James Rickards | Robert Kiyosaki

BOOTH
THE RAVENS SPRING 2020
823

®
FRI.
MAY 31,
Publishers Weekly’s Show Daily is produced each day during the 2019 BookExpo in New York.
2019
The Show Daily press office is in room 4B2. PW’s booth is #1213.

A L L T H E B U Z Z O N B O O K E X P O

Big Books of the Show: Literary Fiction

By Claire Kirch

© steve kagan
Indie booksellers are raving about what Paul Anmiryam Budner at Main Point Books in
Yamazaki, adult book buyer at City Lights Books Wayne, Pa., concurred: “It is so, so deserving of
in San Francisco, describes as a “rich season” of all the hype—it’s smart and suspenseful.”
fall/winter releases, with plenty of offerings in Budner also praised My Dark Vanessa (Morrow,
both fiction and nonfiction to please the most Jan. 2020), a debut by Kate Elizabeth Russell,
discerning reader. inspired by the #MeToo movement, and Such a
Especially popular is literary fiction reflecting Fun Age (Putnam, Jan. 2020) by Kiley Reid, a
contemporary—sometimes controversial— novel about a wealthy white woman and her black
issues. One novel in particular is resonating babysitter. Pamela Klinger-Horn, publicity/
with many booksellers: American Dirt (Flatiron, events manager at Excelsior Bay Books in Excel-
Jan. 2020) by Jeanine Cummins, the tale of a sior, Minn., is also a fan. She predicts that it will
Mexican bookseller and her young son’s attempt be “one of the most talked about novels of 2020.”
to flee to the U.S. to escape a vengeful drug lord. She is also excited about Therese Ann Fowler’s A
Store owner Jonah Zimiles of [words] Bookstore Good Neighborhood (St. Martin’s, Feb. 2020),
in Maplewood, N.J., called it “a stunningly pow- which she calls “a Greek tragedy for modern
erful novel,” while Jamie Fiocco, owner of Flyleaf times that is epic in scope.” Veronica Liu at Word
Books in Chapel Hill, N.C., said that it will “break Up: Community Bookshop in upper Manhattan
your heart and make you weep for joy.” And recommends Angie Cruz’s Dominicana (Flatiron,
Nancy Simpson-Brice, founder of the Book continued on p. 4
Vault in Oskaloosa, Iowa, thinks
that it is “one of the most signifi- Indie
cant books on immigration this
decade” and “should be required
Bookstores
reading for all Americans.” Grow in
Other novels with topical themes
that booksellers are anticipating Number,
include Margaret Atwood’s The
Testaments (Doubleday/Talese,
Profits
Sept.), the sequel to her 1985 Addressing the American Book-
classic, The Handmaid’s Tale. sellers Association’s Town Hall
Luisa Smith, buying director at meeting yesterday, ABA CEO
Book Passage in the San Francisco Oren Teicher underscored the
Bay Area, said, “This is the book ABA’s continued growth. “In
booksellers are most excited 2018, ABA saw 99 new indie
Nathan R. Congleton

about.” Smith is also buzzing about bookstore members open for

Red at the Bone (Riverhead, Sept.)
by Jacqueline Woodson, who she
said, is “at her most brilliant. She
also singled out Lara Prescott’s
debut novel about female spies
and the women connected with
Boris Pasternak during the Cold
War, The Secrets We Kept by Lara
Prescott (Knopf, Sept.).
business in 37 states and the
ON
SALE District of Columbia, which was
11/12/19 a 32% increase over 2017. In
Jenna and Barbara co-host addition, a number of member
today’s Children’s Book & stores opened new branches,
Author Breakfast and 28 established ABA mem-
ber stores were purchased by
SistersFirst.com
new owners.” The changes bring
ABA membership up to 2,524
continued on p. 5
LITTLE , BROWN AND COMPANY
BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS
LBYR BOOTH #1338 GIVEAWAYS & EVENTS  FRIDAY, MAY 31ST
TODAY’S AUTHOR EVENTS 9:00AM GIVEAWAY 9:30AM GIVEAWAY

BOOK
EXPO
BUZZ
BOOK

9:30AM “READ TO RESIST” PIN OFFICIAL MEMBER BUTTON

YOUNG ADULT AUTHOR BUZZ PANEL
WITH BRANDY COLBERT 10:30AM GIVEAWAY 11:30AM GIVEAWAYS
DOWNTOWN STAGE
11:30AM
BRANDY COLBERT ARC SIGNING
AUTOGRAPHING AREA TABLE 5

BOOK
EXPO
BUZZ
BOOK
PATCH BAND-AID LAPEL PIN
BOOKMARK

12:30PM ARC GIVEAWAY 1:30PM GIVEAWAY

11:00AM
MIDDLE GRADE EDITOR BUZZ PANEL
ROOM 1E12
12:00PM
BRIDGET FARR ARC SIGNING
AUTOGRAPHING AREA TABLE 9
1:35PM
MIDDLE GRADE AUTHOR BUZZ PANEL
WITH BRIDGET FARR
DOWNTOWN STAGE
NEW SERIES BUTTON

ALL-DAY RAFFLE

ENTER
OFFICIAL TO WIN
FORTNITE
PUBLISHER a FORTNITE
12:00PM
BOB SHEA & ZACHARIAH OHORA gift basket
ADVANCE COPY SIGNING
AUTOGRAPHING AREA TABLE 3

Follow @LittleBrownYR and @TheNovl

LBYR BOOTH #1338 for BookExpo giveaway alerts!

Limited quantities for all giveaways; while supplies last.

Three miles up the river Thames from the center of Oxford, some distance from where the great colleges of Jordan, Gabriel,
Balliol, and two dozen others contended for mastery in the boat races, out where the city was only a collection of towers and
DON’T MISS YOUR FAVORITE
spires in the distance over the misty levels of Port Meadow, there stood the Priory of Godstow, where the gentle nuns went
about their holy business; and on the opposite bank from the priory there was an inn called the Trout. The inn was an old
RANDOM HOUSE CHILDREN’S BOOKS AUTHOR SIGNING!
stone-built rambling, comfortable sort of place. There was a terrace above the river, where peacocks (one called Norman and
the other called Barry) stalked among the drinkers, helping themselves to snacks without the slightest hesitation and occasion-
ally lifting their heads Table 3, Table 8,
Tableto 5,utter ferocious and meaningless screams. There was a saloon bar where the gentry, if college scholars
count as gentry, took their ale and smoked their pipes; 11:30 there—was12:30 pm bar where watermen
a public 1:30and— farm
2:30 pm
laborers sat by the
11:30 — 12:30 pm
fire or played darts, or stood at the bar gossiping, or arguing,(Ticketed
or signing)
simply getting quietly drunk;
J.J.there
ANDwasCHRIS
a kitchen where the
MORGAN
landlord’s wife cooked PARKER
a great joint every day, with a complicated arrangement of wheels and chains turning a spit over an
JOHN CENA
open fire; andWhothere
Put This
wasSong On? called Malcolm Polstead. Malcolm was the landlord’s son,
a potboy
GRABENSTEIN
an only child. He was eleven
Elbow Grease Shine Elementary School

Art used under license from Shutterstock.com. Photo © Renell Medrano, Perry Hagopian
years old, with an inquisitive, kindly disposition, a stocky build, and ginger hair. He went to Ulvercote h
ho a
mile away, and he had friends enough, but he was happiest on his own, playing with his dæmon, Asta, in their canoe, on which w
Malcolm had painted the name la belle sauvage. A witty acquaintance thought it amusing to scrawl an s over the v, and Mal-
colm patiently painted it out three times before losing his temper and knocking the fool into the water, at which pointt they
declared a truce. Like every child of an innkeeper, Malcolm had to work around the tavern, washing dishes and glasses, s car-
rying plates of food or tankards of beer, retrieving them when they were empty. He took the work for granted. The only l an-
noyance in his life was a girl called Alice, who helped with washing the dishes. She was about sixteen, tall and skinny, with
lank dark hair that she scraped back into an unflattering ponytail. Lines of self-discontent were already gathering on herr fore-
head and around her mouth. She teased Malcolm from the day she arrived: “Who’s your girlfriend, Malcolm? En’t you u got a
girlfriend? Who was you out with last night? Did you kiss her? En’t you ever been kissed?” He ignored that for a long time, t
but finally rat-formed Asta leapt at Alice’s scrawny jackdaw dæmon, knocking him into the washing-up water and then biting b
Visit booth #1221 to find out more!
and biting the sodden creature till Alice screamed for pity. She complained bitterly to Malcolm’s mother, who said, “Serves S
Se
you right. I got no sympathy for you. Keep your nasty mind to yourself.” From then on she did. She and Malcolm took not
the slightest notice of each other; he put the glasses on the draining board, she washed them, and he dried them and took
them back to the bar without a word, without a glance, without a thought. But he enjoyed the life of the inn. He especially
enjoyed the conversations he overheard, whether they concerned the venal rascality of the River Board, the helpless idiocy
of the government, or more philosophical matters, such as whether the stars were the same age as the earth. Sometimes Mal-

rt used under license from Shutterstock.com

AND INTRODUCING

a new imprint curated by Christopher Myers

Visit the MAKE ME A WORLD booth in the Javits lobby to learn more!
BEX19_Ad_PWDaily_Fri.indd 1 5/23/19 10:17 AM
 BOOKEXPO SHOW DAILY

Foot traffic was up noticeably yesterday, and lines of people waiting for book signings
wrapped around more than a few booths.
© steve kagan
all photos on p . 4 & 5
New York Times Book Review editors Pamela Paul (l.) and Maria Russo (r.) take a break
from their day job writing about books to talk about their book, How to Raise a Reader
(Workman), with CBS Sunday Morning host Jane Pauley.

Jason Reynolds had a long line of fans waiting for Sit, Dog Man. Good boy. Dav Pilkey signs limited edition prints of Dog Man:
signed copies of Look Both Ways (Atheneum/Dlouhy). For Whom the Ball Rolls (Scholastic/Graphix), due out in August.
Perennial BookExpo favorite Rick Riordan, at the
Disney booth.

Big Books of the show, continued from p. 1

Life as a comedian is a
lot of things, but fun
isn’t always one of
them, as funnyman
John Hodgman
revealed in a discus-
sion of his forthcom-
ing memoir, Medallion
Sept.), another tale about immigrants to the U.S. And City Lights’ Yamazaki
says that Ta-Nehisi Coates’s debut novel deconstructing myths of the Con-
federacy, The Water Dancer (One World, Sept.), is “an amazing piece of
American literature.”
Novels with magical elements are also pulling in booksellers. Vivien Jen-
nings of Rainy Day Books in Fairway, Kans., is eager for Erin Morgenstern’s
sophomore effort, The Starless Sea (Doubleday, Nov.), calling Morgenstern
© steve kagan

Status: True Stories

from Secret Rooms
(Viking).

Publisher: Joe Murray

Editors: Liz Hartman and Judith Rosen
Managing Editors: Jim Milliot, Sonia Jaffe Robbins, Jonathan Segura
Art Director: Clive Chiu
Photographer: Steve Kagan
Staff Reporters:  Andrew Albanese, Amanda Bruns, Matia Burnett, Louisa Er-
melino, Alex Green, Emma Kantor, Claire Kirch, John Maher, Ed Nawotka, Calvin
Reid, Diane Roback, Emma Wenner
Contributing Writers: Alia Akkam, Brigid Alverson, Jason Boog, Lucinda
Dyer, Sara Grochowski, Hilary S. Kayle, Daniel Lefferts, Beth Levine, Sally Lodge,
Shannon Maughan, Diane Patrick, Chad Post, Jeremy Solomons, D.A. Stern 
Audience Development Coordinator: Marian Amo
Web Editor: David Varno
Production Managers: Catherine Fick, Michele Piscitelli
Technology: Vishnu Kulkarni Jeanine Cummins signs copies of American Dirt (Flatiron, Jan.), the novel booksellers were
most excited about at the show.

www.bookexpo.com
4
 FRIDAY, MAY 31 , 2019

“such an original voice.” She said that the store sold hundreds of copies of
PW Awards

© steve kagan
Morgenstern’s debut, The Night Circus. “This is exactly what our customers
want—an escape,” Jennings said. “Erin is so talented at keeping readers At yesterday’s ceremony for
guessing, and, oh, her imagination.” Ann Patchett’s dark fairy tale, The the ABA Indie Choice Awards
Dutch House (Harper, Sept.), about two siblings cast out from their home on the Choice Stage, Jim
by their wicked stepmother, is also blowing away booksellers. Anne Holman Milliot, v-p, editorial director
of PW, presented this year’s
of the King’s English Bookstore in Salt Lake City calls it “fantastic—the
winners of the PW Awards.
brother’s and sister’s voices are unique and wonderful.” Rebecca Fitting, Cindy Heidemann (r.), a PGW
co-owner of Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn, is loving A Tall History of Sugar and Two Rivers rep in the
(Akashic, Oct.) by Curdella Forbes, calling it a “magical, melodic folkloric fairy Northwest, was named the
tale” set in Jamaica. 2019 PW Sales Rep of the Year.
Hilary and Michael Gustafson
Regarding nonfiction, biographies and memoirs are most exciting to book-
(author of Notes from a Public
sellers this year, beginning with Edison (Random House, Oct.) by Edmund Typewriter), who founded
Morris, clocking in at 700 pages. Smith at Book Passage declares the door- Literati Bookstore in Ann
stopper to be “comprehensive and stunning. Edison comes alive on these Arbor, Mich., six years ago,
pages and is as remarkable as you imagine.” Smith is also celebrating the received the 2019 PW Book-
store of the Year Award
memoir Prince was working on when he died three years ago, The Beautiful
(below).
Ones (Spiegel & Grau, Oct.), calling it “one last gift from one of the greatest

© steve kagan
artists of all time.” She is also looking forward to Patti Smith’s memoir of
traveling out West with Sam Shepard, Year of the Monkey (Knopf, Sept.),
saying that the singer/songwriter/author is “an indie bookstore favorite.”
Jennings at Rainy Day also praised Edison and is just as excited about Travel
Light, Move Fast by Alexandra Fuller (Penguin, Aug.), a memoir of Fuller’s
father, Tim. Jennings says she has been looking forward to such a book since
reading about his “well-lived life” in Fuller’s Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight.
While there is an outpouring of compelling works this fall and winter, a
most intriguing book, mentioned by several booksellers, is Hollow Kingdom
by Kira Jane Buxton (Grand Central, Aug.). Narrated by a crow after what
Budner, at Main Point Books, described as “a viral zombie apocalypse” has
killed off humanity, “it is,” Holman, of the King’s English, adds, “the human
apocalypse as only a crow can tell it.

Indie Bookstores, continued from p. 1

locations, representing 1,887 companies.

© steve kagan

Teicher went on to note that indie booksellers through ABA, Teicher said, “We
are realizing higher net profits, according to the assure you we are doing all we can
organization’s latest ABACUS membership survey. to work with other book associa-
This was spurred, in part, by higher sales. “Based tions to negotiate health coverage
on the data we get every week from NPD BookScan, in a cost effective way.” He added,
sales for 2018 among ABA member stores “We’re optimistic, but honest.”
increased nearly 5% over 2017, and the com- And he suggested that there is still
pound annual growth rate in the indie bookstore a ways to go.
channel over the past five years is a very healthy The ongoing question of when
7.5%,” he said. However, he noted, bookstore BATCH, a centralized invoicing
sales as compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau were system, would be introduced was
down 8.4% for the first quarter of 2019. not answered directly. A represen-
Despite the good news, booksellers raised ques- tative from BATCH said that a
tions about challenges facing the industry, includ- demo is available, and a promise
ing minimum wage hikes across the country. Out- was made that booksellers will be
going ABA president Robert Sindelar of Seattle’s Robert Sindelar (l.), outgoing president of the ABA, with Oren Teicher, ABA able to “ease into” using the
Third Place Books said that the increase in profits CEO, at the annual Town Hall yesterday. system.
at bookstores was actually “being eaten away by payroll.” The solution, he Matt Norcross of McLean and Eakin Booksellers in Petosky, Mich., pro-
said, is to communicate the realities of being a bookseller with publishers, tested the increase in direct-to-consumer marketing by publishers. “When
who are invested in the survival of the ecosystem. Publishers need to work I complain to them about it, they tell me I am the only one,” he said. After
with bookstores to make them more profitable. asking for a show of hands as to how many others don’t like it, nearly
One solution, which has long been floated, is for publishers to take prices every bookseller registered their discontent with the practice, which
off books and allow booksellers to set their own prices. When Pete Mulvihill extends to publishers’ direct event marketing programs and direct-to-
of Green Apple Books in San Francisco took a straw poll of the audience of business sales.
those in favor and those against eliminating printed prices, the response Finally, Teicher noted that the ABA is working on an industry statement
was heavily in favor of keeping preprinted prices. He then joked that the addressing new tariffs on Chinese imports, which will say that any tariffs
answer was “getting 10 more points from publishers.” resulting in an increase in the cost of books is not good for the business of
In response to a question about healthcare options being negotiated bookselling.  —Ed Nawotka
5 www.bookexpo.com
 BOOKEXPO SHOW DAILY

BOOTH
Bookstores Crucial to Publish-
#1239
ing, Industry Powerhouses Say

© steve kagan
(From l.) Tim Mantel, Barnes & Noble CMO; Oren Teicher, ABA CEO; Madeline McIntosh, Pen-
guin Random House CEO; Dennis E. Abboud, Readerlink president and CEO; Lynn Neary, NPR
arts correspondent and panel moderator; Dominique Raccah, Sourcebooks publisher & CEO.

Publishing industry leaders made a strong declaration about the centrality

of bricks-and-mortar retail to the publishing industry during yesterday’s

Visit booth #1239 for author signings,

“The Power of Retail” session. While acknowledging the enormous market
share that Amazon claims, panelists pointed to market data showing strong
giveaways, and to pick up a tote bag*! retail and print preferences among millennials and Generation Z, and pro-
claimed physical retailers the dominant force in the industry for
discoverability.
Dennis Abboud, president and CEO of Readerlink, a distributor to non-
9:00am trade booksellers (e.g., Target), said there is a strong ecosystem between the
Tote bag giveaway general retailers his company services and stores, including Barnes & Noble
and independent booksellers. “We service 718 retail chains that have 80,000
storefronts and see 500 million readers each month. When [those readers]
10:00am
find a book they like and want to go into the backlist, they go into their local
Author Signing: bookstores,” said Abboud. He backed his claim with data showing that even
Andrew Shaffer when millennial buyers buy products online, 40% opt for in-store pickup.
While the assessment may seem unexpected, Sourcebooks publisher and
Hope Rides Again
CEO Dominique Raccah was definitive in her view. Ten years ago, she expected
(on sale: 7/9/19) “that YA was going to flip and that the whole category was going to be
70%–80% e-books because these kids are all on their devices all the time.”
Instead, she said, “YA is 25% e-books, max.”
NPR correspondent Lynn Neary, the moderator, credited the American
1:00pm Booksellers Association for its early role as a proponent of localism. “It’s still
tough out there,” said ABA CEO Oren Teicher, but added that indie book-
Author Signing: stores are well positioned to give readers something that internet competi-
Ian Doescher & tion cannot. “They can sell an experience, they can sell a connection to their
Jacopo Della Quercia community, they can sell a knowledge and passion about books that goes
MacTrump beyond reading itself.”
Tim Mantel, Barnes & Noble’s chief merchandising officer, said the com-
(on sale: October 1, 2019)
pany is investing in events that create an experience for readers. A recent
nationwide Kids Book Hangout initiative drew 13,000 young readers to
B&N locations. Mantel called it “a great outpouring of kids who like to read
wanting to be around kids who like to read.” All of the panelists agreed that
social media and data are helping drive readers to bookstores. Madeline
McIntosh, CEO of Penguin Random House U.S., said that the company is
keenly aware that readers want “authentic engagement” and is investing in
creating nonauthor events that bring readers together in bookstores. “The
bookstore feels like a really good, safe place to do that,” said McIntosh. She
*While supplies last
added that more collaborative relationships between publishers and physi-
cal retailers has increased the importance of sales reps, who were also seen
quirkbooks.com | /quirkbooks
to be in the crosshairs of a changing industry only a handful of years ago.
Raccah summed up the views of the panel in an exclamation to the audi-
ence. “Guys, it’s not what we expected, and it’s great.”  —Alex Green
www.bookexpo.com
6
MEET THE AUTHORS TODAY—MAY 31!
The Best Book Signings Are at

s
Sourcebooks Booth #1629

o
o rc b
9:00 a.m. Amy McCulloch,
Jinxed

“A LITTLE BIT GOLDEN COMPASS, A LITTLE

BIT HUNGER GAMES, and all adventure!”
—Amie Kaufman,
New York Times bestselling author
Credit: Marte L. Rekke

10:30 a.m. Kimberly Jones

and Gilly Segal,
I’m Not Dying with You Tonight

“A VITAL ADDITION to the

YA race relations canon.”
—Nic Stone,
New York Times bestselling Credit: Credit:
author of Dear Martin Vania Stoyonova Uchechi Anusiem

12:00 p.m. Dan Haring and

MarcyKate Connolly,
The Star Shepherd

A CHILLING MIDDLE-GRADE
FANTASY about a boy’s race
to save the stars before their
Credit: Ryan Scott Miller Credit:
Photography Cheryl Colombo light is extinguished for good.

1:30 p.m. Raj Halder,

Chris Carpenter, and
Maria Beddia,
P Is for Pterodactyl
THE NEW YORK TIMES
BESTSELLING WORST
ALPHABET BOOK EVER!
 BOOKEXPO SHOW DAILY

Kids Booksellers Pick Their Stars

This year’s BookExpo boasts a slew of can’t-miss
galleys by both esteemed and emerging authors,
in a variety of genres and formats. Show Daily
asked a number of booksellers about the titles
they’re most eager to grab at publishers’ booths.
Several attendees shared their enthusiasm for a
new handbook dedicated to inspiring a lifelong
love of books: How to Raise a Reader (Workman,
Sept.) by Pamela Paul and Maria Russo, both editors
at the New York Times Book Review. Janet Geddis,
owner of Avid Bookshop in Athens, Ga., who has a
master’s in education, said, “I have read lots of
books about how to get kids interested in reading,
and How to Raise a Reader is among the best.”
derbeekers to the Rescue by Karina Yan Glaser (HMH, Sept.). “I’m
Picture Book Faves obsessed with this series set in Harlem featuring a family of five kids, the
On the picture book front, Elizabeth Bluemle, owner of the Flying Pig Book- vivid and warm community around them, and the challenges they con-
store in Shelburne, Vt., raved about A Place to Land by Barry Wittenstein, front,” she said.
illus. by Jerry Pinkney (Holiday House/Porter, Sept.), about Martin Luther Clarissa Hadge, manager at Trident Booksellers & Cafe in Boston, has
King Jr.’s speech for the 1963 March on Washington. “What I love about it high expectations for Lalani of the Distant Sea by Newbery Medalist Erin
is threefold,” she said: “Jerry Pinkney’s artwork, the behind-the-scenes look Entrada Kelly (Greenwillow, Sept.). She described the author’s debut fan-
at the collaborative nature of achievement, and the nuanced, bittersweet tasy, incorporating Filipino folklore, as “a lyrical journey and a perfect mid-
realities of the struggles necessary to create change.” dle grade read.”
Spencer’s New Pet by Jessie Sima (Simon & Schuster, Aug.) was a top pick
for Sara Grochowski, children’s book buyer at McLean & Eakin in Petoskey, YA Crossovers
Mich. “It’s a wordless story about a boy and his balloon animal, and is Booksellers are also keeping an eye out for YA crossover hits. Children of
bursting with imagination and joy,” she said. Maggie Pouncey, co-owner of Virtue and Vengeance (Holt, Dec.), the sequel to Tomi Adeyemi’s #Black-
Stories Bookshop + Storytelling Lab in Brooklyn, N.Y., touted Alma and LivesMatter-inspired fantasy Children of Blood and Bone, holds strong
the Beast by Brooklynite Esmé Shapiro (Tundra, Sept.). “I love the wonder- appeal for teens and older readers alike, according to Edward at Booked.
ful whimsical weirdness of this picture book,” she said. “Shapiro is such a Ruta Sepetys is back with another historical novel, The Fountains of Silence
talent.” (Philomel, Oct.), set in Franco’s Spain. Anne Holman, co-owner of the King’s
Sara Hines, co-owner of Eight Cousins Bookstore in Falmouth, Mass., English in Salt Lake City, anticipates it “will easily translate to an adult
described another Canadian picture book, The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota’s audience.”
Garden (Orca, Sept.), as “a standout.” The book was inspired by the true In terms of new YA voices, Hadge said the science fiction debut I Hope You
story of one Japanese village’s resilience after the 2011 Tohoku earth- Get This Message by Farah Naz
quake and tsunami that seriously Rishi (HarperTeen, Oct.) “hit me
damaged the Fukushima nuclear right in the feels and will be a great
power plant. Hines said, “There is an crossover read.” And Rauscher
organization in our town called Good called The Last True Poets of the Sea
Grief, and it focuses on having healthy by Julia Drake (Disney-Hyperion,
conversations about death with chil- Oct.), which addresses mental ill-
dren. I wept while reading this book. ness, “the book I wish I had when I
And I am looking forward to sharing it was 16. It’s smart and kind and
with the founders of Good Grief.” affirming.” Tegan Tigani, children’s
book buyer at Queen Anne Book Company in
Middle Grade Must-Haves Seattle, is a fan of Frankly in Love by David
The middle grade comic everyone is Yoon (Putnam Books for Young Readers,
buzzing about is Guts by superstar Sept.). “I was so ready for a book that could
Raina Telgemeier (Scholastic/Graphix, make me laugh out loud and think about it for
Sept.). Chelsea Edward, owner of a long time, and this fit the bill.”
Booked in Evanston, Ill., said, “Every Nicole Brinkley, a bookseller at Oblong
child is coming in to ask when Guts is coming out. It’s going to be huge.” Books in Rhinebeck, N.Y., is excited for Pet by
She added that, of course, Dav Pilkey’s new Dog Man book, For Whom nonbinary author Akwaeke Emezi, first in
the Ball Rolls (Graphix, Aug.), will also be big. “We sell Telgemeier and Christopher Myers’s Make Me a World imprint
Pilkey every day.” at Random House. “It’s a brilliant bite-sized
Middle grade fiction highlights for booksellers include My Jasper novel that fearlessly examines the world
June by Laurel Snyder (Walden Pond, Sept.), which Avid’s Geddis called around us,” she said. 
“a pitch-perfect story of a girl dealing with loss and relearning to speak —Emma Kantor, with reporting by Amanda
up for what she believes in.” Pouncey at Stories can’t wait for The Van- Bruns, Claire Kirch, and Diane Roback
www.bookexpo.com
8
 Stop by
our booth & get
this desirable
acks one
h or s
tote bag &
buttons

@bookexpo
FRIDAY, MAY 31ST

BLACKSTONE PUBLISHING
BOOTH #1411
9:15 AM-10:00 AM
ROBERT HALLER
signing Another Life
+ hardcover book giveaway

10:15 AM-11:00 AM
JILL CRISWELL
signing Beast of the Frozen Sun ARCs
+ ARC giveaway

10:15 AM-11:00 AM
COCO MA
signing Shadow Frost ARCs
+ ARC giveaway

11:30 AM-12:15 PM
CADWELL TURNBULL
signing The Lesson
+ hardcover book giveaway

1:30 PM-2:15 PM
ALEX MESSENGER
signing The Twenty-Ninth Day ARCs
+ ARC giveaway

Visit us at booth #1411

BlackstonePublishing.com
 BOOKEXPO SHOW DAILY

Adult Authors Breakfast:

Serious Topics and Lively
Banter
The subject of each book introduced at yesterday morning’s Adult Book &
Author Breakfast was serious, but the authors certainly made a packed
ballroom of booksellers laugh during their lively presentations.
Rachel Maddow, the MSNBC host, moderated the panel with Malcolm
Gladwell, Karin Slaughter, Marjorie Liu, and Ta-Nehisi Coates. Maddow’s
second book, Blow-out: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the
Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth (Crown, Oct.), ties together the
connections between the oil and gas industry and Russia’s interference in
this country’s governance. Noting that “there’s a destructive dynamic at
work,” she said that the industry poses a threat to democracy in the U.S.
and around the world because it “bends the rules” while destroying the
environment. It’s not that people profiting from oil and gas are necessarily
evil, she said, the companies themselves are evil—and there are “warm seats
in hell” for Rex Tillerson, former secretary of state and former ExxonMobil
chair and CEO, as well as other ExxonMobil executives.
The inspiration behind Malcolm Gladwell’s latest pop psychology book,
Talking to Strangers (Little, Brown, Sept.), was the death of Sandra Bland, an
African-American woman from Chicago who was stopped by a police officer
while driving through Texas. Bland was arrested for arguing with the state
trooper and was subsequently found dead in her jail cell. “I decided to write
a book about what happened between those two people,” Gladwell said,
adding that while there was truth to allegations that the officer was racist
and perhaps even “a bad cop,” there was more to the miscommunication
between the two, just as there was between Amanda Knox and Italian police
after Knox’s housemate was found murdered. “What is it about the dynamic
between strangers that is problematic?” Gladwell asked, pointing out that
people often do not know how to talk to strangers.
Karin Slaughter introduced her latest thriller, The Last Widow (Morrow,
Aug.), by describing her childhood growing up in the South, the youngest of
three girls. Her father gave her a quarter for every story she wrote, the gris-
lier the better. He loved to tell stories “to take us out of our lives,” she said,
© steve kagan
(From l.) Ta-Nehisi Coates, Malcolm Gladwell, Karin Slaughter, Marjorie Liu, Rachel Maddow.
especially during road trips to visit her grandmother. Slaughter’s talent for
writing thrillers further developed because her grandmother was a fan of
True Crime magazine. Although she hid it when Slaughter and her family
visited, the girls would read it “to scare each other to death.”
Marjorie Liu began the presentation for her Monstress graphic novel series,
the first volume of which is being reissued as a hardcover in July, with a
shout-out to illustrator Sana Takeda, whom she called her “better half.” Like
Slaughter, it was Liu’s grandparents who inspired her to write a fantasy full
of magic and terror. Her grandparents grew up in China during WWII, and
Liu repeated stories they told her of war, hunger, and death. Even though
their tales were “traumatic,” Liu said, they were also memories of love and
hope; her grandparents’ experiences taught Liu that what really matters in
life is family and friends.
The “Lost Cause” myth about the noble intentions of the Confederacy in
the Civil War inspired Ta-Nehisi Coates to write his debut novel, The Water
Dancer (One World, Sept.), about a young man’s confrontation with slavery.
The morning’s last speaker, Coates said he wrote Water Dancer to “disrupt
the myth.” Myths shape people’s view of the world, he said, insisting that
anyone who subscribes to the myth of the well-intentioned Confederacy
believes “on some fundamental level that black people are not human
beings.”  —Claire Kirch

Live from New York, ‘But That’s Another Story’

Macmillan executive v-p Will Schwalbe, who also happens to be the best-

© steve kagan
selling author of The End of Your Life Book Club, among others, is also a
prominent podcast host of But That’s Another Story. Yesterday, he took his
podcast on the road to the Javits, where he moderated a panel featuring
three authors with forthcoming titles: Stephen Chbosky, author of Imagi-
nary Friend (Grand Central, Oct.), Nicole Dennis-Benn, author of Patsy
(Liveright, July), and Aarti Shahani, author of Here We Are: American
Dreams, American Nightmares (Celadon, Oct.).
Schwalbe recorded their lively exchange for a future episode of his show,
which is organized around authors talking about a book (or books) that
changed their lives. Chbosky, best known for his 1999 bestselling high school
coming-of-age novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, cited both horror films
(l.–r.) Will Schwalbe, Aarti Shahani, Stephen Chbosky, Nicole Dennis-Benn.
and TV: “My parents would let me watch anything.” Stephen King’s classic
The Stand also had a big impact. “I couldn’t stop reading it for four days,”
he said. “I didn’t even go to work. It made me realize how a book can make Audre Lorde’s 1982 autobiography, Zami: A New Spelling of My Name,
you feel.” influenced Dennis-Benn, whose 2017 novel Here Comes the Sun, won the
Shahani, an NPR correspondent, whose memoir is about her family’s immi- Lambda Literary Prize. Dennis-Benn said that she identified with Lorde as a
gration to America from India, cited Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah, West Indian immigrant, a black woman, and a lesbian. “I was taught to respect
the story of a Nigerian woman and academic living in America. “The pro- shame rather than my own voice, which is the opposite of being a writer. I
tagonist of the book is looking to find her voice,” Shahani said, describing was coming out as a lesbian, and I grew up in Jamaica, where being a lesbian
how she read the book at a time when she was also searching for her iden- was taboo,” Dennis-Benn added. “Lorde was open about her sexuality and
tity. “I felt stronger reading her book.” that affected me profoundly.”  —Calvin Reid
www.bookexpo.com
10
 VISIT US AT BOOTH #1848!

Launching this Fall: Arcade CrimeWise!

9781948924375 • September 9781510749115 • November

9781948924917 • October 9781948924719 • October

TODAY’S ARC
GIVEAWAYS: Night Shade Books
Arcade Publishing 9781949102093 • July
9781948924139 • September “An eclectic selection of the past 50
A loving, laughter-filled homage to a loyal, years in lunar science fiction, written
big-hearted friend. Pat Conroy, the bestselling by a who’s who of speculative fiction
author of The Prince of Tides and The Great writers . . . will appeal to fans of
Santini, was beloved by millions of readers; futuristic science fiction and historic
Bernie Schein, Conroy’s best friend, offers space race aficionados.”
a trove of insights and anecdotes. —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

W W W. S K Y H O R S E P U B L I S H I N G .C O M • D I S T R I B U T E D B Y S I M O N & S C H U S T E R
 BOOKEXPO SHOW DAILY

BOOTH 844
Slow Start for Book
Sales in 2019
After six straight years of

101 OUTDOOR
ADVENTURES TO HAVE
BEFORE YOU GROW UP
Falcon Guides • 9781493041404
Paperback • May 2019 • $19.95
MOM KNOWS BEST
Gooseberry Patch
9781620933169 • Hardcover
February 2019 • $17.95
THE NEW YORK YANKEES
OF THE 1950S
Lyons Press • 9781493038923
Hardcover • April 2019 • $26.95
THE ORVIS FLY-TYING
GUIDE, REVISED
Lyons Press • 9781493025817
Paperback • July 2019 • $39.95
www.GlobePequot.com
www.bookexpo.com
DON TROIANI’S
GETTYSBURG
Stackpole Books • 9780811738354
Hardcover • May 2019 • $49.95
KNITS FOR TEENS
Stackpole Books
9780811737104 • Paperback
March 2019 • $24.95
SEATTLE FOOD CRAWLS
Globe Pequot • 9781493038848
Paperback • May 2019 • $21.95
COMFORTABLY WILD
Falcon Guides
9781493037797
PaperbackOct 2019 • $29.95
12
© steve kagan
growth in print sales, 2019
is off to a rocky start. At yes-
terday’s session on “The
State of the Publishing
Industry Today,” David Wal-
ter, executive director, cli-
ent development for NPD
Books, said that growth in
print sales is trending
down, with 2019 showing a
decline so far.
“If we bring this right up
to date with figures from
David Walter
[Wednesday], the overall
market is down by about
2.5%,” Walter said. He
attributed a negative first How much
quarter (-2.9%) largely to the
lack of a blockbuster book like
will digital
audio grow the
Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury,
which jump-started 2018’s first
overall book mar-
quarter sales. E-book sales, mean-
while, continued to slump for a
sixth straight year, a trend Walter ket?…[Will] digital
said he didn’t see ending. NPD’s
data does not include self-pub- audio bring new
lished books.
The good news for publishers is
consumers into
that digital audio continues to
surge and shows no signs of slow-
the book market?”
ing. Many publishers report that the growth in digital audio is making up
for lagging e-book sales. “The question that leaves us with,” Walter said, “is,
how much will digital audio grow the overall book market?” He also asked
whether digital will eventually start to cannibalize book sales, or, as “a dif-
ferent experience,” will “digital audio bring new consumers into the book
market?” In the coming months, NPD Books will start to measure digital
audio sales, he noted.
Among the key trends affecting the book business, nonfiction has carried
industry sales in recent years, with adult fiction continuing to decline. And
after a number of bestsellers in 2018, Walter pointed to signs of “political
fatigue” setting in. He cited a 38% decrease in political book sales in the
first quarter of 2019, versus the first quarter of 2018. However, he added,
that could change with Siege, Michael Wolff’s follow-up to Fire and Fury, set
to publish next week.
Other notable trends, Walter reported, include that “the middle is being
squeezed,” with the data showing that high-profile titles drove a larger per-
centage of industry growth in 2018, while backlist titles also are showing
growth. In fact, in 2018, consumers bought more books published before
2000 than books published in 2017 and 2018. And, Walter said, the 10
top-selling books last year, which included five million-sellers, was the big-
gest-selling top 10 since 2012, when Fifty Shades of Grey and The Hunger
Games dominated the bestseller lists.
In addition, the surge in popularity of comics and graphic novels suggest
that “visual storytelling” is also on the rise, which could help drive licensing
opportunities. “A cross-media presence,” Walter said, is becoming “increas-
ingly important to stand out in a crowded cultural landscape.” 
 —Andrew Albanese
 WHITAKER HOUSE

Coming Soon!

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Releases September 10, 2019
With humor, joy, and biblical scholarship,
Chris Palmer offers lessons on Greek
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the seven churches in Revelation.
Releases October 8, 2019
Teri Secrest shares what she has learned
from more than twenty years of research
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into essential plant oils. She weaves
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Discover how every believer can develop
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Releases September 3, 2019
Seeing Angels is one of the most
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Joshua Mills goes beyond the usual takes
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re them, and what they do.
Releases November 5, 2019
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Releases November 12, 2019
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 BOOKEXPO SHOW DAILY

CHILDREN’S
AUTHORS QA
Max Brooks Eoin Colfer
How to Win the Game of Thrones Keeping It All in the Family
When Max Brooks watches Game of In 2001, Eoin Colfer introduced

greater talent network

Thrones, he pays attention to the criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl
ever-suffering peasants rather than to young readers, who were thrilled
the treacherous nobles who drive the to make his acquaintance. That

©
HBO series adapted from George eight-book series has sold more
R.R. Martin’s novels. “A lot of inno- than 25 million copies worldwide,
cent people die,” says Brooks, an and Walt Disney Studios will release
author and screenwriter who coed- an eponymous tie-in film in August.
ited Winning Westeros: How Game of Now Colfer shifts his focus to
Thrones Explains Modern Military Artemis’s younger twin brothers,
Conflict (Univ. of Nebraska/Potomac, Myles and Beckett, in The Fowl
Sept.). Brooks recalls one moment in Twins (Disney-Hyperion, Nov.).
the epic fantasy series when an
explosion sends a gigantic temple At what point did you decide to
bell careening down the street to write a novel centering on Arte-
crush a bystander. “This is what hap- mis’s siblings?
pens in war, from Dresden to Hiro- I think as soon as the twins showed
shima,” says Brooks. “The conse- up in the Artemis books, my writer’s
quences keep rolling. When you unsheathe your sword, you are going to set brain opened a file on them to be

sonya sones
waves in motion that are going to last decades.” revisited once Artemis had completed
Brooks has worked with martial strategists ever since his first novel, his transformation to good guy. When

World War Z (2006), got added to a reading list at the Naval War College.
Now, he’s a fellow at the Modern War Institute and the Atlantic Council’s Art
of Future Warfare Project. He also coedited Strategy Strikes Back: How
Star Wars Explains Modern Military Conflict (2018).
Brooks thinks Game of Thrones reminds us of mistaken military assump-
tions after the Cold War ended. “We really thought that the new golden age
of humanity was upon us,” says Brooks. “Now we realize that simply is not
true. There are threats coming from every angle and democracies being
rolled back all over the world.” Many leaders in the Game of Thrones series
made similar assumptions about the security of their kingdoms, ignoring
the return of an ancient enemy, the consequences of climate change, and a
brewing refugee crisis.
Winning Westeros measures the
performance of fan-favorite characters
against many real-life leaders. Imagin-
ing how the hit HBO series might con-
clude, Brooks parallels Game of
Thrones’ honorable leader, Jon Snow,
with America’s first president.
“Snow’s greatest challenge will be
how he handles victory,” says Brooks.
“George Washington’s greatest tri-
umph was not on the battlefield. It
wasn’t even in the presidency. It was in
stepping down from the presidency.”
Legendary military leaders like Fidel
Castro or Robert Mugabe won major
victories, but never relinquished con-
trol of their countries. “It’s almost
superhuman,” says Brooks, “to have the power of a god in your hand and to
give it up because you know that it is the right thing to do, so that the sys-
tem will live on.” —Jason Boog
Today, 2–2:30 p.m. Max Brooks will speak on the panel “Winning West-
eros,” at the Indie Publisher Stage.
©
I finished the Artemis saga, I gave
myself five years to purge leprechauns
from my brain before I would go back
to the fairy world, but as it turned out,
leprechauns will not be cast out.
Was it challenging to revisit Myles
and Beckett as adolescents, given
that you last knew them as
four-year-olds?
It was a little difficult to age them up, but I always enjoy a challenge—in fact,
I am not really interested in a project unless it stretches me a little bit. For
me, the main challenge was to have Myles take up the criminal mastermind
mantle, but to distinguish him from Artemis. After a while, it became clear
to me that the best way to have Myles distinguish himself was to have him
pity Artemis as a weaker intellect.
Did you find it rewarding to portray Myles and Beckett at a similar age
as the book’s middle grade readers?
It was great fun, and the further I went along in the book the more I knew the
characters and their quirks, so that eventually I had to go back and rewrite
them with all this fresh information. I like to give the characters quirks to
establish them as individuals, but also ground them a little. For example,
Myles may be a genius, but he suffers from migraines.
What lies ahead for the twins?
At the moment, this is a duology, but I am very open to extending to a trilogy.
I am working on book two and really enjoying myself. It is embarrassing how
much I laugh at my own computer screen. I will see how the readers react. If
there is an appetite out there for more Fowl stories, I would love to tell them.
 —Sally Lodge
Today, 8–9:30 a.m. Eoin Colfer will speak at the Children’s Book &
Author Breakfast, on the Main Stage.
Today, 1–1:30 p.m. Colfer signs in the Disney booth (1713).

www.bookexpo.com
14
 “...a Dream Publisher”
“...every tweet and message I’ve had from audio listeners
has praised the narrator and the production values just
as highly as they’ve praised the writing itself.
Dreamscape really is a dream publisher!“
- Lisa Jewell

Stop by and meet the

Dream Team
Booth #1111
DreamscapeAB.com
 BOOKEXPO SHOW DAILY

CHILDREN’S
AUTHORS
CELEBRATING Lupita Nyong’o
YEARS
UNFORGETTABLE
The Power of Stars

alexi lubomirski
of

LISTENING

©
Thank you to our authors, narrators, and everyone
who has contributed to the unparalleled collection of
audiobooks Hachette has produced throughout the years.

25 YEARS OF LISTENING SWEEPSTAKES

ENTER FOR A
CHANCE TO WIN
the Grand Prize, which consists of
A LIBRARY OF 25 ICONIC AUDIOBOOKS
a MINI TABLET, and WIRELESS EARBUDS.
Visit www.hachetteaudio.com/25
to enter and for Official Rules. The theme of beauty shines brightly in Academy Award–winning actress
Lupita Nyong’o’s debut picture book, Sulwe (S&S, Oct.), illus. by Vashti Har-
rison, author and illustrator of Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History.
Nyong’o describes it as “the story of a young girl and her journey to find the
beauty in herself.” The title, which means “star” in the Luo language that
Nyong’o spoke as a child in Kenya, is also the name of the book’s protago-
nist. Sulwe is a five-year-old Kenyan girl who is self-conscious about her
dark skin, which is “the color of midnight.”
Not so long ago, Nyong’o herself was an insecure teen who felt decidedly
un-beautiful because of her own dark skin. And it was another kind of
star—African supermodel Alek Wek—who eventually made Nyong’o feel
seen, and, yes, beautiful. Nyong’o memorably shared these sentiments in a
2014 speech at the Essence Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon that
went viral. “I used my platform as an honoree to talk about my own feelings
about black beauty and the colorism I experienced as a child,” says
Nyong’o. “That speech offered the seeds of the book that would become
Sulwe.”
Though the seeds were planted then, the actress says that it was the liter-
ary division of the agency that represents her, Creative Artists Agency, that
“got the ball rolling” to encourage her to transform her story into a picture
book. After working on the project with those staffers, Nyong’o adds, “We
met with a number of children’s book publishers, deciding on Simon &
Schuster after a meeting with their team and a phone call with my now edi-
tor [Zareen Jaffery],” Nyong’o adds. Though Nyong’o prefers not to discuss
plans for future books, she has numerous film projects to keep her busy. “I
have a movie coming out later this year called Little Monsters, which was
quite fun to film,” she says. “It’s a dark comedy and I play a kindergarten
teacher. So I had the chance to work with some fantastic child actors.”
Nyong’o says she has been looking forward to her first BookExpo. “My
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE DOES NOT INCREASE CHANCE OF WINNING. understanding is it’s like ComicCon for books, which sounds very exciting.”
Void where prohibited. Must be legal US resident 18 years or older as of 5/29/19 to enter.  —Shannon Maughan
Sweepstakes begins 5/29/19 at 12:01 am ET and ends 6/29/19 at 11:59 pm ET.
Visit www.hachetteaudio.com/25 for Official Rules and details.
Sponsor: Hachette Book Group, Inc., 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104. Today, 8–9:30 a.m. Lupita Nyong’o will appear at the Children’s Book &
Author Breakfast, on the Main Stage.
HachetteAudio.com Also available in print and ebook wherever books are sold
Today, 10:30–11:30 a.m. Nyong’o and Vashti Harrison will sign prints
from Sulwe at the S&S booth (1838, 1839).

www.bookexpo.com
16
 FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2019

CHILDREN’S
AUTHORS
Jenna Bush Hager and Welcome to BookExpo 2019
Barbara Pierce Bush Visit us in Booth #1338

Celebrating Real-Life and Fictional FEATURED EVENTS • FRIDAY, MAY 31

Sisterhood
Though Jenna Bush Hager
nathan congleton

Photo: Jonathan Mehring

and Barbara Pierce Bush have

Photo: Kelli Maniscalco

lived their entire lives in the
©

spotlight, they first became

literary luminaries in 2017, 9:30–10:30 AM 10:00–10:30 AM
with the publication of their Kerri Michael
bestselling joint memoir, Maniscalco Koryta
Sisters First: Stories from AA Signing, AA Signing,
Our Wild and Wonderful Life. Table 9 Table 5

Now, they’re attending Book-

Expo to show off their new
picture book, also titled Sisters

Photo: Beowulf Sheehan

Photo: © Peter Yang

First (Little, Brown, Oct.), illus.
by Ramona Kaulitzki. The
twins will serve as cohosts at
10:30–11:00 AM 11:00–12:00 PM
this morning’s Children’s
Jenna Bush Hager (l.) and Barbara Pierce Bush Leslie Adam
Book & Author Breakfast.
Jamison Rippon
They explain that their debut children’s AA Signing, HBG Booth #1338
book—about two inseparable sisters— Table 3 Signing
had a protracted gestation period. “When
Jenna and I first started talking about
writing something together, we initially

Photo: Shannon Taggart

thought of doing a children’s book, but
Photo: 179 Pictures

eventually we wrote a collection of personal

essays for adult readers,” Barbara recalls.
The idea of writing a picture book resur- 11:00–12:00 PM 11:00–12:00 PM

faced during Jenna’s pregnancy with Poppy,

Beth Vrabel Susannah
HBG Booth #1338 Cahalan
her second daughter. “We had fun telling Signing AA Signing,
Mila, Jenna’s older daughter, how much we Table 3
loved being sisters, and how lucky we’ve
been to be partners in everything we’ve done—and Mila got very excited
about having a sister, too.”
Not surprisingly, a lifetime spent hand-in-hand made for a smooth picture
TODAY’S FEATURED GALLEY GIVEAWAYS
book collaboration. For inspiration, Barbara and Jenna relied on their own AT BOOTH #1338
memories of their early sisterhood, as well as witnessing Mila and Poppy’s
experiences. “The sweet relationship the sisters in our book have is so reflec- 9:00 AM 10:00 AM
tive of Barbara and my own sisterhood, knowing that we each have the oth- Mo’s Bows Moziah Bridges (Running Press) Soccerwomen Gemma Clarke (Bold Type Books)
er’s back all the time,” Jenna says. “But some of the text is based on actual Imaginary Friend Stephen Chbosky
Vern Yip’s Vacation at Home Vern Yip
Screwdriver Giveaway (Running Press)
things my girls have imagined and things they’ve said about each other. So, (Grand Central Publishing)
11:00 AM
in some ways, the book really wrote itself.” The Queen of the Conquered Kheryn Callender
(Orbit) Change is the Only Constant Ben Orlin
The sisters Bush are “deeply honored and excited to be among such incred- (Black Dog & Leventhal)
ible authors” on today’s breakfast podium, and they look forward to sharing Talking To Strangers Malcolm Gladwell Processed Cheese Stephen Wright (Little, Brown)
(Little, Brown)
their picture book with booksellers. “As we’ve grown older, our definition of 12:00 PM
Scouts Shannon Greenland (Jimmy Patterson)
‘sisters’ has expanded to friends and colleagues—women who lift us up and Heaven, My Home Attica Locke (Little, Brown)
help us believe that we are enough,” Barbara says. “Sisters First is a love Blood Allison Moorer (Hachette Books) 1:00 PM
story to them, too, as well as to the next generation of girls.” And, Jenna Sophia, Princess Among Beasts The Ten Thousand Doors of January Alix E. Harrow
James Patterson (Little, Brown) (Redhook)
adds, “It is our wish for all women and girls—whether blood sisters or dear Running Press Studio Stadium Cup Giveaway
friends—that the power of sisterhood fills their lives with confidence and
joy.”  —Sally Lodge

Today, 8–9:30 a.m. Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush will
hachettebookgroup.com
cohost the Children’s Book & Author Breakfast, on the Main Stage.

17 www.bookexpo.com
 BOOKEXPO SHOW DAILY
FLAME TREE PRESS
FICTION WITHOUT FRONTIERS
CHILDREN’S
Signings & Galleys
AUTHORS
Tomi Adeyemi
Table
Friday 5/31
9:30–10am
Keeping Fantasy Real
#3 Jonathan Janz
P.D. Cacek With five starred reviews,
Table
Tomi Adeyemi’s debut novel,
#4
Children of Blood and Bone,
the first book in her West
African–inspired YA trilogy,
the Legacy of Orïsha, was
thrust into the limelight. The
fantasy, about maji Zélie’s
struggle to restore eradi-
cated magic to the kingdom
PB • $14.95 9781787581852 PB • $14.95 9781787581579 of Orïsha, rose to the top of
HC • $24.95 9781787581876 HC • $24.95 9781787581593
the New York Times best-
288pp NEW Horror 304pp NEW Horror/Thriller
seller list and landed the
author a movie deal with
Friday 5/31 Fox 2000. Adeyemi will talk
Table 1:00 –1:30pm about the sequel, Children of
#2 Hopstaken & Prusi Virtue and Vengeance (Holt,
Andrew Post
Table Dec.), at today’s Children’s
#3 Book & Author Breakfast.
The inspiration for the
first-generation Nigerian-American’s fantasy was entirely serendipitous,
she says. After graduating from Harvard, she traveled to Salvador, Brazil,
on a fellowship to study West African mythology and culture. At a
museum gift shop, she spotted a postcard set in the magical, mythologi-
cal world of Orïsha. “I had never before seen images of black gods and
goddesses—deities who were darker
than I am,” she says. “In my mind,
PB • $14.95 9781787581715 PB • $14.95 9781787582835
they did not exist, and that postcard
HC • $24.95 9781787581739 HC • $24.95 9781787582859
384pp MAY Horror/Mystery 288pp JUNE Mystery/Thriller was life-changing. I knew right away I
had to write something set in this
world.”
Though Adeyemi had her setting,
she didn’t find a story to go with it
Galley until months later, when she saw a
Drop
digital illustration of a black girl with
titles
bright green hair. “I knew then I had
my story, and I began writing,” she
says. “The girl’s story captivated me,
and I knew it fit in the world of Orï-
sha I’d seen on that postcard in
PB • $14.95 PB • $14.95 Brazil. I wrote quickly—and just kept
9781787583047 256pp 9781787582903 320pp on going.”
HC • $24.95 AUGUST HC • $24.95 JULY A driving factor in Adeyemi’s fiction, she says, is “to give people who
9781787583061 Mystery/Thriller 9781787582927 Mystery/Thriller haven’t seen themselves in books the chance to do so. But I also feel
Baker & Taylor Publisher Services (FLAME TREE PRESS) Booth 239 passionate about telling stories about someone who is different from the
reader, to force readers to fall in love with what is different from them.”
BOOK TRADE REPRESENTATION: Book Travelers West, Fuji Associates,
Adeyemi sees her novels as an allegory for the black experience and
North East Publishers Reps, South East Book Travelers
“black pain” in America. “I believe that most science fiction, dystopian,
Join our Distribution: BTPS. Call 888-814-0208 and fantasy novels are about oppression—though they may replace real
ARC & Dan Verdick, Director of National Sales people with dragons or other mythological creatures,” she says. “The sto-
Offers list dverdick@btpubservices.com ries involve some entity in power abusing those without power, and that is
FLAME TREE PRESS launched to acclaim in 2018 with award- what people across the world face every day, especially the marginalized
winners and exciting, original voices. Join our mailing list for and those of color.” —Sally Lodge
ARCs and news at flametreepress.com
Today, 8–9:30 a.m. Tomi Adeyemi will speak at the Children’s Book &
Author Breakfast, on the Main Stage.

www.bookexpo.com
18
 FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2019

CHILDREN’S
AUTHORS
Da Chen
An imprint of the HarperOne Group at HarperCollins
On Sibling Survival
That Da Chen’s Girl Under a Red Amistad is the nation’s oldest press

michael chen
Moon (Scholastic, Sept.) brings dedicated to publishing African-American
his family’s experiences during
voices. With a mission to embrace writers,

©
China’s Cultural Revolution into
clear view for young readers is explore issues and solutions throughout
only fitting: it’s one of the first the Diaspora, and to empower readers,
titles that Scholastic Press edito-
rial director Lisa Sendell acquired
Amistad titles break boundaries, educate,
for her Scholastic Focus imprint. enlighten, inspire, and entertain.
She approached Chen at a Poets
& Writers magazine annual gala
several years ago. “After dinner,”
says Chen, “Lisa came up and
said, ‘Da, do you remember me?
I’m starting a nonfiction children’s
imprint. Would you write me a
China book?’ ”
In Girl Under a Red Moon,
Chen shines a light on his beloved
and brave eldest sister, Sisi. He
recounts their childhood set against
the contrasting backdrops of a lush
countryside and a violent and tumultu-
ous period in Chinese history, the Cul-
tural Revolution.
Chen remembers Sisi as “very smart
and a very good student,” who, with
seven years—and three other sib-
lings—between them, became a
mother figure to him. “I spent most of
my time strapped to my sister’s back as
she walked all of us through the vil-
lage,” he recalls. One of their frequent
missions was collecting manure for
fertilizer.
As the Cultural Revolution took hold,
Chen’s grandfather, a wealthy landlord, was forced at gunpoint to turn over
his properties and was imprisoned in a labor camp. When he became too
frail to work, Chen’s father took his place, enduring torture and humiliation
at the hands of the Red Army. Chen says that the family became “pariahs Coming October 2019, from the
because of politics, something I didn’t fully understand as a child. But I was celebrated photographer Randee St.
acutely aware of the fact that I was not welcome in this village.”
The Chen family’s disgrace “descended very soon on my sister,” notes Nicholas, the ultimate collection of
Chen. At age 13, Sisi was expelled from school and threatened with jail.
photographs documenting the career of
She fled to an agricultural middle school in the mountains run by family
friends—with her little brother in tow. “I begged to go with her because one of the world’s greatest superstars.
we were so close,” Chen says. “This book is about her escape.”
Chen was widely recognized for his debut book, the bestselling 2000
adult memoir, Colors of the Mountain, and has written several other
adult and YA novels since. But writing this book, he says, was “very emo-
tional, very close to me. It taught me something every day. This story is F OR P U B L I C I T Y EN Q U I RI ES , P L EA S E C O N TA C T:
tragic, but the setting is so beautiful. I loved writing about that.”
Paul Olsewski, Senior Director of Publicity
 —Shannon Maughan
paul.olsewski@harpercollins.com
Today, 8–9:30 a.m. Da Chen will speak at the Children’s Book & Author
Breakfast, on the Main Stage.

19 www.bookexpo.com
 BOOKEXPO SHOW DAILY

CHILDREN’S schools and the recent college admis-

AUTHORS sions scandal. “We wanted to write

something that shows how people shine

J.J. and Chris Grabenstein in different ways,” he says. “You don’t

have to be in the spotlight to shine—you
can do so just by being a good person.”
Collaborating to Mark Individuality While writing Shine! the Grabensteins
quickly realized that they “create very
“I’ve written 58 books and J.J. always reads them first,” says Chris Graben- differently,” and the duo leaned into
stein, who refers to his wife, J.J., as his “secret weapon.” That will change their respective skill sets. “Chris has
this fall when J.J.’s name appears alongside his on their debut middle grade been typing for so many years that he
novel, Shine! (Random House, Nov.). thinks through his fingers,” J.J. says.
A voiceover and stage performer, J.J. says that her interest in writing for “I become the character and act out the
children was piqued by her husband’s career. “Being married to a children’s scene, while he has a whole dialogue in
author makes you start thinking about the books you read as a kid,” she his head that I can’t hear.” Chris adds,
adds. “I’d been thinking about the books “I have the curse of the journalism stu-
that made an impression on me and the dent and can type 120 words per min-
books I wish I’d read. That’s how Shine! ute, so I do most of the typing. Once we
was born.” have something on paper, we can start
The novel follows 12-year-old Piper, who acting it out and making revisions. J.J.
believes that some people are born to shine is great at characters, motivations, and what characters sound like. She
and that she simply isn’t one of them. It’s a does the lion’s share of reading what we’ve written out loud, because I
book J.J. says she wishes she’d discovered mumble too much when I read aloud.”
as a child—a book with this message: Who J.J. says that she hopes Shine! reaches readers who feel that they don’t
you are is more important than what you shine and helps them realize that they do in their own way.
accomplish. Chris notes that the novel’s  —Sara Grochowski
premise was also inspired by the pressure
on children to succeed academically, citing Today, 1:30–2:30 p.m. Chris and J.J. Grabenstein will sign galleys at
Table 8.
the competitiveness of some New York City

SIMON & SCHUSTER CHILDREN’S EVENTS

FRIDAY, MAY 31
0 AM PM PM 0 PM
0– 1 1:3 – 2:0 0 – 1:30 –2: 0
10:3 1:00 1:00 1:30
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Don’t miss these ARCs

9:00 AM 12:00 PM
LOOK BOTH WAYS SLAY
IN THE SIMON & SCHUSTER BOOTH! JASON BRITTNEY
#SimonBookLovers
WHILE SUPPLIES LAST REYNOLDS MORRIS

www.bookexpo.com
20
INDIEPENDENT
JUST
LIKE
YOU
CHOOSE BOOKAZINE

Booth
Inquire@bookazine | 800.221.8112 #942
 BOOKEXPO SHOW DAILY
YA Buzz
Authors Take
Center Stage
David Yoon, Frankly in Love
(Putnam, Sept.)
At first, my novel is about a boy and a girl who fake-date
each other to hide their real love interests from their con-
servative Korean parents, who want them to date only
other Koreans. But the story quickly twists and turns to
send our hero, Frank, onto a journey exploring race, iden-
tity, heartbreak—and, ultimately, how to love your parents
even when they drive you crazy.
Like Frank, I grew up as a hyphenated Korean-American
kid struggling to define myself in between worlds—a strug-
gle that has continued into adulthood. When my father
became terminally ill, I couldn’t help wondering what he
must be feeling and thinking. Was he proud of his son?
Did he have regrets? Did he achieve all the things he once
dreamt of? All these questions led, in one way or another,
to a single answer in my mind: love, in all its various
forms. And I knew that Frankly in Love had to be a love
story, not just between a boy and a girl but between a son
and his parents.
Kim Liggett, The Grace Year
(Wednesday Books, Sept.)
In an isolated village, 16-year-old girls, in order to rid
themselves of their feminine magic to become purified and
ready for marriage, are sent into the wilderness to endure
their grace year. It felt like this novel’s premise came to me
all at once, hitting me like a runaway colt, but I’d been qui-
etly seething over this topic for years: the things we do to
young women. I wanted to explore misogyny on every
level, not only the destructive force of a society that denies
women power, but the complex and sometimes twisted
relationships between girls, the women they eventually
become, and the difficult decisions they make in between.
When I first started writing, a friend asked what my pie-
in-the-sky dream accomplishment would be. Without hesi-
tation, I replied, “Buzz Book!” It’s been a long, winding
path to get here, but I think that makes it all the sweeter.
There’s no better opportunity to get in front of the movers
and shakers of our industry, and I will savor every moment
talking about this story and how much it means to me.
Julia Drake, The Last True Poets of the Sea
(Disney-Hyperion, Oct.)
This is a book about many things: the hunt for a long-lost
shipwreck, a fractured family, falling in love, finding new
friends, and surviving life’s challenges. The original inspira-
tion for the novel was Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, a mel-
ancholy comedy full of memorable, lovable characters. I
first read the play when I performed as Viola in a high
school production, and her warmth and wit stayed with me
for years.
www.bookexpo.com
The authors of this
year’s YA buzz titles
share the stories
behind their books.
David Yoon
I’m so grateful that the novel will be featured on the YA
allan amato
Editors’ Buzz Panel, and my hope is that the book reaches
more readers and makes them feel less alone, especially
©
when it comes to any difficulties and questions surround-
ing their mental health.
Brandy Colbert, The Revolution of Birdie
Randolph
(Little, Brown, Aug.)
My novel explores a summer in the life of a 16-year-old
who feels constrained by her parents’ endless rules. When
her mom’s sister shows up unexpectedly, fresh out of
Kim Liggett rehab for addiction, Birdie is drawn to her warmth and
free spirit. As she begins to break away from the rules,
falling for a young man with a troubled past, Birdie slowly
realizes how long-held secrets can shape the future.
I was inspired to write this novel because of the role I’ve
seen addiction play in the lives of people I know. I’m
always struck by the secrecy around the issue, as well as
the rifts it causes in relationships. I was also interested in
exploring how addiction affects the black community, and
particularly how it impacts families. This panel helps high-
light a story from an underrepresented group, and I
believe there’s no better way to foster empathy than step-
ping into the shoes of someone with a different back-
Julia Drake ground. It’s important to me that teens know they’re not
alone, no matter what difficult situation they’re facing,
and I believe readers will relate to Birdie’s journey.
Erin Stewart, Scars Like Wings
(Delacorte, Oct.)
In my novel, Ava Lee loses everything—her parents, her
best friend, and even her face—in a fire. Ten years ago, I
met a boy named Marius who had been orphaned and
badly burned after a fire. But he had something the fire
could never steal: an unwavering belief that he was so
much more than his scars and this tragedy. Scars Like
Wings would not have been possible without Marius and
Brandy Colbert other burn survivors who shared their stories with me.
Like these real-life heroes, Ava goes through moments of
deep darkness and pain. But [the book] is also a story of
hope for anyone who has ever searched for light in the
darkness. It is a story of choosing life—and love—despite
the scars.
I can’t wait for booksellers and teens to meet Ava, and
I’m excited for readers to watch as she discovers that the
amount of love and light she lets into her life—and gives
out in return—will determine the trajectory of her life
more than tragedy ever could.  —Sally Lodge
Today, 9:30–10 a.m. The “Meet Young Adult Buzz
Erin Stewart Authors” panel will take place on the Downtown Stage.
22
 WINNER of the IPPY AWARD
for BEST HORROR E-BOOK!

“RABID HEART maintains a sharp, persistently moving narrative…an endlessly

entertaining zombie tale that checks off genre conventions with style.”
— Kirkus Reviews

”RABID HEART evokes a mix of Misfits lyrics and grainy VHS horror classics.
The plot draws parallels to Cormac McCarthy's The Road...”
— Publishers Weekly

“RABID HEART is Wagner’s finest work to date. Exciting and

page-tu
near-addictive. A page-turner that avid horror aficionados will be
drawn to with glee.”
— Dead Rhetoric Magazine

”RABID HEART is a next level opus that raises the stakes

considerably. And good goddamn, is it a white-knuckle thrill ride.”
— Decibel Magazine

“An evil Egyptologist. A scheming billionaire.

A guitar maestro. They’re all there in
Jeremy Wagner’s THE ARMAGEDDON CHORD.
This is pulp fiction at its breeziest best.”
— Rolling Stone

Best-Selling Novelist JEREMY WAGNER is the Award-Winning

author of RABID HEART and THE ARMAGEDDON CHORD.

RiverdaleAveBooks.com JEREMY-WAGNER.COM
 BOOKEXPO SHOW DAILY

Join with other librarians for author talks, giveaways, and food and drink. This
is all at the Publishers Weekly Librarians’ Lounge, in the main exhibit hall at
booth 557.

Enjoy a Light Breakfast

Today, 9–9:30 a.m.
Get your day going with a cuppa and something to eat provided by PW.

Meet the Authors and Editor Behind the New Make Me a World
Imprint, Courtesy of Random House Children’s Books
Today, 9:30–10:30 a.m.
“No one will disagree that there is a need for diversity
in children’s literature, and a need to respond to the
changing demographics of our country and our
world,” says Christopher Myers about the genesis of
Random House Children’s Books’ new imprint, Make
Me a World. “At the same time, as we look at the sta-
tistics, those books are not being published.”
That’s beginning to change even more rapidly with
the launch of Make Me a World’s inaugural list this
fall. “Discover a world where everything is possible,”
reads the imprint’s mission statement. Join us to talk with Myers and two of
the imprint’s first authors.
Myers, the son of acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers, began his own illus-
trious children’s book career as an author and artist by doing research to help
his father. He now serves as the driving force and creative director of Make
Me a World.
Authors on the inaugural Make Me a World list
include:
Sarah Deming, author of Gravity (Nov.): A boxer
and journalist, Deming, in her gritty, inspiring YA
novel, follows Gravity Delgado, a young Jewish-Domin-
ican teenager growing up in Brooklyn as she aspires to
greatness inside and outside the ring.
Akwaeke Emezi, author of Pet (Sept.): This book is
billed as a riveting and timely YA novel that takes on
the “difficult questions about what choices you can
make when the society around you is in denial.” A writer and video artist,
Emezi debuted her autobiographical adult novel, Freshwater, last year; it has
racked up numerous honors and is currently a finalist for a Lambda Literary
Award and the New York Public Library’s Young Lions Fiction Award.

DISCOVER BAKER & TAYLOR

VISIT US AT BOOTH #239
www.bookexpo.com
24
 FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2019

Learn More About Book Vine, with Two of the Company’s Authors
Today, 11 a.m.–noon
It’s a question more and more librarians are hearing these days: “How do I go about
publishing my book?” An author service provider, Book Vine Press will be on hand in
the lounge to answer questions about its services, along with two of its authors.
Leonard W. Heflich has a passion for developing future leaders—and for food writ-
ing. His latest self-published book, Live as Long as You Dare:
A Journey to Gain Healthy, Vibrant Years, combines his pas-
sions, offering readers simple, sustainable steps for living a
longer and better life.
Gabriel Moran, a professor emeritus of educational phi-
losophy at New York University, has worked with the Roman
Catholic Church’s educational programs for more than 50
years. His latest self-published book, Missed Opportunities:
Rethinking Catholic Tradition, is a dialogue between “the offi-
cial teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and the chal-
lenges of the contemporary world.”

From Rowman & Littlefield, get 30% off Mark Aaron Polger’s new
book, Library Marketing Basics
We know it, you know it—your library is a vital part of your community. But with a little marketing
help, think of how you could reach even more people. One of the Librarians’ Lounge sponsors,
Rowman & Littlefield, offers CUNY librarian Mark Aaron Polger’s recently published Library
Marketing Basics, an accessible, step-by-step, easy to understand resource for any librarians
interested in learning basic marketing tips to raise the profile of their library. Library Marketing
Basics will show that even if you don’t have a marketing budget or a dedicated staff member,
you can still step up and better market your library. This book will show you how a small team of
like-minded colleagues can make a big difference when it comes to creative ways to raise
awareness. Buy online, and use this special code to get 30% off: RLFAND30

Have Some Lunch, Provided by Rowman & Littlefield

Today, 12:30–1:30 p.m.
Rest your feet and enjoy lunch with colleagues.

Learn More About the Naxos Online Library Streaming Service

Today, 2–3 p.m.
Not only can you learn more about the Naxos Music Library, you can get a free
30-day trial. Reps will be in the lounge to answer questions about the comprehensive
online service, which offers more than 2.2 million tracks of classical music, jazz, world,
folk, and Chinese music, including orchestral works, concertos, chamber music, vocal
and choral works, opera and operetta, ballet music, and film scores.
The streaming service also offers users a wealth of information, including album
notes and cover artwork, and more than 40,000 composer and art-
ist biographies. With no track limits or time limits, users can listen,
watch, and read all day long. The service also offers great adminis-
trator features for librarians, including free MARC records and
mobile apps. First launched in 1996, Naxos offers spoken word,
poetry, and a deep library of classic audiobooks. The Naxos Music
Library, launched in 2002, was the industry’s first subscription
streaming platform, four years ahead of Spotify. —Andrew Albanese

25 www.bookexpo.com
 BOOKEXPO SHOW DAILY

CHILDREN’S
AUTHORS
John Cena
Reving Up for Elbow

perrry hagopian
Grease’s Return

©
With his sonorous voice and stately
stature, wrestler, actor, and rapper
John Cena has long been a command-
ing presence in multiple entertain-
ment venues. He takes to a new stage
this afternoon as the headliner of
“John Cena Presents,” moderated by
BuzzFeed’s Isaac Fitzgerald.
Cena will talk about his role as a
picture book author, most recently of
Elbow Grease vs. Motozilla (Random
House, Oct.), a follow-up to his 2018
debut, Elbow Grease, both illus. by
Howard McWilliam. In his first book, Cena introduced a small monster
truck with four bigger brothers who is determined to prove his guts and
grit. It zoomed onto bestsellers lists and paved the way for Cena’s new
story, in which Elbow
Grease’s supportive siblings
roar to his side as he faces
off against Motozilla, a fero-

9:00- cious monster machine.

When a publisher
approached him several

1o:00aM
Stop by for an ARC of The
years ago about writing his
autobiography, Cena says
that he didn’t want to write a
story that is still unfolding.
Friendship Lie by Rebecca Donnelly,
But he eventually found a
a story of friendship, growing up,
book idea that he did want
and being true to yourself.
to roll with. “I decided to
write something for the
demographic audience I reach through WWF, which is families and chil-
dren,” he says. “I wanted to create a story that would take the qualities and
values I stand for and put them in a whimsical universe.”
Cena’s memories of reading in childhood helped shape that story. “I loved

10:00- Richard Scarry’s books as a kid. And they were definitely an inspiration for
the character of Elbow Grease,” he says. “Cars and Trucks and Things That
Go was a particular favorite. With his brilliant illustrations of vehicles, from

11:00aM
Get a signed copy of Pink Hair and
small cars to big machinery, Scarry was able to create such an intimate and
fun universe.”
For Cena, the character Elbow Grease embodies what he wants young
readers and their parents to take away from his books. “In many ways,” he
Other Terrible Ideas by Andrea
says, “I’m stealing a page from my childhood and my adult life when I
Pyros. Can Josephine rethink
priorities when it matters most?
emphasize, in these stories, the importance of believing in yourself, team-
work, and never giving up.”
As for BookExpo, where he is appearing for the first time, Cena says, “I
wouldn’t be here if it didn’t mean something to me, but it really does. I am
passionate about these characters’ stories and their message. I hope peo-
ple realize that my voice is authentic—and that I really care.” —Sally Lodge

booth #938 Today, 12:50–1:30 p.m. John Cena will appear in “John Cena Presents,”
on the Downtown Stage.
Today, 1:30–2:30 p.m. Cena will sign at Table 3 in a ticketed event.

www.bookexpo.com
DM-19--2019 BEA Show Daily 3.indd 1 26
5/13/19 4:34 PM
 Visit Us at Our Booth Today
For an Author Signing!
“God Land is a marvel. . . .
It will expand your horizons
on what this country offers and
who inhabits it, and why we’re
better off journeying together,
rather than apart.”
—Sarah Weinman, author of The Real Lolita
Lyz Lenz
Friday, May 31st
11 am – Booth 826
“God Land is a remarkable work
of reporting, memoir, and cultural
criticism—a blazingly intelligent
book exploring the ways that
faith can both create and scatter
communities in America.”
—Ted Scheinman, author of Camp Austen
Explore Your World
iupress.indiana.edu
 BOOKEXPO SHOW DAILY

Much A-Buzz About Middle Grade

Middle grade authors and editors will have a chance to shine today at the
Meet Middle Grade Buzz Authors and the Middle Grade Editors’ Buzz pan-
els, both moderated by Emily Hall of Main Street Books in St. Charles, Mo.
Rex Ogle, author of Free Lunch (Norton Young Readers,
Sept.), and publishing director Simon Boughton
Rex: Free Lunch is my personal story about attending middle school, navi-
gating violence at home, and experiencing poverty in nearly every aspect of
my life. I don’t know that I was inspired, so much
as compelled by my younger self, to write it. As a
boy, I desperately needed a book that spoke to my
experience, but was hard-pressed to find one. As
an adult, and a writer, I was too ashamed to tell
my story, still haunted by old insecurities. Even-
tually, I came around, and I’m glad I did.
Simon: What I love most about Rex’s book is the
voice: it’s authentically the voice and point of
view of a sixth grader—worldly in some ways,
naïve in others, yearning for care and affection,
optimistic and hopeful despite the worst of cir-
cumstances. Rex is a wonderful storyteller, and I want to shine a light on this
book that’s valuable, unusual, and a compelling read.
Amy McCulloch, author of Jinxed (Sourcebooks Young
Readers, Jan. 2020), and senior editor Annie Berger
Amy: Jinxed is the story of aspiring engineer Lacey Chu, who fixes a broken
cat robot who unlocks for her a place at an elite
STEM-focused academy. This is the first book
I’ve written for actual middle school me—the sci-
ence fair competitor who taught herself how to
code. I’m looking forward to talking about how
important I feel it is for young women interested
in STEM fields to see themselves centered in fun
and action-packed fiction.
Annie: As soon as I started reading Jinxed, I
knew I had something special. I loved that the heroine was incredibly smart
and brave. I loved the idea of electronic companions. And I loved the com-
petitive school Lacey found herself in, challenging herself, making friends,
and competing in STEM-focused activities.
Ibi Zoboi, author of My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich
(Dutton, Aug.), and executive editor Andrew Karre
Ibi: In my novel, 12-year-old Ebony-Grace leaves her Alabama home to stay
with her father in Harlem during the summer of 1984. She is obsessed with
all things space travel and science fiction, fueled by her NASA engineer
grandfather’s stories. She finds fresh fodder for her space adventures in all
the otherworldliness that Harlem has to offer. But when her worlds of sci-fi
adventures, her granddaddy’s legacy, and the fledgling hip-hop scene all
collide, she’s left to pick up the pieces.
I wanted to share my experiences of growing up in a time and place that
was very broken and disenfranchised, but brimming with innovation and
creativity.

Visit
Nimbus at
Book Expo!!
SIGNIN
FRIDAY G 11am
, MAY 3
1

(Nimbus Publishing,
booth #964) A GIANT MAN FROM A THERE BE PIRATES! FIRST DEGREE: FROM MED
TINY TOWN: A STORY OF SWASHBUCKLERS & ROGUES SCHOOL TO MURDER, THE STORY
ANGUS MACASKILL OF THE ATLANTIC BEHIND THE SHOCKING WILL
Story by Tom Ryan By Joann Hamilton-Barry SANDESON TRIAL
Art by Christopher Hoyt 978-1-77108-579-3 | $15.95 By Kayla Hounsell
978-1-77108-654-7 | $22.95 Children’s Non-Fiction 978-1-77108-666-0
Children’s picture book (Ages 3-7) (Ages 7-10) $24.95 | True crime
For US orders, contact Orca
(children’s titles): 1-800-210-5277
For Canadian orders
call: 1-800-646-2879
Order online at nimbus.ca

Follow us online:

BRAD MARCHAND: MONSTER IN BONE BEDS OF

@nimbuspub or nimbus.ca THE UNLIKELY STAR THE MOUNTAINS THE BADLANDS
By Philip Croucher By Shane Peacock By Shane Peacock
978-1-77108-685-1 | $17.95 978-1-77108-715-5 | $12.95 978-1-77108-658-5 | $12.95
Sports (Ages 8+) Middle-grade fiction (Ages 9-12) Middle-grade fiction (Ages 9-12)

www.bookexpo.com
28
 FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2019

Andrew: It was Ibi and her passion for the idea

that grabbed my attention. She had a vision for
placing a very special, very vivid character in a
fascinating place and time in America. Ibi is a
special talent and an important voice in chil-
dren’s lit. This is her first middle grade novel and
it’s the very first middle grade novel I bought at
Penguin. We’ve worked on this book for a long
time, and we’re thrilled to talk about it.
Bridget Farr, author of Pavi Sharma’s
Guide to Going Home (Little, Brown,
Sept.), and editor Nikki Garcia
Bridget: My novel follows foster kid Pavi Sharma as she sets off
on an important mission to save a fellow foster kid from the
home that still haunts her nightmares. Pavi was inspired by my
partner, who also spent time in foster care. He’s been on his
own since he was Pavi’s age, went to college at 16, and created
a great life for himself. I wanted to write a book where being a
foster kid was part of the protagonist’s identity, but not the
focus of the story. Pavi’s history with foster care saturates her
experience, but her mission now is to help other foster kids.
Nikki: Bridget’s novel won me over with Pavi’s spot-on voice
that made me fall in love from the very first page. I happily stayed up late to
find out what happened to Pavi and her ragtag group of friends. Although
Bridget has created a novel about a topic as specific as foster care, I know
that all readers, no matter their background, will find something to relate
to in this one-of-a-kind novel.
Carolyn Crimi, author of Weird Little
Robots, illus. by Corinna Luyken
(Candlewick, Oct.), and executive
editor Katie Cunningham
Carolyn: Penny Rose creates robots out of old
phones, dentures, and meat thermometers to
keep her company, but still dreams of having a
best friend. She then meets Lark, a fellow tink­
erer. When the two of them discover that the
robots are alive, Penny Rose doesn’t think her
life can get much better. But then she’s asked
to join the Secret Science Society and is forced to choose
between Lark and the cool society members, who are a lit-
tle too curious about her robots. When I was young, I owned
robot toys and often daydreamed about them coming to life.
Katie: Weird Little Robots sang to the eight-year-old inside of
me. I couldn’t stop reading to see what would happen to
Penny Rose and Lark and their merry, wacky band of sentient
robots. Carolyn delivers so much in such a compact package—
the tension between believing in science and believing in
magic, the hunger for friendship and popularity, and how it is
never too late to do the right thing.  —Sally Lodge
Today, 11–11:50 a.m. The Middle Grade Editors’ Buzz panel will take
place in Room 1E12/E13/E14.
Today, 1:35–2:05 p.m. The Meet the Middle Grade Buzz Authors panel
will be held on the Downtown Stage.

GIVEAWAYS AND EVENTS IN BOOTH 1838

FRIDAY, MAY 31
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#SimonBookLovers
SimonandSchusterPublishing.com/BEA

29 www.bookexpo.com
 BOOKEXPO SHOW DAILY

Spotlight on Picture Books

What promises to be a picture-perfect annual BookExpo event makes its as varying the color range or the
debut today. During the “New Picture Book Showcase,” eight authors and book format,” she says. “The tale of
illustrators will share their most recent contributions to the genre in a animals seeking shade on a hot
panel moderated by Sarah Enni, host of the First Draft podcast. summer day inspired me to design
Show Daily caught up with a trio of panelists, including David Shannon, overlapping pages in the middle
who says that Mr. Nogginbody Gets a Hammer (Norton Books for Young section of the book to let the read-
Readers, Sept.) “started out as a doodle in my sketchbook. I was really just ers discover the owners of the dif-
playing around with goofy little characters and he tickled my funny bone.” ferent shadows, which let the
Once Shannon found the right setting for Mr. Nogginbody—“I pictured him shadows become part of the story.”
in an odd little world where not everything had to make perfect sense”—he Introducing Summer to American
started looking for a story. “The saying, ‘If all you have is a hammer, then booksellers and readers, Rong
every problem looks like a nail,’ was something I’d run across earlier and continues, “is very special to me.
seemed like it might work,” Shannon adds. It is exciting to have an opportu-
The book turned out to be a “pretty significant departure” from Shannon’s nity to share a book that has
earlier work, which tends to be more structured, with pencil and tracing been such a success in China with
paper and planning. By contrast, Shannon says, “This book evolved in my a whole new market here in the
sketchbook in pen and ink, and I really liked the sketchy immediacy of the U.S. China has imported a large
drawings. So I decided to have them photographed and printed and number of children’s books from
then added some minimal color with oil paint on the prints.” It all the U.S. in recent years, and Chi-
resulted, he notes, in “what might be the most enjoyment I’ve ever had nese publishing houses are also
making a book.” working hard and rapidly to make
Chinese illustrator Yu Rong, a newcomer to BookExpo, and to the U.S., original Chinese picture books.
is promoting Summer (Imprint, May), her second collaboration with Cao It is an essential way to exchange
Wenxuan, one of China’s most popular children’s authors. “It is a really fun different cultures and diversity
story that allowed me to explore the full breadth of my illustrations, such of life.”

Author Signings in Booth 1823!

9:30 – 10:15am
Teresa Sorkin &
Tullan Holmqvist

SIGNINGS AT BOOTH 1204

The Woman in the Park

10:30 – 11:15am
Scott Ryan, David Bushman,
Mya McBriar, Melanie
McFarland, and Lauren Fox
The Women of David Lynch

11:30am – 12:15pm MICHAEL GENHART

Maryann Macdonald
Playdate Rainbow
and
Signing: 10:00-11:00AM
Daniel Nayeri
The Elixer Fixers:
Sasha and Puck and
the Potion of Luck

12:30 – 1:15pm
Komal Kapoor, Caitlyn Siehl,
and Wilder
[Dis]Connected: Poems and
Stories of Connection and
Otherwise Volume 2 FRANK SILEO
1:30 – 2:15am
Snitchy Witch
Charley Beal & Signing: 1:00-2:00PM
Jay Blotcher
Rainbow Warrior:
My Life in Color

Independent Publishers Group

www.bookexpo.com
30
FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2019

Mac Barnett (Just Because, Candlewick, Sept.) says that,

for him, the picture book has always been “the most import-
ant format to work in [and] the most exciting and most vital
creative space.” Adding to the genre’s value, he says, is the
“generational connection. Since picture books are read by
children and adults together, they are a common ground
and are so important in family rituals. And in no other
format do you see the same sophistication, creative rich-
ness, and tradition of experimentation.” This first “New
Picture Book Showcase,” Barnett adds, “recognizes the
growing importance of picture books in children’s publish-
ing—as well as all the exciting work going on in the picture
book world.”
Additional panelists include
Isabelle Arsenault, coauthor
with Barnett of Just Because;
Matt Tavares, Dasher (Can-
dlewick, Sept.); Beth Ferry,
The Scarecrow (HarperCollins,
Sept.); Holly McGhee, Listen
(Roaring Brook, Sept.); and
Tom Fletcher, There’s an Elf
in Your Book (Random, Oct.).
 —Sally Lodge

Today, 9:30–10:15 a.m.

The “New Picture Book
Showcase” will be on the
Choice Stage.

31 www.bookexpo.com
 BOOKEXPO SHOW DAILY

CHILDREN’S
QA
Bob Shea and Zachariah
OHora
‘Who Wet My Pants?’
“Who wet my pants?” shouts mortified Reu-
ben the bear when he realizes his friends are
staring at the telling wet spot on his own
pants. Reuben’s sham question became the
title of a picture book by Bob Shea and
Zachariah OHora, who talk about collabo-
rating on Who Wet My Pants? (Little, Brown,
Bob Shea
Sept.), a tale of blame, empathy, and
forgiveness.

What inspired you to tackle this universal

childhood experience in a book?
B.S.: On a school visit, a literary specialist
told me about a boy who had an accident in
his pants. When she asked him if he’d pooped,
he denied it repeatedly, insisting, “I really
don’t know who it could have been—it’s a
mystery.” I thought that this was such a hilar-
ious lie in the face of an obvious fact, which
inspired my story. But I made it about wet- Zachariah OHora
ting rather than soiling one’s pants. This is
not a potty book. Reuben’s accident is
the catalyst, but the story is really about
embarrassment and saving face—which
his friends let him do. No one calls him
out and says he has to come clean. I
wanted to make the point that sometimes
friends’ compassion is the saving grace.

How did Zach become involved?

B.S.: Zach and I met years ago through a
mutual friend, Greg Pizzoli, and discov-
ered we shared the same sense of humor.
We talked about doing a book, thinking
it would give us an excuse to spend time
together. When I wrote this story, I thought of Zach right away. I didn’t want
the book to be too flip, and I knew he would bring a sophistication to the
story. His illustrations took it to a new level.
Z.O.: Earlier, Bob and I had tossed around some ideas that didn’t pan out,
but seeing this manuscript, I said, “Oh yeah, this is the one”—even though
it was a messy situation. When I started painting Reuben, I knew I would
have done the whole book for free.

Any chance of a sequel or other future collaborations?

Z.O.: I would sign on the dotted line in a blink—whatever it takes to keep
working with Bob. But in terms of a sequel—I have no interest in doing a
book about number two.
B.S.: Definitely not an option. We’re going on tour for Who Wet My Pants?
and I expect we’ll come up with some brilliant book ideas in hotel bars.
 —Sally Lodge

Today, noon–12:30 p.m. Bob Shea and Zachariah OHora will sign f&gs
at Table 3.
Today, 1–2 p.m. Shea will be at the ABC/CBC Speed Dating Tea, in
Rooms 1E07/1E08.

www.bookexpo.com
32
 The Life of a Wannabe Mogul
Mental Disarray
a book by Bella Thorne

The Life of a Wannabe Mogul: Mental Disarray,

Bella Thorne’s collection of illuminating
and inspiring poems chronicles her
personal struggles, relationships, and
wild-child lifestyle, all with her
trademark wit and wisdom.

JULY 2019

RAREBIRDBOOKS.COM
Distributed by Publishers Group West
 BOOKEXPO SHOW DAILY

AUTHORS
Susannah Cahalan
Unscientific Method

shannon taggart
What do you do when one of your
idols turns out to be a fake? How do
you reconcile his influence on you, and

©
on the world, with his dishonesty?
These questions drive journalist
Susannah Cahalan’s forthcoming book
The Great Pretender (Grand Central,
Nov.), which centers on David Rosen-
han, a Stanford psychologist whose
reform-spurring research into insane

READERS asylums may not have been as scrupu-

lous as it should have been.
Cahalan, a former reporter for the
We have our eye on worldwide New York Post, has a personal invest-
ment in studies of mental illness. Her
fashion centers, specializing in first book, Brain on Fire (Simon &
Italian design elements. Schuster, 2013), chronicled her experience

Our finished product is elegant with a rare autoimmune disease that was
first misdiagnosed as bipolar disorder.
to see as well as be seen in. When she encountered Rosenhan’s classic
study, “On Being Sane in Insane Places,”
she found that it reflected her own experi-
ence of crossing the border between “sane”
and “insane.”
For the study, which was published in the
early 1970s, Rosenhan and seven other
people got themselves admitted to insane
asylums by faking symptoms of mental ill-
ness. Their reports on their experiences in
the asylums—and their struggles to prove
themselves “sane” enough to be let out—
shed unflattering light on how caretakers treated the mentally ill and has-
tened the closure of psychiatric institutions.
For Cahalan, the study captured the particular trauma of being labeled
“insane,” even if only temporarily. She says, “This feeling of depersonaliza-
tion, this feeling of doctors wanting to distance themselves from you, feeling
‘other,’ ” all of which resonated with her. But when she began to look into the
story behind the study, which was originally published in the journal Science,

BOOTH 2849
she found troubling inconsistencies.
Cahalan gained access to Rosenhan’s files, as well as medical records from
the insane asylums he studied. She also interviewed study participants who’d
SPECIAL DISCOUNTS FOR ABA MEMBERS never spoken publicly about the experiment. (Rosenhan himself died in
& INDIE BOOKSTORES 2012.) Eventually, Cahalan began to suspect that portions of the study had
been fudged. “The questions kept coming,” she says.
Cahalan found it difficult to square the positive effects of the study with its
scientific shakiness. Rosenhan exposed widespread maltreatment of men-
tally ill patients and inspired soul-searching in the psychiatric community.
Should his mendacities necessarily negate that?
In Ken Kesey’s classic insane-asylum novel, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s
Nest, he writes: “It’s the truth even if it didn’t happen.” It’s a line Cahalan
returned to often while writing the new book.“There’s something about that,
that I like,” she said. “Even though this study needs a kind of reckoning, I do
believe it has a message.” —Daniel V. Lefferts
2020VISIONUSA.COM
orders2020vision@yahoo.com Today, 11-noon. Susannah Cahalan will sign The Great Pretender at
Table 3.

34
Ad2020visionusaExpo.indd 1 5/22/19 8:52 PM
www.bookexpo.com
 FRDAY, MAY 31, 2019

Broadening the
Conversation
The notion of “Giving a Voice to the

thomas kristich
Voiceless” lends itself to a range of
interpretations. At today’s stage

©
event of the same name, a range of
authors and illustrators will talk

Business.
about how that guided them in their
most recent books.
Panelist Sharon Robinson, daugh-
ter of baseball legend Jackie Robin-

Unlimited.
son and author most recently of Child
of the Dream: A Memoir of 1963
(Scholastic Press, Sept.), shares her
13-year-old perspective on key events
of that year, including her family’s
participation in the March on Wash-
ington as guests of Dr. Martin Luther Business.
King Jr. The story behind Dr. King’s “I
Have a Dream” speech, delivered during that march, inspired Barry Witten- Club.
stein’s picture book A Place to Land: Martin Luther King Jr. and a Speech
That Changed the World (Holiday House/Porter, Sept.), illus. by panelist
Jerry Pinkney.
King indefatigably used his voice in the service of the voiceless, notes
Pinkney, calling the activist “the voice of the civil rights movement in its early Hold your meetings
chapters, and his country’s trumpeter for social justice.” While working on
A Place to Land, the illustrator adds, “I became aware of the many voices away from the crowd,
MLK had used to express his message. His tone could be angry, direct, get in touch with key
hopeful, and positive, but he always spoke with a humbled elegance.
Through the process of creating the images for this book, I sought to visu- players, and benefit
ally interpret Dr. King’s vulnerability and courage, his profound concern
alongside his vision of unflappable hope. It changed my own lens in viewing
from premium services.
this country’s repressive past
and its moral compass for Frankfurter Buchmesse’s
seeking equality and justice.” Business Club.
Stephana I. Colbert, author
of Ordinary Extraordinary Afri-
can American Women: The
Elders (Jewell Jordan Publish-
ing, 2017), rounds out the
panel, moderated by Miranda
Spigener-Sapon, creator of the
upcoming Amazon Prime SAVE TICKET
series Marisa Romanov and DISCOUNT!
author of Charles: A Marisa
Romanov Story (Winterwolf
Press, Nov.), the first of four
prequels to that series.
“Giving a voice to the voiceless is so key,” Spigener-Sapon says, “because
everyone deserves a chance to be heard, and I want to contribute in any
way possible to ensure that we apply inclusivity to society.” Without the
#fbm19
books the panelists have created, she continues, “We might never get to
learn these stories—and there are so many more out there. I’m a strong
Enter the code by 23 June 2019 to save
supporter in utilizing the arts, entertainment, and literary worlds to give a 30% when booking your premium fair
voice to those who need to be heard the most.”  —Sally Lodge experience with the Business Club:

B C 3 0_5 7 76
Today, 9:30–10:30 a.m. Barry Wittenstein and Jerry Pinkney will sign A
buchmesse.de/business-club
Place to Land at Table 10.
Today, 2:15–3 p.m. The “Giving a Voice to the Voiceless” panel takes
place on the Downtown Stage.

35 www.bookexpo.com
 BOOKEXPO SHOW DAILY
NYRF: Secrets of Bestselling Translations
Three agents and an editor shared strategies for creating global best-
sellers at the New York Rights Fair Wednesday, reminding attendees that
books in translation can earn a massive readership, even though these
titles only make up 3% of books published in the United States.
“You just need a great book,” said Barbara Zitwer, owner of the Barbara J.
Zitwer Agency, explaining how she sold The Plotters by Un-su Kim in 22
different countries. “But finding a book is like finding a needle in a haystack.”
Zitwer stressed that the success of The Plotters depended on 12 years of
working with Korean books in translation and building a groundswell of
support for Korean literature.
Atria Books v-p and editor-in-chief Peter Borland discovered A Man Called
Ove by Fredrik Backman through a 10,000-word partial English translation.
The English-language hardcover began with a modest release, but Atria’s
in-house publicity and sales team propelled the paperback to bestseller
status with funny video guides to the then-unknown book, extensive book
blogger outreach, and independent bookseller support. “From day one,
the book flew off the shelves at indies,” he said. “Word-of-mouth is the one
thing we know that sells books. With A Man Called Ove, we created an
opportunity for that word-of-mouth to take root.”
Claire Sabatie-Garat, a literary agent at the Italian Literary Agency, shared
the story behind the hit M: The Son of the XX Century by Antonio Scurati.
Although an 800-page novel about the life of Benito Mussolini may seem
unlikely to become a bestseller, it has sold more than 160,000 copies in
Italy, and the rights have sold in more than 28 countries. “No facts were
invented. Only feelings were invented,” said Sabatie-Garat, who credited
Scurati’s careful scholarship for the book’s success.
F R I D AY, M AY 3 1
In-Booth Signing:
JAMES PONIEWOZIK
at Norton’s Booth #1521
10:00 AM
James Poniewozik will
be signing galleys of
Audience of One
GALLEY GIVEAWAYS
Stop by to grab a galley while supplies last!
The Accusation The In-Betweens
Edward Berenson
BY BY Mira Ptacin
Liveright
www.bookexpo.com
Stressing the importance of a great translator behind every blockbuster
translation, moderator Gabriella Page-Fort, editorial director at Amazon
Crossing, said, “I spend a lot of time trying to find the right translator for
books.” She studies a translator’s track record carefully to find the right fit.
“It’s very difficult when you don’t speak the language to decide if someone
is good, and there’s been controversy around what makes a translation
good,” she added.
Marleen Seegers, cofounder, CEO, and foreign rights agent at 2 Seas
Agency, underscored the importance of translated literature in the global
rights marketplace. “International editors and scouts have been looking
more and more toward what will be published in other languages besides
English,” she said. Using a “tiny” 500-word English synopsis of The Children’s
Train by Italian novelist Viola Ardone, about a talented violinist who emerges
from the crucible of WWII, she sold the book in 24 international territories
at the Frankfurt Book Fair. “The fiction that has been selling is often rooted
in history and based on historical facts. People seem drawn to that now
more than ever,” Seegers said. “Hopefully, things will have a good ending,
like this book. People want to be hopeful.”  —Jason Boog
New York Rights
Fair Program
Market Trends—Frontlist Adult Fiction
9:30–10:15 a.m.
So-called “girl” books, from Gone Girl to Girl on the Train,
have been a major trend in frontlist fiction. Has this finally
abated?
Annie Hwang (moderator), literary agent, Folio Literary
Management;
Amy Einhorn, executive v-p and publisher, Flatiron Books;
Dorian Karchmar, partner and agent, William Morris
Annie Hwang
Endeavor;
Sally Kim, v-p, editor-in-chief, Putnam.
Market Trends—Middle Grade and YA
10:45–11:30 a.m.
In recent years, YA and middle grade titles have mostly
been blockbuster franchises. What’s next?
Amy Gordon (moderator), v-p, children’s and YA literary
scout, Bettina Schrewe Literary Scouting;
Stacey Barney, executive director, Penguin Random
Jenny Bent
House;
Jenny Bent, president, the Bent Agency;
David Levithan, v-p, publisher and editorial director,
Scholastic;
Rosemary Stimola, president and founder, Stimola Lit-
erary Studio.
Market Trends—Nonfiction, Politics
Noon–12:45 p.m.
Politics may be dividing much of the country, but it’s
Eric Nelson
proven a boon for the book industry. Do political book
sales show any sign of cooling off?
Jaya Aninda Chatterjee (moderator), editor, Yale University Press;
Eric Nelson, v-p, editorial director, Broadside Books;
Rafe Sagalyn, partner, ICM Partners;
Keith Urbahn, founding partner and president, Javelin;
Paul Whitlatch, executive editor, Hachette Book Group.
36
 BOOKEXPO SHOW DAILY

Shining a Light on Graphic Novels

for Kids
Three out of four of this year’s graphic novel buzz selections are aimed at
middle grade and teen readers. “For the past five to 10 years, there have
been strong YA and middle grade graphic novel offerings, and it continues,”
says PW senior news editor Calvin Reid, coeditor of PW Comics World,
who is moderating this year’s “Graphic Novel Spotlight.”
Below are his personal kids’ standouts for the fall.

Stage Dreams by Melanie

Gillman (Graphic
Universe, Sept.)
Flor, a Latinx outlaw, and Grace,
a trans runaway, share a horse,
plans for a heist, and a few kisses
in a rip-roaring queer western The Seventh Voyage by
spy romp set in 1860s New Jon J Muth (Graphix, Oct.)
Mexico. Ages 12–up. This is a graphic adaptation of Stanislaw Lem’s short story about an
astronaut in a damaged spaceship that travels so fast it collects past and
future (young and old) versions of himself who bicker over how to repair
the ship. Ages 8–12.

ye rin mok
©
Stargazing by Jen
Wang (First Second,
Sept.)
In this story of two young
Chinese-American friends—
impulsive, artistic Moon and
her opposite, Christine—
Moon’s sudden illness puts
their friendship to the test.
Ages 8–12. —Judith Rosen

Visit Abingdon Press in

BOOTH 714 while at BookExpo.
AbingdonPress.com

Popular Girl Be Brave

community inspires
gift book
When CHERYL HALE discovered a note from her grandmother,
written in a family Bible and ending with the phrase “girl be brave,” she
found the inspiration she needed to push through her fear and chart
a course for her life. She now inspires 100,000+ women everyday
through the Girl Be Brave online community.
The 100 reflections in Girl Be Brave: 100 Days
to Chart Your Course encourage women to
face their fears, embrace their future, and
discover that they are braver than they ever
thought possible.

SEPT 17, 2019 Today, 10:20–11:05 a.m. Melanie Gillman,

Hardback w/ribbon and two-color interior Jon J Muth, and Jen Wang will participate
9781501885402 | 5.5 x 7 with Chris Ware in the “Graphic Novel
224 pages | $18.99
Spotlight” on the Choice Stage.

www.bookexpo.com
38
 BOOKEXPO SHOW DAILY

AUTHORS AUTHORS
Chris Ware Bassey Ikpi
Achingly Real Comics Facing the Truth
Chris Ware’s comics look almost mechani- “There are whole chunks of my life that I don’t remember because all of my

marnie ware
cal, with their smoothly drawn lines and bandwidth and emotions were devoted to just existing,” recalls Bassey Ikpi,
flat areas of color, but the characters that author of I’m Telling the Truth, but I’m Lying (Harper, Aug.). Ikpi’s memoir, a

©
inhabit them are achingly real. “I want collection of candid essays that fuse poetry and stream of consciousness,
[the drawings] to be as clear and readable illuminates the Nigerian-American writer’s struggles with bipolar II disorder.
as possible so the story can be as tangled But she wasn’t always eager to share, in unflinching, accurate detail, her
and uncertain as life and experience seem everyday turmoil. “The hardest

aniekan umoren
to be,” he says of Rusty Brown, the comic thing I’ve ever done is give the
he has been working on for the past 18 book permission to be what it

©
years. Pantheon will publish the first of needed to be,” she adds.
two volumes in September. Her first attempt at the memoir
Ware began serializing his comics in his felt wrong to her from the get-go,
college newspaper, the Daily Texan, at and Ikpi thought it necessary to
the University of Texas at Austin, and later lie about the problems she faced
was a contributor to Raw, the comics in her life. She couldn’t “acknowl-
magazine edited by edge what was really going on.”
Françoise Mouly and her Then, a few years ago, when she
husband, Maus creator Art was in a deep crisis, tired of fight-
Spiegelman. He launched his ing the darkness that kept return-
comics series, The Acme ing and tired of not being able to
Novelty Library, in 1993. say, “I’m not okay,” Ikpi was finally
Both Jimmy Corrigan, his ready to reveal the unvarnished
first graphic novel, and truth. This time, the words rushed
Rusty Brown first appeared out of her, leading to the book that
as part of the Acme Novelty had been germinating for almost
Library series before being 20 years.
published as books (the new Instead of relating a clinical
edition of Rusty Brown will include previously account of bipolar II disorder, Ikpi embraced a more intimate approach. “I
unpublished material). Building Stories, which collects 14 different wanted to tell it from within the diagnosis, within the depression, within the
comics printed in a variety of formats that together tell a single story, is one grief. I didn’t want people to attach themselves to my diagnosis, but to what
of Ware’s most unusual works and also got its start in the Novelty Library. was happening to me,” she explains.
When published as a book in 2012, it was named a Top 10 Book of the Year Ikpi has appeared on HBO’s Def
by the New York Times Book Review. Poetry Jam and has been part of the
After finishing Jimmy Corrigan, Ware says that he started Rusty Brown as Tony Award–winning Broadway show’s
“a humorous tension reliever.” He adds, “It had vague ambitions of being a touring company.“I got onstage and
shortish origin story about a middle-aged toy collector I’d been drawing for did what I needed to do, but no one
a couple of years, both as a parody of American materialism and infantilism saw the terror and will it took,” she
and my own participation therein.” As he wrote it, though, it morphed into a says. That’s why even mundane rou-
much bigger story about the toy collector’s childhood and what Ware tines—sleeping, bodega runs—are
describes as “the three-dimensional framework of the characters who sur- given prominence in the book,
round and form him.” exposing how the bipolar disorder
Ware sees comics as akin to mental images, like memories. “In regular fic- permeates her life.
tion, printed words on the page are translucent, if not transparent,” he says, In addition to her writing, Ikpi is a
“creating images in the reader’s imagination—which is, by far, one of the mental health advocate who founded
strangest and most unpinnable phenomena there is. Whereas in comics the the Siwe Project and #NoShameDay
reader ideally ‘reads,’ or sees through, the drawings to have the simultane- for awareness in the black community
ous sensation of something happening not only in their own minds, but also and to help alleviate entrenched
before their eyes.” stigmas. The book, then, is also a
At their heart, though, Ware’s comics are not formal exercises but stories bold extension of that educational platform.
about people. “What’s most compelling to me as a writer and a person is “The way we are taught to write about ourselves and the way we actu-
how we become who we are,” Ware says. “How do we go from that kid on ally live our lives are so different,” she says. “Sometimes you are just within
the playground who made that weird animal sound whenever he caught a yourself, without understanding what’s going on around you. Being open
ball to being a mixed-use real estate developer?” —Brigid Alverson gives me a greater responsibility for my wellness. It allows me the room to
find things to be better for.”  —Alia Akkam
Today, 10:20–11:05 a.m. Chris Ware will participate in the “Graphic
Novel Spotlight” on the Choice Stage. Today, 2–2:30 p.m. Bassey Ikpi signs at Table 9.
www.bookexpo.com
40
 November 17-24, 2019
MIAMI, FLORIDA
POETRY, FICTION & NONFICTION FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD
STREET FAIR / PUBLISHERS & BOOKSELLERS
CHILDREN’S AUTHORS & ACTIVITIES

MIAMIBOOKFAIR.COM
/miamibookfair #MiamiBookFair2019
 BOOKEXPO SHOW DAILY

AUTHORS AUTHORS
Alafair Burke Cadwell Turnbull
Mixing Thrillers and Family Learning ‘The Lesson’
Today marks the final stop on Alafair In his intimate debut novel, which received a starred review from PW, Cad-
Burke’s 15-city tour for her new well Turnbull depicts the shattering aftereffects of an alien race’s arrival on
novel, The Better Sister (Harper), Earth—specifically, their appearance in the skies over his native St.
about two estranged sisters, Chloe Thomas. Already optioned for television by AMC, The Lesson (Blackstone,
and Nicky, who each marry the same June) is, in part, Turnbull’s attempt to make sense of the complicated his-
man. When high-powered Manhat- tory and consequences of colonization in his native Virgin Islands.
tan attorney Adam McIntosh (Chloe’s “I think the big thing that I want people to take away from the book is
current and Nicky’s former husband) that cycles repeat themselves,” Turnbull says. “When we traumatize peo-
is murdered at his East Hampton ple, we’re not just giving them trauma in the moment, we’re giving them
beach house, they join forces to save something that they will pass on.”
the teenage boy accused of killing In The Lesson,

anju manandhar
him. trauma results, in
“It’s the first time that I’ve written a part, from how the
book with two main characters,” says Ynaa (Turnbull’s
Burke. “And anyone who has a sibling alien race, pro-
will recognize that little line between nounced “ee-nah”)
loyalty and rivalry.” She sees The Bet-
ter Sister as making up a thematic Anyone see humans—as infe-
riors, not equals. The
trilogy with two earlier novels, The Ex
and The Wife. “They all explore the who sole exception to that
rule is Mera, the Ynaa
roles a woman has to play—daughter,
wife, sister—even as they try and have has a sibling emissary and healer
who hides among the
their own lives,” Burke says.
For The Better Sister, Burke chose will recognize peoples of the Carib-
bean for centuries
the Met Gala, one of New York’s most
glamorous events, for one of its early that little line before making herself
known. Here, too,
scenes. Although she’s never attended
the event, she has an unexpected con- between Turnbull drew on the
history of the region to
nection—her husband does security
management at the Metropolitan loyalty and flesh out his narrative.

Museum of Art. “I kind of live vicari-

ously through him the night of the gala. rivalry.” “I knew very early on I wanted the
I’m always texting him, asking who’s Ynaa to be on the island a long
there, what are they wearing, and time,” Turnbull says. “So if Mera
threatening to sneak in,” she says. would be there for 300 years, she
As a professor of criminal law and would acquire legends around her-
criminal procedure at Hofstra Univer- self. It made sense to me that an
sity and a former prosecutor, Burke alien with the ability to heal people
says, “People always expect my books would be connected to native
to be highly procedural and filled with mythology, to stories that people
technical detail. But I don’t just write considered fantastic.”
about lawyers and police officers, I The science underlying Mera’s
write about families. My novels aren’t healing ability—indeed, the entirety
courtroom thrillers, they’re stories of Ynaa technology—was not drawn
about the unknowables families face— from Caribbean mythology, however,
what happens when the police come to but firmly rooted in research. “I tried
your door and what will the trial judge my best to have some scientific back-
be like? Drama doesn’t come from the ing. I did a lot of reading about can-
technical.” cer cells—like if there’s an answer to immortality on this planet, what would
As the author of 18 novels, Burke it look like—but when I was trying to write it, I wanted it to seem as far out
may be a book tour veteran, but she admits, “[I’m] still terrified before I there from the human perspective as possible.” Turnbull laughs. “It was
walk into a store that no one will show up.” And in the unlikely event that one of those things, I thought I have to do this. It’s going to be cool and ter-
the crowd is small, she says that she’s “always so grateful to the bookseller rifying.”  —Dave Stern
who manages to convince me it’s because of the weather.” —Lucinda Dyer
Today, 11:30 a.m.–12:15 p.m. Cadwell Turbull will sign at the Blackstone
Today, 10–11 a.m. Alafair Burke will do a ticketed signing at Table 2. booth (1411).

www.bookexpo.com
42
Texas Book
Festival 2019
TWO DAYS 300+ AUTHORS
Free and open to the public
THE BIGGEST BOOK PARTY IN TEXAS
Join us in supporting libraries and literacy!

OCTOBER 26-27 AUSTIN, TX

TEXASBOOKFESTIVAL.ORG
FOLLOW US @texasbookfest #txbookfest texasbookfestival.org
 BOOKEXPO SHOW DAILY
AUTHORS
Joe Hill
Going ‘Full Throttle’
With the release of the short story collection Full Throttle (Morrow, Oct.),
Joe Hill is poised to return to the style that launched his career—in a par-
ticularly big way. The story “In the Tall Grass,” one of two collected here
that he co-wrote with his father, Stephen King, is the basis for a feature film
from Netflix.
For a writer who can’t help
joe hill
thinking in stories, Hill’s own
©
seems as unlikely as any he’s ever
concocted. In 2004, he was, in his
own words, “a failed novelist. I’d
written a number of books I was
unable to sell and for good rea-
son. Some had strong facets, but
none were the complete package.
I hadn’t really figured out how to
write a novel, but I had figured
out how to write a short story.”
When U.K.-based PS Publishing
expressed interest in Hill’s story
“Pop Art,” he persuaded them to
look at his other stories, which
resulted in 20th Century Ghosts.
Published in 2005, the book won the
Bram Stoker Award for Best Fiction
Collection. “To this day that was my
luckiest break as a writer,” says Hill.
On the strength of that book, he
pitched Heart-Shaped Box to Morrow
in 2007, which launched a career
that has spawned a handful of novels
and novellas, including NOS4A2
(2013) and Strange Weather (2017),
along with a six-volume Eisner
Award–winning comic book series,
Locke & Key.
All the while, Hill kept writing stories,
sometimes with his father. Although
Hill took steps early in his career to
conceal his relationship to King,
including taking a pen name, since he has established his own career, he
has been more open to acknowledging the family connection.
“I kind of wanted to tackle that head-on,” says Hill, who talks about the
influence his parents had on his writing in the introduction to Full Throttle.
“When I write with my dad, I feel like Wile E. Coyote sitting on one of those
rockets,” Hill says, laughing. “He’s so confident, and every sentence seems
to drop perfectly in the first draft.”
Confidence is on Hill’s mind. “A book of short stories is in some ways
more revealing about an author than a novel, because a short story tells
you more where an author’s enthusiasm is. It tells you where they live
most of the time,” says Hill.
With a TV series based on NOS4A2 slated for release on AMC in June,
and a stack of published titles on the shelf, he’s ready for that revealing
moment, and for Full Throttle to go out into the world. —Alex Green
Today, 1:30–2:30 p.m. Joe Hill will do a ticketed signing at Table 4.
www.bookexpo.com
44
AUTHORS
Sarah MacLean
The Need for a Brazen Heroine
Bestselling romance writer Sarah MacLean has long been a maverick,
and her most recent series, the Bareknuckle Bastards, does not disappoint.
Unlike most historical romance writers, who focus on the aristocracy,
MacLean turns her attention to the less privileged in the second book in
the series, Brazen and the Beast (Avon, July).
“Because I live in 2019 America, I wanted to write about a separate
world from ballrooms and beautiful dresses and the nobility,” MacLean
says. “I’m really interested in talking about the people who make the
world work, rather than those who own the world. I got interested in
Covent Garden, which in the 1830s was a terrible neighborhood in
London. It was where the working class and lower class lived. I created
siblings—two brothers and their sister—and the three of them together
are the Bareknuckle Bastards. They’ve pulled themselves up from the gut-
ter in London to run a crime ring.”
One of them, Whit (known as “Beast” to readers), is featured in her
new book alongside Hattie, who is anything but a typical romance heroine.
“I wanted to write a heroine who is comfortable in her body, but doesn’t
look perfect—the way that the world tells us to look,” says MacLean. “The
value of doing this in a romance novel is that I can give a plus-size woman
her happiness and a way to triumph. When you set a marginalized char-
acter on the page—and other authors are doing this with all different
kinds of marginalized people—suddenly it becomes subversive and
revolutionary to give people happiness who are traditionally judged
harshly in society.”
MacLean champions romance writers and has a great metaphor for those
who think the genre is just the same story told over and over again. “It’s
like ballet in a phone booth—in fact, all genre fiction is like ballet in a phone
booth,” she says. “Yes, there are the rigid boundaries. But once you’re
inside those boundaries, your work is to try to make it fresh and different.
And that requires an immense amount of skill.”
As a BookExpo veteran, MacLean says that there’s nothing like the show.
“You end up feeling really hopeful about publishing and reading in general,
because everyone here is so committed—the librarians, the booksellers,
the people in publishing who you meet when you’re there as an author. And
they make you feel like a rock star.” —Hilary S. Kayle
Today, 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Sarah MacLean will sign ARCs at a ticket-
ed signing at Table 2.
Summer
GET YOUR

Read On
 BOOKEXPO SHOW DAILY
AUTHORS
Jasmine Guillory
From the Bar to the Party
andrea scher
© for a photograph. He hands her the phone. Moments later, he is killed in a
The romance genre is undergoing a vibrant
revival with a host of new authors who reso-
nate with a far more culturally, racially, and ethnically diverse readership
than in past decades. At the vanguard of this revival is Jasmine Guillory,
who until very recently was a lawyer by day and bestselling author by night.
Now she’s the latter 24/7.
Whether it’s because of her Wellesley College and Stanford Law School
pedigree, or simply because she writes great books, Guillory is commanding
some serious attention. Her January 2018 debut, The Wedding Date,
smashed onto bestseller lists and won praise from the likes of the Washing-
ton Post, the Associated Press, and NPR. Her second book, The Proposal
(also in 2018), won her a feature in the Atlantic and the attention of Reese
Witherspoon, who made it the February 2019 pick for her book club.
Now comes her third, The Wedding Party (Berkley, July). Only a few years
ago, Guillory didn’t know whether she would ever get her first novel pub-
lished, but she did have a vision for Maddie and Theo, two characters from
that book. “What I initially thought would happen with those two when I wrote
The Wedding Date changed when I actually wrote them into a particular scene.
I knew their backstory and I knew that I wanted to write a book about them.”
And now they are the major players in her third novel.
All three books are interrelated, as characters in one book show up in the
others. Alexa, a main character in the author’s debut, takes a backseat to her
friends in this latest one. “One of the things that really weaves throughout
this book and my other books is friendship,” Guillory says. “This book cov-
ers the period of time leading up to Alexa’s wedding. Both Maddie, her
bridesmaid, and Alexa’s co-worker, Theo, have a strong relationship with
Alexa. There’s a lot of love in my book, not just romantic love, but the love
between friends and between family members.”
Earlier this year, when Guillory signed a four-book deal with Berkley
enabling her to write full time, her work routine changed dramatically. “When
I first started writing, I would bring my computer to work and sometimes run
across the street to Starbucks in the middle of the day and write for 30 min-
utes. Then I’d write from nine to 11 [at night]. Now I try to write in bursts
throughout the day, but I still often write at night because, if I’m not writing
from eight to 10 p.m., I feel like I’m doing something wrong,” she says.
Last year was Guillory’s first experience with Book Expo. “I can’t wait to
meet more booksellers, librarians—especially—and just more publishing
people. This is such a big, diverse community. I spend a lot of time alone
with my laptop writing, and events like this are a chance to experience the
rest of the community.”  —Hilary S. Kayle
Today, 1:30–2:30 p.m. Jasmine Guillory will do a ticketed signing at
Table 2.
www.bookexpo.com
46
AUTHORS
Michael Koryta
Locked-in
Tara Beckley is hurrying to drive her passenger to campus in time for his lec-
ture at the liberal arts college in rural Maine where she is a student. He
demands that she take a detour, takes out his phone, and asks her to pose
freak accident, which knocks Tara into the river and an apparent coma. It
turns out Tara is fully alert, but unable to move a muscle or express herself.
She has locked-in syndrome. In If She Wakes (Little, Brown, May), Michael
Koryta, a former private investigator and newspaper reporter, uses every
detail of this short journey to build a suspenseful story.
Koryta says that he was influenced by books and movies to write the
detective and ghost stories, as well as family and survival dramas, for which
he is known. “I grew up watching old films with my film noir fan father. As a
teenager I read Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly, and Stephen King,” he
adds.
Unlike some writers, Koryta, who has written more than a dozen novels,
prefers writing standalone books. “I don’t want to write one type of book,”
he says. “There is an exuberant feeling of meeting a new cast, as I begin
each book.” As for the Maine setting of If She Wakes, he says that he
wanted to root the book in real situations. “I live part of the year in Camden,
and the drive from Maine to Boston is very familiar to me.”
When Koryta was researching locked-in syndrome, a rare neurological dis-
order, he was drawn to how it is diagnosed. One way involves showing vic-
tims a short Hitchcock movie while they are inside the scanner for an MRI.
“The connection becomes obvious,” says Koryta. “When I was revising the
initial draft of the book, I realized that an unintended relevance of the story
[and locked-in syndrome] is that it reflects what is happening to so many of
us. We are bombarded with threats that we don’t feel able to affect, and we
suffer from a voicelessness. Even with the availability of social media, we
have a hard time feeling that we are heard.”
Koryta enjoys attending BookExpo. “The work of writing is isolated,” he
says. “BookExpo connects every facet of the publishing industry, and meet-
ing readers is exciting. When I came when The Prophet appeared [in 2012],
that was the first time that I was in a room with people who had read some-
thing I had written.” —Jeremy Solomons
Today, 10–10:30 a.m. Michael Koryta will sign at Table 5.
jonathan mehring
©
 H A P P E N I N G T O D AY
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