Book Trailer: A Monster Calls (Candlewick Press)

A Monster Calls
by Patrick Ness, inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd
illustrated by Jim Kay
Candlewick Press | 9780763655594 | $16.99 | Sept 2011

I wrote about A Monster Calls in a preview post earlier this year, shortly after I first read it. It's still one of the fall books that comes back to me most powerfully when I tell others about it:

The two authors have created a novel that shares the hallmarks of both their best works: the story goes in directions that are simply not anticipated, and the tidal pull of emotion that hits the reader by the end is out of all proportion to what should be possible.

From the Candlewick Press web site:

At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting – he’s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It’s ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth. From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd-- whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself-- Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined.

Book trailer: The Flint Heart (Candlewick Press)

The Flint Heart
by Katherine Paterson & John Paterson
illustrated by John Rocco
Candlewick Press | 9780763647124 | $19.99 | Sept 2011

A really lovely book trailer for The Flint Heart, the enchanting new novel from Katherine and John Paterson, illustrated by John Rocco (who also did the animation for this trailer from his own illustrations).

I originally read this in manuscript with just place-holding unfinished sketches for most of the art. I got my finished copy of the book the other day and now I want to re-read it to better appreciate Rocco’s art.

More about the book from @CandlewickPress’ web site:

An ambitious Stone Age man demands a talisman that will harden his heart, allowing him to take control of his tribe. Against his better judgment, the tribe’s magic man creates the Flint Heart, but the cruelty of it causes the destruction of the tribe. Thousands of years later, the talisman reemerges to corrupt a kindly farmer, an innocent fairy creature, and a familial badger. Can Charles and his sister Unity, who have consulted with fairies such as the mysterious Zagabog, wisest creature in the universe, find a way to rescue humans, fairies, and animals alike from the dark influence of the Flint Heart? This humorous, hearty, utterly delightful fairy tale is the sort for an entire family to savor together or an adventurous youngster to devour.

 A robust and wildly entertaining fairy tale, freely abridged from Eden Phillpotts’s 1910 fantasy and wryly retold by Katherine and John Paterson. 

The Flint Heart (Book Trailer by CandlewickPress)

Fall Favorites Preview: Three illustrated readers from Candlewick

I've been doing a lot of advance reading for the Fall 2011 season this spring, and especially in the Candlewick list. My colleague at Abraham Associates, Steve Horwitz, and I were the reps who got tapped to choose the Fall CHIRP titles for Candlewick, so we got a very sneak peek at the Candlewick catalog proofs and early pages from many of their top picture books and readers. It's safe to say that I am very prepared to start selling their list this summer!

Here are three of my favorite illustrated readers from the Candlewick list: two amazing novels and one graphic novel based on the stories of three adventurous travelers who circumnavigated the globe.

   

A Monster Calls
by Patrick Ness, inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd
illustrated by Jim Kay
Candlewick Press | 9780763655594 | $16.99 | Sept 2011

Patrick Ness – only one of my favorite Candlewick authors, thanks to his epic Chaos Walking trilogy – has worked a magical new novel out of the final idea of the late great Siobhan Dowd, author of A Swift Pure Cry and The London Eye Mystery.

Borrowing freely from the Green Man myths and the typical teen issue novel topics of illness, divorce, school bullying and loss, Ness built upon the framework that Dowd started before her death. The two authors have created a novel that shares the hallmarks of both their best works: the story goes in directions that are simply not anticipated, and the tidal pull of emotion that hits the reader by the end is out of all proportion to what should be possible.

The starkly spooky illustrations by Jim Kay add to the punch the novel carries. This is one for the ages.

***

Around the World
by Matt Phelan
Candlewick Press | 9780763636197 | $24.99 | Oct 2011

Illustrator and graphic novelist Matt Phelan has created a charming and fascinating look at three historical figures who will likely be completely new to young readers. More experienced students of history will probably know one of the three: the famous early female reporter Nellie Bly. Other readers who come to the book with an expertise in sailing or cycling might know one of the other two: early wheelman (or bicyclist) Thomas Stevens or sailing captain Joshua Slocum.

The rest of us are treated to a beautifully illustrated graphic history of three completely original characters from history – three people who, each for their own reasons, made a heroic and seemingly impossible journey around the globe. Inspired by the famous Jules Verne novel, Around The World in Eighty Days, our story begins...

* Thomas Stevens, former miner and early bicycling enthusiast, sets out to cycle around the world in 1884 ... on a standard bicycle with a 50-inch front wheel!

* Nellie Bly, girl reporter, wagers her editors at the New York World in 1889 that she can beat Jules Verne's character Phileas Fogg, and make it around the world in 74 days!

* Joshua Slocum, fearing that his prospects as a sea captain are limited in the onrushing Steam Age, buys a small sailboat in 1892, spends three years refitting it and embarks on what turns out to be a three year long solo cruise around the globe.

***

The Flint Heart
by Katherine Paterson & John Paterson
illustrated by John Rocco
Candlewick Press | 9780763647124 | $19.99 | Sept 2011

I feel somewhat embarassed even having to tell you about this book - the pedigree, the amazing creators, the incredible package, the early buzz, the movie rights – it all conspires to make up what must be a sure thing on the Candlewick list. But here goes...

* Based on a novel by Eden Phillpotts from 1910, The Flint Heart tells a tale of an ancient Stone Age charm that grants the wearer amazing feats of power and persuasion and also curses the wearer with a flinty heart, taking away all compassion. The tale of the charm moves from its early prehistoric beginnings to a modern setting in the English countryside where a family of young children set out to save their family from their father's posession of the Flint Heart charm (with the help of a whole community of fairies, other enchanted creatures and talking animals). 

* The retelling is by our National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, Katherine Paterson (Bridge to Terabithia) and her husband, John Paterson Sr. (together, they are the authors of Consider The Lilies and Blueberries for the Queen).

* The book is illustrated by John Rocco, who previously collaborated with Whoopi Goldberg on her picture book, Alice, and might be best known for his covers for the Percy Jackson series.

* PW has already chosen it as one of the Big Children's Books of BEA for 2011.

* Movie rights have been sold to Bedrock Studios. The film will be directed by David Paterson, the Paterson's son who wrote the screenplay for the 2007 adaptation of Bridge to Terabithia.

Angela Sherrill picks Three Thrillers for Teens and Adults

I'm glad to welcome Angela Sherrill back to the pixels & pages of my3books, writing in with new perspectives on children's publishing & bookselling from her new job.

There are many readers out there who are in for the thrill of it.  As children they may have read Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys or any variety of adventure stories.  As these readers age, many make their way into mysteries and crime fiction (or romance), where they can get lost in the breadth of their preferred genre. Here are three contemporary favorites perfect for the thrill seeker in all of us, no matter our preferred genre.

   

Blink & Caution
by Tim Wynne-Jones
Candlewick Press | 9780763639839 | $16.99 | March 2011

How had I missed this guy?  He's got a slew of awards for his books. He penned sixteen rockin' Fraggle songs. You know, like the ones about Doozer flooping in the episode “Doozer is as Doozer Does”. 

My excuse? Like many others, I assumed he was I some way related to the fantasy queen Diana Wynne Jones.  My evil brain then created a narrative in which he got his book contracts based on his “wife's” reputation.  Therefore, the contents were likely rubbish.  I even made up an excuse why his name was hyphenated and not hers!

When I was told otherwise, I quietly dismissed the truths that did not fit my narrative. After hearing about the Winter Institute buzz over Blink & Caution and seeing a trusted GoodReads pal dive in, I gently set my carefully crafted narrative aside and picked up the book. 

What I discovered was a contemporary, literary thriller that pleases. Two young urban characters who foolishly chase trouble while fleeing from their own inner-demons win your support as you root for them to stop the cycle of self-deprecation. I was wrapped up in the story, but I was entranced by the writing. Often poetic, yet always on the move, my mind played a tug-of-war wanting to re-read and slowly swallow lines while at the same time find out what happens next.  You, too, will be wrapped-up and entranced.  With a stylish cover lacking in cliché teen images, you can proudly carry this one around with you on the train, plane, or beach. No one has to know it's intended for teens. 

Check out Elizabeth Bluemle's Shelftaker post for more TWJ (as you too will soon be referring to him) fan-fare. 

***

Flip
by Martyn Bedford
Wendy Lamb Books | 9780385739900 | $15 | April 2011

Here's an except from my early-read notes on the FLIP manuscript. Wendy Lamb was kind enough to let me  read the manuscript almost a year ago as she was brushing it up for publication.  I gave her a page full of glowing remarks.  Her practiced hand edited my most absurd comment, which I will paste here for my own amusement:

“If Annie Wilkes was holding Margaret Peterson Haddix hostage and forcing her to rewrite Todd Strasser's HELP, I'M TRAPPED series, you might end up with something almost as good as Martyn Bedford's FLIP.”

And, here's an excerpt from what The Guardian's Snork Maiden so deftly says about FLIP – in case you're the sort who likes a concise sensible review:

“This book is extremely gripping. It is fast-paced but still keeps you guessing and the plot is clever and unique, throwing you straight into the action right from the beginning. It's all about a normal boy who suddenly finds himself in an impossible situation, and has to find a way to get out of it pretty much on his own. Martyn Bedford is an excellent writer and captures the life of a teenage schoolboy brilliantly, with his writing style and dialogue. Alex appreciates the life he had so much more when it is suddenly snatched away from him. Every little thing he took for granted before, he longs for now. The book has an underlying message telling us to be grateful for the life we have because maybe it doesn't always seem that great, but at least it's ours.”

Ditto The Snork Maiden.

***

Acceleration
by Grahame McNamee
Laurel Leaf/Dell | 9780440238362 | $6.99 | May 2005

For a long time, I thought I didn't like thrillers. I liked emotional YA and magical middle readers.  I could do without criminal elements and murder mysteries.  The Edgar Awards were not on the top of my reading list. And then, I read this.  I was blown away and thought, “I do like thrillers, after all!”

Duncan works at the Toronto subway system's lost and found department over the summer.  One day, he comes upon an abandoned notebook only to discover the collected scraps and intentions of a psychopath.  He decides it is up to him to track down said disturbed person and save the unsuspecting victims.  I know it sounds unoriginal, but you'll be hanging on the whole time. If you've got $7 and a couple of hours you can't go wrong with this one. Tucked inside this mass market paperback is a real gem. 

***

ANGELA'S NEW BIO:

Angela K Sherrill is the Collection Development Manager for Children's Plus Inc., a children's book binder and distributer located just south of Chicago. She spent 8 years managing children's book at 57^th Street Books in Hyde Park and continues to coordinate the annual 57^th Street Children's Book Fair, a street festival that celebrates the love of reading and the joys of childhood.  

Three books that I almost missed the boat on.

The great thing about being a publishers' sales rep is that as each season of frontlist selling ends, there's a quiet reflective period before the next season begins.  There's always email, and the customer service side of working with my bookstores but I do spend a lot of that time puttering around the office with chores and projects, going through the next season's sales kits, and catching up on my reading.  

I usually like to focus on extracurricular reading (I spend the whole season collecting books that I hope to have time to get into during this less frantic period) but sometimes, as samples of the books that I just spent three months selling are published and show up on my doorstep, I will spot one or two that I somehow missed.

Luckily enough, I've found three books recently that I spent the entire summer representing but somehow, until I saw the actual finished books and started to read them, I missed out on their magic.  So here we go.

The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking #1)
by Patrick Ness
Candlewick Press | 9780763645762 | $9.99 | July 2009

The Ask and the Answer (Chaos Walking #2)
by Patrick Ness
Candlewick Press | 9780763644901 | $18.99 | Sept 2009

If you loved The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, and are ready for a new YA SF series that is just as compelling and thrilling; if you read Ender's Game and the sequels and hoped for another book with the same kind of emotional complexity and SF detail; if you like to be surprised and delighted when the novel you're reading takes a sudden turn and becomes So. Much. More. Awesome. because of the twist, you owe it to yourself to read The Knife of Never Letting Go.  And be prepared to dive into the sequel, The Ask And The Answer, immediately upon finishing Knife."

Without giving anything away, here's a little to get you started.  Todd Hewitt is a 12 (going on 13) year old boy in a settlement on a new planet - a settlement that has seen its share of disaster and disappointment since the settlers first arrived.  Todd is the last boy in the settlement - all the other boys have become men upon their 13th birthday and no longer have time to spend with mere boys.  A war with the native species of bipeds has left all the women dead, thanks to a strange virus unleashed by their enemies.  This same virus has caused all the thoughts of the men in the village to be heard by all around them - they call it The Noise. And the settlers are also able to hear the thoughts of the animals around them, as well. 

Todd and his dog Manchee discover a secret outside their settlement that sends them fleeing for their lives, and as his knowledge of the world they live upon expands, he discovers that much has been kept secret from him by the men in his village.

To describe anything at all about what lies ahead for Todd and Manchee in both The Knife of Never Letting Go and its sequel, The Ask and the Answer, would be to give away secrets that should be discovered by the reader alongside Todd.

Let me just say that I've found my new favorite books to handsell.

***

The Red Monkey Double Happiness Book   
by Joe Daly
Fantagraphics Books (Norton) | 9781606991633 | $22.99 | Aug 2009

Where has Joe Daly been hiding?  I'm pretty sure that if someone had told me about a young comics creator who was working on a series of eco-mystery comics set in Cape Town, South Africa starring a red-headed, monkey-footed comics creator with a deadpan sense of humor, wildly ethnic neighbors (who work hard to avoid being mere ethnic stereotypes), and a heavily stoned, moochy best friend, I would have jumped at the chance to read it.

Despite the over-the-top collision of elements I listed up there, what The Red Monkey Double Happiness Book really brings us is a tasty blend of cleanly detailed art straight out of Herge, hipster stoner humor and a couple of mysteries that work just as well in Cape Town as they would in the Los Angeles of Robert Towne's Chinatown or Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer stories.

Red Monkey is his second collection from Fantagraphics, the first being a 2007 book called Scrublands.

Fantagraphics is offering an exclusive 10-page excerpt from the first mystery in Red Monkey Double Happiness Book, The Leaky Cello Case.  You can download it here.