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Children's Features

Children's Bookbag
-- 8/3/98
Carnegie Medal Announced
The 1998 Carnegie Medal, which is awarded in the U.K. to the most distinguished work of fiction for young people, has been given to Tim Bowler's River Boy (Oxford), which deals with a teenager's efforts to understand and accept his grandfather's imminent death. Bowler, who has worked as an ice cream truck driver, forestry contractor and translator, has written two other novels: Midget (published in the U.S. by McElderry Books) and Dragon's Rock. Two other titles were on the medal's highly recommended list: Fire, Bed and Bone by Henrietta Branford (Walker in the U.K.; Candlewick in the U.S., spring '98) and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling (Bloomsbury in the U.K.; Scholastic/Levine in the U.S., fall '98).
First Lady Plugs Girl Power Book

A title on Knopf's spring list, 33 Things Every Girl Should Know, a collection of inspiring words and graphics edited by Tonya Bolden, got a boost when First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton mentioned it during an appearance in Seneca Falls, N.Y., last month. The occasion was the 150th anniversary of the First Women's Rights Convention, which was held in Seneca Falls in 1848. The work of the convention's organizers, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, has been continued by six generations of women, including Cady's great-great-great granddaughter Elizabeth Jenkins Sahlin, who contributed an essay to 33 Things. Sahlin was present in Seneca Falls to sign copies of the book; in fact, she signed over 200 copies in a one-hour period. When the book supply ran out, the Visitor's Center of the Women's Rights National Historical Park took orders to accommodate the demand from attendees (more than 150,000 people arrived on the first day of the four-day anniversary celebration). Highlights of the First Lady's speech, including a mention of 33 Things, aired on Good Morning America and CNN.

Eerie Happenings
Fans of the Fox Kids television show Eerie, Indiana and its tie-in book series, which debuted last October from Avon/Camelot, are no strangers to strangeness. And with a new batch of Eerie promotions, Avon/Camelot hopes to welcome even more kids to a world of weirdness. This season, for example, Avon/Camelot will publish a special paperback, Halloweird, filled with suggestions for spooky, Eerie-inspired fun and games. In-store promotional activities will also be available for booksellers to use throughout the month of October.

In addition, word of the books is spreading fast thanks to several Avon/Fox cross-promotions. The Fox Kids Countdown syndicated radio show, heard on more than 200 radio stations across the country, recently gave away Eerie, Indiana books as prizes during kid call-in segments. Eerie titles were also given away by Fox Kids television affiliates during a recent promotion.Since January 1997, the live-action program about two boys who notice-and then try to set right-the odd things happening in their small town, has been a hit with kids ages six to 11. And the TV show has recently inspired a spinoff, Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension, also currently airing on Fox. Now the book series is set to follow suit; the forthcoming 13th title in the Eerie series, Switching Channels, will be the first to introduce The Other Dimension to readers. There will be four additional titles out this fall, published monthly through December.
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