Reporting: Harper Collins Fall 2007 Library Preview (Part One)
Posts like these make my software go funky. Lots of characters, pictures and links. I predict this will take 15 separate postings. Give or take.
Mmm. Harper Collins. Housing its preview within the News Corp building, it’s a unique place to visit. The kind of building where you have to tell the elevators where you’re going before you enter them. Where the employees get a truly mod cafe and workout center as part of their perks. And, more importantly, a place that has ample room for a good old-fashioned librarian preview.
After dousing myself in orange juice and bagels the layout was as follows. You, the guest, take a seat and the editors at your table tell you about their books. Easy peasy. Then, after Mimi Kayden has rung the bell at the 15-minute mark, you pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and high-tail it to the next editor at the next table. This basically means that the poor editors have to say the same darn thing over and over BUT the 15-minute bell means that as they go along they learn how to speak faster and faster. By the time you’re at the final table they’re speaking so quickly that there’s time to spare when they’re done. Each table is outfitted with a handy dandy Powerpoint handout of the books being discussed. Hence my ability to spell names correctly on this report.
But enough background. What you really want to hear about is the upcoming Spring 2008 season, yes no? Well let me just say this then. The name of the game in 2008 is Highly Anticipated Sequels, polar bears, and seances. You’ll see what I mean by that in a minute.
I began my travels at Table 2. The Katherine Tegan, Michael Stearns, Anne Hoppe, Ruth Katcher table. At the beginning of the day the editors at this table were outnumbering the librarians (and I was okay with that). I will begin by mentioning the most important book brought up that day. I haven’t been exactly coy about my love of Frances Hardinge, author of the magnificent Fly By Night. Fly By Night was an inspired piece of work, but put a gun to my head and ask me if any child would enjoy reading it and I might falter just a tad. So it is that her newest looks like it may break through the kid-friendly barrier. Well Witched (formerly Verdigris Deep in England until they decided that Americans have a hard time saying "verdigris") is the tale of some kids, a well, wishes, and the problems that follow. The description sounded a bit like Five Children and It by E. Nesbit, which makes me wonder if the rather British Hardinge is a Nesbit fan. Wouldn’t surprise me in the least. Anywho, color this my number one anticipated choice of 2008. It appears to be due on shelves in June (sorry, folks) so I’ll be applying some serious wheeling and dealing in order to get my hands on an early copy.SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST
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Stearns is kind of rocking the overseas purchases right now. One of the ARCs being given out was You’re a Bad Man, Mr. Gum by Andy Stanton. It was sold as "If Monty Python wrote books for 8-year-olds, this is what you’d have." The title, admittedly, charmed me and so did the plot. Nasty Mr. Gum must take care of the beautiful garden behind his home or a fairy will hit him over the head with a frying pan. There’s more to it, but I’m already sold. My co-worker is reading it right now, so once she’s done I’ll have to give it a gander. It’s already in development with Nickelodeon for a television show and the name of Book #2? Mr. Gum and the Gingerbread Millionaire. Awesome.I mentioned before that sequels were abundant, and this table was no exception. You have your fourth addition to the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness: Outcast by Michelle Paver. And Septimus Heap’s fourth book Queste (no "Y" anywhere in the title, I see) by Angie Sage. That particular cover will be featuring heat-sensitive ink, by the way. Um… awesome? Speaking of covers, last time I went to a Harper Collins preview I decided that the cover of Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr would win the Best Jacket Art contest of that day. It seems unfair, but I’m also going to give Melissa Marr’s upcoming Ink Exchange the same honor. And no, the cover is not available for viewing online yet. You’ll just have to trust me on this one.
(CONTINUED IN PART TWO)
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About Betsy Bird
Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Kirkus, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on BlueSky at: @fuse8.bsky.social
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DITTO on “Ink Exchange.” No booktalk needed. Flash the cover to the kids and move on to the next book. Booktalk done.
That’s an idea! Imagine how many books you could cram into a 15 minute time period. “Okay, kids. I’ve 100 books here that you’re going to want entirely due to the covers. And….. go.”
That kind of stinks – I love the title “Verdigris Deep”. Ah well, at least I own a UK copy.
RE: Ink Exchange cover
Thank you 🙂 Alison D & the rest of the art team are amazing. I feel very fortunate to have HC’s creative vision applied to the presentation of the text(s).