Happy Publication Day to SUPER HAPPY PARTY BEARS, THE BAD KID and LAST IN A LONG LINE OF REBELS!
September 6th is a bounteous day -- being the publication day of FOUR titles from my clients!
First up are the SUPER HAPPY PARTY BEARS books -- the first in a new series from Marcie Colleen and illustrator Steve James. GNAWING AROUND and KNOCK KNOCK ON WOOD get things rolling, and they are off to a great start -- these two titles have been selected as Amazon Editor's Picks of the Month for September! I loved seeing these sketches from illustrator Steve James, and the evolution of the Bears, here on his Facebook page.
To the Super Happy Party Bears, everything is a good thing. Their entire attitude can be summed up in on word: YAY! They love doughnuts, dancing and above all else -- a good party. Not so for the rest of the animals living in the Grumpy Woods. They find the bears a bit hard to take. But these bears have a way of prevailing...
Solid chapter books can be challenging to find, and the SUPER HAPPY PARTY BEARS fit the bill, perfectly. Funny with a sweet and smart sense of humor, fast-paced, and chock-full of
charming full-color illustrations, these books are going to fill a hole for so many readers.
To buy copies of SUPER HAPPY PARTY BEARS, look here:
Powells
IndieBound
Amazon
Barnes + Noble
To say congrats to Marcie Colleen, you can find her on twitter or on her blog.
Next is THE BAD KID from debut author Sarah Lariviere. As a kid, I loved mysteries -- starting with Encyclopedia Brown, moving to From the Mixed Up Files, The Westing Game and so many more. I still can devour a good mystery in a sitting. Which explains in part, why I love this middle-grade mystery as much as I do -- THE BAD KID is a darn good mystery story. But add to that a truly marvelous main character, Claudeline Feng LeBarnardin -- who is as complex, funny, and interesting as character I've ever read, and I'm hooked. I think of this as a modern day Harriet the Spy!
THE BAD KID is getting marvelous review attention:
“A strong and steady unfurling of drama and action…brings the novel to a resounding finish. Sharp, fun, and optimistic, the novel will have readers rooting for Claude until the end.” – Kirkus Reviews
To the Super Happy Party Bears, everything is a good thing. Their entire attitude can be summed up in on word: YAY! They love doughnuts, dancing and above all else -- a good party. Not so for the rest of the animals living in the Grumpy Woods. They find the bears a bit hard to take. But these bears have a way of prevailing...
Solid chapter books can be challenging to find, and the SUPER HAPPY PARTY BEARS fit the bill, perfectly. Funny with a sweet and smart sense of humor, fast-paced, and chock-full of
To buy copies of SUPER HAPPY PARTY BEARS, look here:
Powells
IndieBound
Amazon
Barnes + Noble
To say congrats to Marcie Colleen, you can find her on twitter or on her blog.
Next is THE BAD KID from debut author Sarah Lariviere. As a kid, I loved mysteries -- starting with Encyclopedia Brown, moving to From the Mixed Up Files, The Westing Game and so many more. I still can devour a good mystery in a sitting. Which explains in part, why I love this middle-grade mystery as much as I do -- THE BAD KID is a darn good mystery story. But add to that a truly marvelous main character, Claudeline Feng LeBarnardin -- who is as complex, funny, and interesting as character I've ever read, and I'm hooked. I think of this as a modern day Harriet the Spy!
Claudeline Feng LeBernardin learns what it really means
to be bad in this colorful and hilarious mystery reminiscent of Harriet
the Spy.
Claudeline Feng LeBernardin is very good at being bad.
Her Grandpa Si was a real-life gangster, and Claude always thought she’d take
over the family business when he was gone. Instead, Claude’s dad is in
charge—and she’s sure he’s running things into the ground. She wants to step
in, but her parents are keeping secrets and her partner in crime, Fingerless
Brett, is suddenly on the straight and narrow.
THE BAD KID is getting marvelous review attention:
“A strong and steady unfurling of drama and action…brings the novel to a resounding finish. Sharp, fun, and optimistic, the novel will have readers rooting for Claude until the end.” – Kirkus Reviews
“Multiracial Claude heads up a diverse cast of well-formed
characters, and the exploration of friendship and family relations is
worthwhile. For readers looking for a tough-talking, independent heroine with
detective aspirations, this debut is a treat.”— Booklist
“This is a story about choices and what it means to be
good…The humor, quirky characters, and contemporary New York setting, combined
with the gangster lore, make this ideal for middle grade readers who enjoy
slightly naughty characters with hearts of gold.”– School Library Journal
“In her pursuit of the truth, Claude
reclaims faltering relationships with family and friends and solves a darn good
little mystery into the bargain…leads readers not only to a satisfying
conclusion but also to musings on the relationship between fact and truth.” – Bulletin
of the Center for Children’s Book
You can buy THE BAD KID here:
Next we have the paperback publication of Lisa Lewis Tyre's mg novel, LAST IN A LONG LINE OF REBELS! This is also a middle-grade mystery -- not kidding when I say I love mystery! -- set in a small southern town, where the past echoes here in the present.
Sheila Turnage meets Kate
DiCamillo's Because of Winn-Dixie in this debut about a small
town and a young girl who discovers some old family secrets.
Lou might be only twelve, but she’s never been one to
take things sitting down. So when her Civil War-era house is about to be
condemned, she’s determined to save it—either by getting it deemed a historic
landmark or by finding the stash of gold rumored to be hidden nearby during the
war. As Lou digs into the past, her eyes are opened when she finds that her
ancestors ran the gamut of slave owners, renegades, thieves and abolitionists.
Meanwhile, some incidents in her town show her that many Civil War era
prejudices still survive and that the past can keep repeating itself if we let
it. Digging into her past shows Lou that it’s never too late to fight
injustice, and she starts to see the real value of understanding and exploring
her roots.
LAST IN A LONG LINE was selected as a Middle Grade Buzz Panel at the 2015 BEA meeting, and received wonderful review attention:
"As the four children try to solve a Civil War
mystery and find a cache of purportedly missing gold, they also confront a
contemporary case of racism. Strong secondary characters, including Lou’s
thrice-divorced flirtatious grandmother, help build the strong sense of
small-town community. Tyre masterfully weaves historical details into Lou’s
discoveries in ways that never feel facile, while deftly and satisfyingly
resolving past and present puzzles." -- Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“Louise Duncan Mayhew’s perspective in the 1860s is an
intriguing contrast to Lou’s modern narration at the turn of the 21st century.
. . . The story addresses injustice in plain language that is accessible to
young readers who enjoy whodunits.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Tyre’s debut features characters that are believable in
their naïveté and sense of invincibility. . . . Louise’s account of their
summer adventures, with chapters headed by entries from a Civil War diary,
should please middle-grade readers looking for a solid story with an intriguing
historical connection.”—Booklist
“The characters are true to life. . . . In the midst of
solving a Civil War–era mystery, Lou and her friends confront racism in their
own time. Lou feels deeply and is single-minded in her pursuit of justice. A
solid debut novel for middle graders who enjoy a blend of history and
mystery.”—School Library Journal
You can buy LAST IN A LONG LINE OF REBELS here:
To all three of these lovely, amazing clients -- Marcie, Sarah and Lisa -- CONGRATULATIONS!
Congratulations!! Love the background fish too!
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