Category Archives: Conferences

TAKE ME TO TLA

Posted by Molly | April 17, 2013 | No Comments

Next week we’re exhibiting at one of our very favorite conferences of the year (shh, don’t tell anybody!)– the Texas Library Association Annual Conference.  If you’ll be there too, we’d love to meet you!  We’re HarperCollins Children’s Books Booth #2232, and we have so many fun things to give you!  Galleys, discussion guides, reading kits, smiles, stories– you name it, we’ve got it.

 

We also have some very very stellar authors at panels and signing in the Author Signing Aisles.  Check it out!

THURSDAY, APRIL 25TH:

11—12                   Peter Lerangis
AISLE: 3

11—12                   Chris Rylander
AISLE: 2

11—12:30           Jon Klassen
AISLE: 6

12—1                     Bob Shea
AISLE 12

1—2                       Patrick Carman
AISLE: 9                                                              

1—2                       Kelley Armstrong
AISLE: 7

2—3                       Kiersten White
AISLE: 11

2—3                       Melissa Marr
AISLE: 10

3—4                       Tera Lynn Childs
AISLE 11

3:30—4:30       Amy Krouse Rosenthal
AISLE: 3

 

FRIDAY, APRIL 26TH:

10:30—11:30       Seymour Simon
AISLE: 5

2—3                       Jarrett Krosocszka
AISLE: 9

3—4                       Jennifer Archer
AISLE: 4

 

We can’t wait!  And none of us have ever been to Fort Worth before, so if you have any recommendations, let us know!  See y’all soon.

SEE YOU IN SAN ANTONIO, IRA!

Posted by Molly | April 16, 2013 | No Comments

Later this week we’re heading down to one of our very favorite states, Texas, with some star authors, to exhibit at the International Reading Association Annual Conference.

Will you be in San Antonio too? If so, come visit us at HarperCollins Children’s Books Booth #3451!  We’re going to be giving out oodles of galleys, teaching guides, bookmarks, and other materials– with lots aligned to the Common Core State Standards.

Here’s where you can find our authors:

 

SATURDAY, April 20th

2:00–3:00PM, JANE O’CONNOR, Anderson’s Booth #1003

 

SUNDAY, April 21st

1:00–2:00PM, WALTER DEAN MYERS, HarperCollins Children’s Books Booth #3451

1:00–2:00PM, JON SCIESZKA, Anderson’s Booth #1003

2:00–3:00PM, SEYMOUR SIMON, HarperCollins Children’s Books Booth #3451

 

MONDAY, April 22nd

MO WILLEMS IRA Closing Keynote:
“A Hippopotamus Wouldn’t Fit on the Page and Other Reasons that Mo Willems Writes About Pigeons”
Convention Center Exhibit Hall D
Book signing immediately following

12:00–1:00PM, MICHAEL HALL, HarperCollins Children’s Books Booth #3451

 

Come by our booth and say hello!

2013 ALA AWARD WINNERS

Posted by Molly | February 1, 2013 | 1 Comment

The news is now far and wide, but we want to officially say– yahoo!  This past weekend in Seattle at the Midwinter Meeting of the American Library Association, six of our titles were honored by awards committees and we are beyond bowled over with excitement and pride.  Congratulations to all– to the authors, editors, fans, and champions of these books.  Every Midwinter we are so grateful to be reminded that the community we book-people live and work within is vibrant, supportive, and very, very much alive and kicking. We are all in it together.

• Newbery Medal Winner: THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN, by Katherine Applegate. (see our previous post about IVAN here, and our discussion guide here)
• Caldecott Honor: EXTRA YARN, by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen.
• Printz Honor: DODGER, by Terry Pratchett (see a special note from Terry about Dodger here)
• Schneider Family Book Award: A DOG CALLED HOMELESS, by Sarah Lean
• Geisel Honor: PETE THE CAT AND HIS FOUR GROOVY BUTTONS, created and illustrated by James Dean, story by Eric Litwin
• Morris Award Finalist: THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST, by emily m. danforth

All of our award-winning books living together in harmony.

Newbery Committee member Susannah Richards placing IVAN’s shiny sticker!

EXTRA YARN co-editor (VP and co-publisher of Balzer + Bray) Alessandra Balzer doing the honors!

Printz Committee friends giving DODGER their love.

Schneider committee and A DOG CALLED HOMELESS editor Sarah Shumway celebrating.

And Amelia Bedeila (did you celebrate AMELIA BEDELIA DAY?) wanted in on the fun, too!

Congratulations to all authors and illustrators honored with 2013 awards, and the biggest and humblest of thank you’s to the awards committees for their hard work, dedication, and the countless hours they spent this past year reading and discussing books.  Now we wish we could fast-forward to June and our official ALA celebrations!

ALA MIDWINTER, SEATTLE-BOUND!

Posted by Molly | January 15, 2013 | No Comments

We couldn’t be more excited to be heading to beautiful Seattle for the Midwinter Meeting of the American Library Association next week– where we’ll mingle with our dearest librarian and educator pals, make new friends, sing the praises of our upcoming books, become well acquainted with our umbrellas, and lure you into our booth with amazing galleys, posters, kits, and conversation!

Will you be in Seattle? If so, visit us in booth #2630!

Here’s a glimpse at a few of the galleys we’ll be shoving into your hands whether you like it or not:

THAT IS NOT A GOOD IDEA, by Mo Willems: Think The Artist meets I WANT MY HAT BACK meets The Pigeon! One day, a very hungry fox meets a very plump goose. A dinner invitation is offered. Will dinner go as planned? Or do the dinner plans involve a secret ingredient . . . ? A chorus of suspicious goslings beg for raucous audience participation, making this  a joy to read aloud. Mo Willems has cornered the market on totally fresh and subversive picture books.

THE GIRL FROM FELONY BAY, by J.E. Thompson: A middle grade novel set in hot and steamy South Carolina that deftly weaves an exploration of race relations into a mystery revolving around the concept of heir’s property. And it stars Abbey Force—a spunky young heroine we can’t wait for you to meet.  We would(humbly)  compare it to MOON OVER MANIFEST by Clare Vanderpool.

ELVIS AND THE UNDERDOGS, by Jenny Lee: Another terrific middle grade novel, this one tells the hilarious and poignant story of a sickly boy whose life is turned upside down when he gets a therapy dog . . . who can talk (bonus: the dog– a Newfoundland– sounds like Frasier Crane)!

SEVERED HEADS, BROKEN HEARTS, by Robyn Schneider: A worthy successor to THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER and John Green. This is about high school tennis jock Ezra Faulkner, whose life is irrevocably changed by a car accident. Ezra must re-examine everyone and everything in his life, and what he takes away from his misadventures is profound and memorable.

YOU LOOK DIFFERENT IN REAL LIFE, by Jennifer Castle: We are always absolutely delighted to read excellent realistic teen fiction—and this is it.  Jennifer Castle is back with a  powerful novel about five teenagers who struggle with friendship and self-identity while being filmed for a widely-acclaimed documentary film series that revisits their lives every five years.  And by 16, living their lives on camera has made them question if who they are is who they really want to be.

 

Want to hear the inside scoop on even more HarperCollins Winter and Summer 2013 titles?  Then visit our Book Buzz Event on Sunday morning– all are welcome, and we hope to see you there!

9:30–10:00AM
HARPERCOLLINS CHILDREN’S BOOKS 2013 TITLE PREVIEW
 Washington State Convention Center, Room 608-609

 

NCTE/ALAN 2012, LEAVING LAS VEGAS

Posted by Molly | December 17, 2012 | No Comments

We had a terrific time at NCTE and ALAN last month– dodging slot machines, searching for exits to the actual outdoors (fresh air! wow!), and ignoring the green glow of David Copperfield’s visage spookily projected onto the front of our hotel all night, every night.  In the midst of all of that, we had some real fun:

Chris Crutcher hangin’ with Amelia Bedelia, a pairing we thought we’d never see.  But it works, doesn’t it?

The always-lovely Rita Williams-Garcia signed galleys of P.S. Be Eleven, her sequel to One Crazy Summer.

After almost a week in Sin City, Penny got a little bit worn out, poor thing.

Leaving Las Vegas (yes, I’ll admit that my phone should have been totally turned off…)!

Thanks to all who stopped by our booth, said hello, picked up galleys, and talked books with us. Conferences are our favorite part of the job, and meeting the people who actually use our books with kids is the reason why!

VEGAS-BOUND: HCCB AT NCTE

Posted by Molly | November 12, 2012 | 2 Comments

 

Interesting fact: not even one of us on the School & Library Marketing team here at HarperCollins Children’s Books has ever been to Las Vegas.  Honestly, I think we were all a little afraid… but later this week everything will change, as we fly off to the desert for NCTE– the annual conference of the National Council of Teachers of English.  Duty calls!

Though we’re a little disappointed that Cher isn’t performing during our visit, we’re feeling very lucky to have an honestly amazing roster of authors attending with us.  Please swing by our booth (#520/522) for the following author signings!

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16th:

1:00–1:30pm, CJ Hill

4:00–5:00pm, Aprilynne Pike (signing galleys of LIFE AFTER THEFT!)

5:00–5:30pm, RJ Anderson

5:30–6:00pm, Holly Cupala

 

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17th:

9:00–10:00am, Terry Trueman

10:00–11:00am, Chris Crutcher (pick up a galley of PERIOD 8!)

1:00–2:00pm, David Gill (snag a galley of SHADOW ON THE SUN!)

2:00–3:00pm, Rita Williams-Garcia (grab a galley of P.S. BE ELEVEN, the follow up to ONE CRAZY SUMMER)

3:00–4:00pm, Emily Jenkins

4:00–5:00pm, Jon Scieszka

 

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18th:

9:00–10:00am, Patricia McCormick

10:00–11:00am, Thanhha Lai

11:00am–12:00pm, Rae Carson

 

Make sure to come by our booth for hot-off-the-presses middle grade and YA galleys, posters, discussion and teacher’s guides, bookmarks, delightful conversation, and more!  We would love to meet you and talk books, so please don’t be shy. I mean, look how nice and friendly we are!

OCTOBER PAGETURN PICKS

Posted by Molly | October 18, 2012 | No Comments

We’re back in the video spotlight again with our October book picks! (Did you miss September? Check them out here.) Our favorite thing about the conferences we attend is meeting YOU– teachers, librarians, specialists, readers, parents– and having those important conversations about what sparks interest in a reader.  We’re hoping to replicate that experience a little bit with these videos, and we hope you’re enjoying and finding them useful.  As always, we love to hear your thoughts, so please feel free to comment away, ask for recommendations, and contribute your opinion!

Molly’s October Picks:

Picture Books:
SEED BY SEED, by Esme Raji Codell, illustrated by Lynne Rae

Chapter Books:
PENNY AND HER DOLL, by Kevin Henkes

Middle Grade:
THE SPINDLERS, by Lauren Oliver

Teen:
TEN, by Gretchen McNeil

 

LILI WILKINSON, STONEWALL BOOK AWARD HONOREE

Posted by Molly | July 17, 2012 | 2 Comments

Back in January, the lovely and talented Lili Wilkinson won a Stonewall Book Award Honor in the Children’s and Young Adult division for her young adult book (and U.S. debut) PINK, a lively and resonant look at a teen’s attempts to don a new personality and figure out who she really wants to be.  What a treat to be able to share her remarks here, read at the Stonewall’s ALA Annual celebration by Lili’s wonderful editor, Anne Hoppe.

Now, on to it!

“Good evening. My apologies for not being here – Australia is a very long way away.

I’d like to start by thanking the Australian publisher of Pink – Allen & Unwin, in particular my editors Jodie Webster and Hilary Reynolds.

And if it’s not too awkward for her to read this out loud, I must also thank the wonderful Anne Hoppe and everyone else at HarperCollins. Pink is the first of my books to reach American shores, and you have given it such a warm welcome and loving home. Thank you for the gorgeous cover. Thank you for putting it into the hands of teenage readers. Thanks especially for your help in translating the book into American while keeping its Australian setting and flavour.

And of course thanks to my fabulous agent Kate Schafer Testerman, for working so tirelessly to find my books homes in the US.

The book is dedicated to publisher and writer extraordinaire David Levithan, and I wanted to take a moment to explain why.

Many years ago David came to the Reading Matters conference in Melbourne, which I used to help organise. David made an impassioned speech about how teachers, publishers, parents, librarians and other “gatekeepers” have a responsibility to help young people kill the vampires.

… This was pre-Twilight, I should add.

David was referring to a song called Die Vampires Die from an off-Broadway musical called Title of Show. A vampire, in this case, is “any person, thought or feeling that stands between you and your creative self expression.” They creep around and whisper in your ears, saying things like “Your teeth need whitening. You went to state school? You sound weird. Shakespeare, Sondheim and Sedaris did it before you, and better than you.” They tell you you’re not good enough, and you can’t help believing them.

One of the ways we could help young people kill these vampires, suggested David, was by making sure that every teenager could see themselves reflected on the shelves of their libraries and bookshops. And, in his opinion, when it came to books about gay teenagers, we were failing to do that.

The speech received a standing ovation, and I’m proud to say that the Australian publishers, teachers and librarians in the room listened, and since then things have started to change.

But I got to thinking. I’d read books about gay teenagers. Not many, certainly. But I had read a few – David’s not least among them. But I couldn’t think of any books I’d read about the teenagers who aren’t sure. And really, who’s sure about anything when they’re sixteen? I wanted to write a book for those teenagers. I wanted to write a book that said – there are some things you never have to definitively decide on. You don’t ever have to put yourself in a closed-off, past-the-point-of-no-return box, and you really don’t have to do it when you’re sixteen. It’s okay if you’re not sure.

So I wrote Pink.

Books about girls often don’t win awards. We focus a lot of our attention on getting boys reading. I visited an all-girls secondary school recently where not one book was studied that featured a female protagonist. And funny books with pink covers are even less likely to catch the attention of academics and awards judges. When you get home, have a look at how much academic analysis there is of authors like Meg Cabot, Maureen Johnson, Cathy Cassidy or Louise Rennison. Is it because their books are shallow and insubstantial? Cabot’s The Princess Diaries is about a teenage environmentalist who brings democracy to a small European principality. Just because a book is funny and romantic, doesn’t mean it has nothing to say.

Someone asked me the other day why all of my books feature strong, female protagonists. Confused, I repeated what Joss Whedon had said when he was asked the same thing: “Because you’re still asking me that question.”

I love writing about strong, funny, flawed girls who are curious about the world. I love writing romance. I love writing books that make the reader think, that encourage them see the world in different ways.

Which brings me back to Pink, and to my thank yous. More than anything, I want to thank the judges that saw fit to recognise Pink. It means so much to me that a funny, romantic pink book from the other side of the world is to be given such a prestigious honour, to sit alongside amazing writers like Brian Farrey, Ilike Merey, Paul Yee and of course Bil Wright.

The importance of organisations like the American Library Association, and awards like the Stonewall, cannot be overestimated, and as an author I am immensely proud to have that sticker on my book. It’s also lovely that it matches the cover.

My final thank you is on behalf of the teenage readers who have written to me and come up to me at schools and festivals to tell me how Pink made a difference to them. It’s a thank you to the gatekeepers: the publishers, teachers, librarians and parents who make sure that all teenagers are reflected on bookshelves. Thank you for fighting the good fight. Thank you for helping to kill those vampires.”

Thank you, Lili! We’re honored to be your publisher, and inspired by your words.

ON TO IRA

Posted by Molly | April 27, 2012 | No Comments

Even though it feels like we JUST got back from TLA (and more on that terrific show later), we’re heading to Molly’s hometown Chicago tomorrow to exhibit at the International Reading Association next week. Will you be there, too? If so, come by booth #2240 for our wonderful author signings (listed below) galleys, teaching guides, posters, bookmarks, booktalking, and friend-making.

MONDAY, APRIL 30TH:
1:00–2:00PM, Henry Cole

TUESDAY, MAY 1ST:
*9:30–12:00PM, I CAN READ GOES DIGITAL– swing by our booth Tuesday morning to take a photo with your favorite I Can Read costumed characters, see demos of I Can Read books on the iPad and Nook, and enter a sweepstakes to win your own ereader or tablet loaded with an I Can Read library!*

12:30–1:00PM, Jan Spivey Gilchrist

1:00–2:00PM, Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Peter Reynolds

2:00–2:30PM, Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campos

2:30–3:30PM, Patricia McCormick

3:30–4:00PM, Stuart Murphy

WEDNESDAY, MAY 2ND:

9:30–10:30AM, Laura Numeroff (do you like donuts? If so, make a point to come to this one!)

11:00–11:30AM, Jody Feldman

11:30AM–12:30PM, Rita Williams-Garcia

See you there!

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR ALA AWARD WINNERS!

Posted by Molly | January 26, 2012 | 1 Comment

Truly, our cup is overflowing. Everyone here is beyond excited and incredibly proud of our award winning books and authors, announced this Monday at the ALA Midwinter Meeting. An astounding amount of work, love, patience, devotion, and hope goes into each book that’s published, and we’re honored to be part of the process that helps carry an author’s dream from their heart out into the world. Let us share our sincerest congratulations to all of our recognized authors and illustrators.

• INSIDE OUT & BACK AGAIN, by Thanhha Lai: John Newbery Honor
• HEART AND SOUL, written and illustrated by Kadir Nelson: Coretta Scott King (Author) Award and (Illustrator) Honor
• THE GREAT MIGRATION, written by Eloise Greenfield, illustrations by Jan Spivey Gilchrist: Coretta Scott King (Author) Honor
• PINK, by Lili Wilkinson: Stonewall Honor
• THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS, by Rae Carson: William C. Morris Award Finalist

Thank you, terrific Newbery committee– your hard work is appreciated by us all!

We have a ceremony of our own back in our booth after the awards announcements, wherein we do a little drumroll as we place the medal on each book. And behold, it is very good.

And for your browsing pleasure, a few links to past Page Turn posts on our winners:

Past love for INSIDE OUT & BACK AGAIN

Our beautiful HEART AND SOUL video trailer

PINK reviews

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