Children's Galleys Up for Grabs

Booksellers scoping out forthcoming children's books at BEA will be pleased to find that publishers have a bountiful crop of galleys to give away. Here is a preview of some of the offerings available at the booths.

Galleys of five novels are being given out at the Penguin Group's booth (#425). Due from Dial is Lionboy by Zizou Corder (the pen name for a mother-daughter writing team), the debut book of a trilogy about a boy who calls on his ability to speak the language of cats to find his kidnapped parents. The authors received a seven-figure advance for this trilogy from its original publisher in England. Two other Dial releases are Richard Peck's The River Between Us, a novel featuring a teenage girl in Illinois during the Civil War; and Cool Moonlight by Angela Johnson, the story of a girl who is allergic to the sun and can only venture outside at night. Putnam's LBD: It's a Girl Thing by Grace Dent introduces three teens who stage their own concert when their parents forbid them to attend a music festival. And Carter Crocker's The Tale of the Swamp Rat is a Philomel release centering on an orphaned rat who is befriended by an old 'gator.

At booth #1201, Candlewick is handing out galleys of The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by Newbery Honor author Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering, a fairy tale starring a mouse who is in love with a princess named Pea. Also at this booth are galleys of Wilborn Hampton's September 11, 2001 Attack on New York City, in which narrative and photos present a chronicle of horror and heroism; and The Nine Lives of Aristotle by Dick King-Smith, with watercolors by Bob Graham, revealing the first eight lives of a kitten.

Scholastic's booth (#1400-1401) will feature galleys of The Beast by Walter Dean Myers, a novel of a boy who returns from prep school to find his girlfriend addicted to drugs; The Wolving Time by Patrick Jennings, in which a family of werewolves face prejudice and persecution; and The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly by Luis Sepúlveda, illustrated by Chris Sheban and translated by Margaret Sayers Peden, in which a cat makes three promises to a dying seagull.

Visitors to Houghton Mifflin's booth (#4336-4337) will find galleys of Serious Farm by Tim Egan, in which animals on a farm, where laughter is never heard, decide to take matters into their own hands. Also available at BEA is a limited-edition print promoting a spring 2004 book by Toni Morrison, Glory Day: A Pictorial Tribute to the Brown v Board of Education Supreme Court Decision, whose release coincides with the 50th anniversary of this landmark ruling.

Up for grabs at Little, Brown's booth (#1444-1451) are galleys of a trio of titles. The A-List by Zoey Dean is a novel set in the world of Hollywood glitterati. Sidekicks by Dan Danko and Tom Mason, illustrated by Barry Gott, launches a new series starring a superhero. And in The Code: The 5 Secrets of Teen Success, Mawi Asgedom presents tips for teens.

Giveaways at Harcourt's booth (#4536-4537) include galleys of four novels: Han Nolan's When We Were Saints, which introduces a boy who is led to believe he is a saint; The Afterlife by Gary Soto, narrated by a teen who dies after being knifed; Carol Plum-Ucci's The She, a thriller about a teenager grappling with the tragic death of his parents; and Trouble Is My Beeswax by Bruce Hale, the latest Chet Gecko tale. Hale will sign galleys at this booth on Saturday from 11:00-noon.

Three galleys are available at the HarperCollins booth (#4437). These are Zoe Trope's Please Don't Kill the Freshman, a first novel from HarperTempest that presents a high school girl's memoirs; Wasteland by Francesca Lia Block, a love story released by Joanna Cotler Books; and Leon and the Spitting Image by Allen Kurzweil, a Greenwillow title in which a boy creates a doll that he can use to control his teacher.

Booksellers stopping by Hyperion's booth (#1457) will find galleys of five forthcoming books. The Meanest Doll in the World by Ann M. Martin and Laura Godwin is a sequel to The Doll People. The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud, published under the Hyperion/Miramax imprint, launches the Bartimaeus Trilogy. W.I.T.C.H., adapted by Elizabeth Lenhard, is a Volo title that introduces five friends who use their powers to guard against evil. Due from Jump at the Sun are Linda Brown, You Are Not Alone: The Brown v. Board of Education Decision, edited by Joyce Carol Thomas, which compiles reflections, stories and poems by 10 children's authors; and Begging for Change, Sharon G. Flake's sequel to Money Hungry.

At Orca's booth (#1206) Son Nis Press is offering galleys of Nikki Tate's The Battle for Carnillo, the second title in the Estorian Chronicles trilogy about a boy who is banished from his tribe. The author will hold an autographing session at the booth on Sunday from 10:00-noon.

Pleasant Company (booth #1100-1101) is giving out galleys for three novels whose authors will do in-booth signings at the following times: Hallie's Horrible Handwriting by Valerie Tripp, the debut title in the Hopscotch Hill School series (Saturday, 10:00-11:30 a.m.); Yours Truly, Skye O'Shea by Megan Shull, a first novel about a sassy girl dealing with the ups and downs of daily life (Friday, 2:00-3:30 p.m.); and Saba: Under the Hyena's Foot by Jane Kurtz, a Girls of Many Lands novel set in Ethiopia in 1846 (Saturday, 2:00-3:30 p.m.).

Available at Roaring Brook's booth (#1619) are galleys of The Conch Bearer by Chitra Divakaruni, who will attend BEA. Set in contemporary India, this novel features a boy on a quest to return a shell with mystical powers to its home high in the Himalayas.

At HarperCollins's booth #4449, Zonderkidz is distributing galleys of Nancy LeSourd's Liberty Letters: The Personal Correspondence of Hannah Brown and Sarah Smith...Underground Railroad, 1858, the inaugural book in a series that portrays God's role in the history of the U.S.

The folks at Simon & Schuster (booth #4320-4321) are giving out galleys for a half-dozen novels. Three of these, released under the S&S Books for Young Readers imprint, launch new series: My Cup Runneth Over: The Life of Angelica Cookson Potts by Cherry Whytock, introducing a food-loving English teen; The Case of the Cat with the Missing Ear by Scott Emerson, illustrated by Viv Mullet, the first installment of The Adventures of Mr. Samuel Blackthorne, featuring two canine sleuths; and Flame by Hilari Bell, the debut book in a fantasy trilogy about three young people trying to save the world. Due from McElderry is Karen Hesse's Aleutian Sparrow, which centers on an Aleut girl during the Japanese invasion of the Aleutian Islands in World War II. The Crying Rocks by Janet Taylor Lisle, the story of a girl in Narragansett country who tries to unravel the secrets of the past, is an Atheneum/Jackson title. And The Reality Bug by D.J. MacHale continues the Pendragon series from Aladdin.

Visitors to Henry Holt's booth (#4126) can pick up galleys of Terrible Times, the final installment in the Eddie Dickens Trilogy by Philip Ardagh, who will be signing galleys at the booth on Saturday from 2:00-3:030 p.m. Galleys of Janet Tashjian's Fault Line, a novel that examines the gritty world of teen relationship abuse, will also be available.

Among the giveaways at Random House's booth (#1637) are galleys of Trickster's Choice by Tamora Pierce, a RH Books for Young Readers title that launches the Alianne series starring the daughter of Alanna the Lioness. Also on hand are galleys of a pair of Knopf books: Milkweed, Jerry Spinelli's first historical novel, which tells of an orphan in Warsaw during World War II; and Eragon by Christopher Paolini, a fantasy tale that introduces the Inheritance Trilogy.

Offered at the Abrams booth (#1357) are galleys of Susan Goldman Rubin's Searching for Anne Frank: Letters from Amsterdam to Iowa, which compares the lives of Frank and her sister to those of their pen pals in Iowa. The author will be at the booth on Saturday and Sunday from 2:00-4:00 p.m.

Available at the booth of John F. Blair (#4046) are a pair of galleys published by Banks Channel Books: The Anchor--P. Moore, Proprietor by Blonnie Bunn Wyche, a first novel featuring a teenage girl who runs her father's North Carolina tavern in 1764; and Daddy and the Pink Flash by Ellyn Bache, illustrated by Carol Tornatore, a picture-book tale about a father and his baby daughter.

And at booth #4937, Andrews McMeel is handing out color blads of MaMa Goose: Rhymes and Poems for Little Ones by Edelen Wille. Fran and Cheryl Glegg, creators of the Edelen Wille line, will be signing at the booth on Saturday from 11:00-noon.