuring art by Ko Hyung-Ju; he also created the Student Ambassador middle grade graphic novel series with artist Axur Eneas. Occulted, which PW’s review called a “gripping graphic novel memoir,” is cowritten with Amy Rose, illustrated by Jeongmin Lee, and chronicles Rose’s childhood experiences growing up in a cult commune in San Diego.
Pedro Martín, Mexikid
(Dial, $24.99, $14.99 paper, Aug. 1)
Mexican American illustrator, designer, and animator Pedro Martín was an artist at Hallmark for 27 years and created the popular character Asteroid Andy. His new middle grade graphic memoir, which began life as a series of online stories, focuses on his family’s adventure- and humor-filled 1970s Winnebago road trip to Mexico to bring their legendary abuelito back to America to live with them.
Sharee Miller, Curlfriends: New in Town
(Little, Brown Ink, $24.99, $12.99 paper, Oct. 10)
Known for her works depicting Black joy, Sharee Miller’s acclaimed picture books include Don’t Touch My Hair! and Michelle’s Garden. Her illustrations also appear in the Shai and Emmie chapter books written by Quvenzhané Wallis and Nancy Ohlin. Miller’s latest launches her debut graphic novel series, which follows new-girl-at-middle-school Charlie as she’s welcomed by the Curlfriends, a group of Black girls who, though very different from one another, are as close as can be.
George O’Connor, Asgardians: Odin
(First Second, $21.99, Mar. 26, 2024)
Classic superheroes buff George O’Connor follows up his long-running Olympians graphic novel series about the epic lives of the Greek gods with a companion saga steeped in Norse mythology. O’Connor’s critically acclaimed graphic novels include Journey into Mohawk Country and playwright Adam Rapp’s Ball Peen Hammer. He’s also the creator of picture books Kapow! and If I Had a Triceratops.
Moderator: Stephanie Anderson
Stephanie Anderson is assistant director of selection for BookOps, the shared technical services collaboration of the New York Public Library and Brooklyn Public Library, where she manages the team of librarians who select and order all materials for the libraries’ circulating collections. She was formerly assistant director of public services at Darien Library (Conn.) and began her career working as a bookseller and indie bookstore manager.
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