Shelf Awareness for Thursday, April 9, 2015


William Morrow & Company: Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay

Del Rey Books: Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid

Peachtree Teen: Romantic YA Novels Coming Soon From Peachtree Teen!

Watkins Publishing: She Fights Back: Using Self-Defence Psychology to Reclaim Your Power by Joanna Ziobronowicz

Dial Press: Whoever You Are, Honey by Olivia Gatwood

Pantheon Books: The Volcano Daughters by Gina María Balibrera

Peachtree Publishers: Leo and the Pink Marker by Mariyka Foster

Wednesday Books: Castle of the Cursed by Romina Garber

News

HarperCollins vs. Amazon?

HarperCollins is "preparing to return" to an agency model for all e-book sales next Tuesday, April 14, according to Publishers Lunch, which said yesterday that "multiple retailers" have reported HarperCollins has notified them of the change, which requires retailers to sell at prices set by the publisher. (Collusion involving the implementation of the agency model for e-book sales was at the heart of the Justice Department's suit against five major publishers in 2012.) The change is apparently an "interim" one, before permanent contracts.

Last week, Business Insider, which is partly owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, said that the current contract between HarperCollins and Amazon will soon expire and that "HarperCollins is refusing to sign an agreement with the new terms that Amazon is asking," according to a source "with knowledge of the situation."

The source said that Amazon had offered an agreement like the ones signed last year by Hachette, Simon & Schuster and Macmillan. Business Insider added, "If HarperCollins and Amazon don't come to an agreement, no print or digital HarperCollins books will be available on Amazon once its existing contract runs out 'very soon,' our source says." Most observers wouldn't be surprised if the source works in Seattle.

Publicly Amazon said only that it has offered HarperCollins the same terms it offered the other three publishers. HarperCollins didn't comment on the report.

In the past year, HarperCollins has taken steps to sell directly to consumers, which would help it if Amazon were to retaliate against HarperCollins as it did last year against Hachette.


Now Streaming on Paramount+ with SHOWTIME: A Gentleman in Moscow


Chronicle to Open Store in Tokyo, Sell in Tsutaya Stores

Chronicle Books, San Francisco

Chronicle Books Japan Co., Ltd., a new company formed by Chronicle Books and Top Partners Co., Ltd., will be the exclusive distributor of Chronicle Books products in Japan and will establish boutiques featuring Chronicle Books products in flagship Tsutaya Mega bookstores. (Top Partners and Tsutaya are both owned by Culture Convenience Club.) The company will also open a Chronicle Books store in Tokyo modeled on the three Chronicle Books bookstores in San Francisco.

The Tokyo store will open this summer. Chronicle's Japanese partners proposed the idea in order to help establish and market the Chronicle brand in Tokyo, said Jack Jensen, president of Chronicle Books.

The boutiques will come in three sizes and be branded Chronicle Books Japan, stocking a mix of 80% stationery and gift items and 20% books. The books will include English originals, particularly children's books (popular for teaching children English), and some translations, as well as titles from Chronicle subsidiaries Galison and Princeton Architectural Press. The first boutique will open in May, and expand to 25 by the end of next year. The company will adjust offerings, depending on how consumers respond, and if all goes well, within several years, Chronicle may open as many as 300 boutiques in Tsutaya Mega stores, which are sleek, modern superstores that sell books, music, videos and other products. "Their stores are just stunning bookstores," Jensen said. "We're thrilled."

Jensen added that Chronicle has had "a close relationship with Japan" for many decades, going back to the 1970s, when the company did all its printing in Japan. "We've understood the publishing and bookselling community in Japan." As Chronicle expanded, "we didn't look to London or New York but focused on Asia."

"We were looking for the next wave of publishing culture," said Kazuo Nakanishi, CEO of Top Partners. "Chronicle Books is exactly what we have long admired, and we are looking forward to bringing their books and brand to the Japanese market."


GLOW: Greystone Books: brother. do. you. love. me. by Manni Coe, illustrated by Reuben Coe


Seattle Indies Set 'Indie Bookstore Challenge' for May 2

Seventeen Seattle-area independent bookstores have teamed up to create the Indie Bookstore Challenge. The one-day promotion will run as part of the broader Independent Bookstore Day festivities on May 2, and winning customers will receive year-long 25% discounts at all participating stores--plus the title of Indie Bookstore Champ.

Customers can compete by picking up a bookstore passport from any of the participating stores, then have it stamped at that and the other 16 stores. Then they can turn in filled passports and be entered to win the year-long discounts. For those who can't make it to all 17 stores, visiting at least three will make them eligible for other prizes such as gift certificates, signed books and more.

Participating stores include Eagle Harbor Books, Elliott Bay Book Co., Phinney Books, Third Place Books, University Book Store, Queen Anne Book Co. In addition to stamping passports, the participating indies will be hosting all sorts of events on May 2; more information on participating stores and specific plans can be found here. --Alex Mutter


BINC: Apply Now to The Susan Kamil Scholarship for Emerging Writers!


R.I.'s Barrington Books Opening Second Location

Barrington Books, Barrington, R.I., plans to open a second store, in Cranston's Garden City Center this fall. The Cranston Patch reported that the addition of the new 5,000-square-foot space "marks the end of a frustrating four-year absence of a bookstore in Garden City Center, a popular destination shopping center that watched Borders Bookstore close in 2011 when that company imploded."

"Barrington Books has evolved into a shopping destination on the East Bay, and we are excited to duplicate the indie bookstore experience that we have long been known for at Garden City Center," said Jennifer Massotti, general manager of Barrington Books. "After a long period of diligence to find the right home for our second location, we believe Garden City Center, with its goal of offering the very best shopping experience around combined with its long history as part of Rhode Island's retail landscape, is the perfect fit for us."

Deb DiMeo, v-p of leasing for the Wilder Companies, the management company for Garden City Center, said that the new store "meets consumer demand and provides yet another unique reason for shoppers to visit Garden City Center. Barrington Books, known for its community events, a knowledgeable, book-loving staff and hand selected toys and gifts, fits perfectly with Garden City Center's emphasis on offering unique to Rhode Island local, regional and national retailers."

Cranston Mayor Allan Fung said the bookseller "will be a wonderful asset to the West Bay and our city. I look forward to visiting them when they open later this year."


Obituary Note: Ion Trewin

Ion Trewin, literary director of the Booker Prize Foundation, died April 8, at age 71. Former literary editor of the Times, Trewin subsequently worked at Weidenfeld & Nicolson until his retirement in 2006. His relationship with the Man Booker Prize began 1974, when he chaired the judging panel. In 1989, he became a member of its management committee (now the advisory committee of the Booker Prize Foundation) and, in 2006, succeeded Martyn Goff (who died March 25) as administrator (now literary director of the foundation), and as chair of the advisory committee.

"Ion will be sadly missed not only by his many, many friends but also more widely in the literary world," said Jonathan Taylor, chair of the trustees for the foundation. "His calm, courteous and avuncular demeanor masked a sharp intelligence, shrewd diplomatic skills, a great sense of humor and huge knowledge of and affection for books and book people."


Notes

Image of the Day: Authors and Booksellers Celebrate

Diana Gabaldon hosted an event at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore, Scottsdale, Ariz., to celebrate the launch of Susanna Kearsley's latest novel, A Desperate Fortune (Sourcebooks Landmark), an April Indie Next Pick. The authors appear here with Poisoned Pen booksellers: (from l.) Dana Miles, Patrick King, Kearsley, Gabaldon and John Goodwin.


SIBA's New Author Liaison: Amy Cherrix

Amy Cherrix

Amy Cherrix has joined the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance as author liaison, "dedicated to helping authors make the most of the opportunities available from SIBA, so they can reach southern audiences and booksellers in the most effective, and cost-effective, way possible." She can be reached at amy@sibaweb.com.

A freelance editor and an author--her book Landfall: The Hurricane Scientists will be released in 2017 as part of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's Scientists in the Field series--Cherrix also worked as a bookseller at Porter Square Books, Cambridge, Mass., when she was going to graduate school.


Personnel Changes at Perseus; Blue Rider/Plume

Mary Faria is joining Perseus Books Group in the newly created role of v-p, mass merchandising sales. She most recently has been director of sales at Becker and Mayer and earlier headed mass merchandising sales for the children's list at Simon & Schuster.

Sabrina B. McCarthy, senior v-p, group sales director, commented: "Our mass merch sales have grown significantly in the last few years and the team has done an amazing job managing it all. Bringing Mary on board adds a layer of strategic focus and will help us to continue to grow and expand in this channel."

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At Blue Rider/Plume:

Effective April 20, Christina Hu is joining the imprint as associate marketing director. She was most recently senior marketing manager at Atavist Books and earlier was international sales manager at HarperCollins UK and before that, helped establish the HarperCollins office in Beijing and worked in sales in Asia. She has an MBA in marketing and media communications and has also worked at Flightpath as digital account executive and strategist.

Wesley Salazar has been promoted to marketing associate and will focus on titles from the Blue Rider list. She was formerly publicity and marketing assistant and earlier was a research assistant at Bert Davis.


Media and Movies

Media Heat: Mariel Hemingway on Today

This morning on the Today Show: Mariel Hemingway, author of Out Came the Sun: Overcoming the Legacy of Mental Illness, Addiction, and Suicide in My Family (Regan Arts, $26.95, 9781941393239).

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Tomorrow morning on Fox & Friends: Brian Grazer and Charles Fishman, authors of A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life (Simon & Schuster, $25.99, 9781476730752).

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Tomorrow morning on Live with Kelly and Michael: Candice Bergen, author of A Fine Romance (Simon & Schuster, $28, 9780684808277).

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Tomorrow on NPR's Science Friday: Nicole Starosielski, author of The Undersea Network (Duke University Press, $25.95, 9780822357551).

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Tomorrow on Access Hollywood: Bethenny Frankel, author of I Suck at Relationships So You Don't Have To: 10 Rules for Not Screwing Up Your Happily Ever After (Touchstone, $24.99, 9781451667417). She will also appear on Extra.

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Tomorrow night on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher: Senator Elizabeth Warren, author of A Fighting Chance (Picador, $17, 9781250062253).

Also on Real Time: Fareed Zakaria, author of In Defense of a Liberal Education (Norton, $23.95, 9780393247688).


Movies: The Odyssey; The Names

Lionsgate is developing "a grand-scale retelling of history's greatest voyage home," Homer's The Odyssey, Deadline.com reported. The director is Francis Lawrence, who directed three of the four Hunger Games films. Peter Craig, who co-scripted the two installments of Mockingjay, is writing the adaptation and Nina Jacobson, whose Color Force production company shepherded the Hunger Games franchise, will produce.

Noting that Lionsgate has put this project on a fast track, Deadline.com wrote that the "plan is to begin production early next year, right after the filmmakers complete promotion of Mockingjay--Part 2."

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Writer/director Alex Ross Perry (Listen Up Philip, Queen of Earth) has optioned the rights to Don DeLillo's 1982 novel The Names, which he will adapt and direct, Variety reported, noting that DeLillo "has allowed only one of his previous novels to be made into a film--David Cronenberg's 2012 drama Cosmopolis."


This Weekend on Book TV: Erik Larson

Book TV airs on C-Span 2 this weekend from 8 a.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Monday and focuses on political and historical books as well as the book industry. The following are highlights for this coming weekend. For more information, go to Book TV's website.

Saturday, April 11
8 a.m. Kabir Sehgal, author of Coined: The Rich Life of Money and How Its History Has Shaped Us (Grand Central, $28, 9781455578528). (Re-airs Sunday at 10 p.m.)

3 p.m. Erik Larson, author of Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania (Crown, $28, 9780307408860). (Re-airs Sunday at 1:30 a.m.)

4:30 p.m. Tracy K. Smith, author of Ordinary Light: A Memoir (Knopf, $25.95, 9780307962669). (Re-airs Sunday at 1:30 p.m. and Monday at 1:30 a.m.)

7 p.m. Burt Neuborne, author of Madison's Music: On Reading the First Amendment (New Press, $25.95, 9781620970416). (Re-airs Monday at 7:30 a.m.)

8 p.m. Joseph Nye, author of Is the American Century Over? (Polity, $12.95, 9780745690070). (Re-airs Sunday at 8:45 a.m.)

10 p.m. Grover Norquist, author of End the IRS Before It Ends Us: How to Restore a Low Tax, High Growth, Wealthy America (Center Street, $27, 9781455585823). (Re-airs Sunday at 9 p.m. and Monday at 12 a.m.)


Sunday, April 12
11 a.m. Paul Offit, author of Bad Faith: When Religious Belief Undermines Modern Medicine (Basic, $27.99, 9780465082964). (Re-airs Sunday at 11 p.m.)

1 p.m. Alan Blinder, author of After the Music Stopped: The Financial Crisis, the Response, and the Work Ahead (Penguin, $18, 9780143124481). (Re-airs Sunday at 1 a.m.)



Books & Authors

Awards: Thriller Finalists; Indie Foreign Fiction; Griffin Poetry

The finalists for the 2015 Thriller Awards, sponsored by International Thriller Writers, have been selected. The winners will be announced at ITW's ThrillerFest banquet in New York City on July 11.

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The shortlist for the 2015 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize is:

By Night the Mountain Burns by Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel, translated by Jethro Soutar (And Other Stories)
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami, translated by Philip Gabriel (Harvill Secker)
The End of Days by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Susan Bernofsky (Portobello Books)
F by Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Carol Brown Janeway (Quercus)
In the Beginning Was the Sea by Tomás González, translated by Frank Wynne (Pushkin Press)
While the Gods Were Sleeping by Erwin Mortier, translated by Paul Vincent (Pushkin Press)

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This year's international and Canadian shortlists have been announced for the $65,000 Griffin Poetry Prize. The seven finalists are invited to read in Toronto on June 3 and will each be awarded $10,000 for their participation in the Shortlist Readings. The winners will be named June 4. The shortlisted Griffin titles are:

International
Something Crosses My Mind by Wang Xiaoni, translated from the Chinese by Eleanor Goodman
Finite Formulae & Theories of Chance by Wioletta Greg, translated from the Polish
by Marek Kazmierski
The Stairwell by Michael Longley
The Road to Emmaus by Spencer Reece

Canadian
Congotronic by Shane Book
Blue Sonoma by Jane Munro
The Hundred Lives by Russell Thornton


IndieBound: Other Indie Favorites

From last week's Indie bestseller lists, available at IndieBound.org, here are the recommended titles, which are also Indie Next Great Reads:

Hardcover
Cat Out of Hell by Lynne Truss (Melville House, $24.95, 9781612194424). "Cat lover or hater, you'll be caught up in this quirky mystery from the author of Eats, Shoots and Leaves. Cat Out of Hell features Roger, a most unusual, talented, and enigmatic feline, and the humans he involves in a case worthy of Sherlock Holmes. Can Roger be trusted? Is Wiggy Winterton, the human aiding him, perhaps going 'wiggy?' You decide. It's a darkly funny hoot!" --Rosemary Pugliese, Quail Ridge Books & Music, Raleigh, N.C.

The Valley: A Novel by John Renehan (Dutton, $26.95, 9780525954866). "Lt. Black, a desk officer at a forward operating base in Afghanistan, has been ordered by his commander to investigate a complaint about a platoon stationed in the Valley, the most remote and dreaded American-occupied outpost in the country. It has been said that war brings out both the best and the worst in men, but what Black, who struggles with his own demons, comes to realize is that the truth is much more complicated and frightening. The Valley is rich with detail, compelling and complex." --Lyn Roberts, Square Books, Oxford, Miss.

Paperback
Murder at Cape Three Points: An Inspector Darko Dawson Mystery by Kwei Quartey (Soho Crime, $14.95, 9781616954833). "Two bodies appear drifting in a canoe at the Cape Three Points oil drilling rig. They turn out to be Charles and Fiona Smith-Aidoos, prominent members of the local community. Charles works for Malgum Oil, the company that owns the rig. The local police investigate, but nothing comes of it. Sapphire, the Smith-Aidoos' niece, requests the help of the Ghanaian federal police, and Inspector Darko Dawson of the Accra police is assigned. Quartey portrays the country of Ghana with all its charms and quirks, a culture that stands at the brink of the modern world, yet has not lost its tribal traditions. The result is a thoroughly fascinating book." --Janice Hunsche, Kaleidosaurus Books, Fishers, Ind.

For Ages 4 to 8
Meet the Dullards by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Daniel Salmieri (Balzer + Bray, $17.99, 9780062198563). "How can Mr. and Mrs. Dullard keep their children from experiencing exciting things like books and the outdoors? Perhaps by dressing them in dull colors, by having them watch the paint dry on the walls, and by moving them when things get too exciting. But will they succeed? Siblings Blanda, Borley, and Little Dud have other ideas!" --Kathy Taber, Kids Ink, Indianapolis, Ind.

For Teen Readers
The Shadow Cabinet: The Shades of London by Maureen Johnson (Putnam Juvenile, $17.99, 9780399256622). "If the end of Johnson's previous book, The Madness Underneath, left you reeling, you're not alone. This third installment of the Shades of London quartet has been a long time coming, and it may be the most satisfying book in the series so far. Picking up where they left off, Rory, Callum, and Boo are grappling with unexpected tragedy while trying to solve the mystery of Jane and her cult, dealing with ghosts, and hiding from just about everyone. If you thought things were weird in the first two books, just wait--this one is off-the-charts strange and you'll love every minute of it!" --Paige Mushaw, Northshire Bookstore, Manchester Center, Vt.


Children's Illustrated
Such a Little Mouse by Alice Schertle, illustrated by Stephanie Yue (Orchard Books, $16.99, 9780545649292). "Every season of the year, this little mouse pops out of his hole and goes about exploring the world. Sweet and poetic, this latest book from the author of Little Blue Truck is a perfect addition to any child's library and is a wonderful read-aloud when you just want to share some quiet loveliness." --Tegan Tigani, Queen Anne Book Company, Seattle, Wash.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]


Attainment: New Titles Out Next Week

Selected new hardcover titles appearing next Tuesday and Wednesday, April 14 and 15:

The Dream Lover: A Novel by Elizabeth Berg (Random House, $28, 9780812993158) is historical fiction based on 19th-century Parisian writer George Sand.

My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me: A Black Woman Discovers Her Family's Nazi Past by Jennifer Teege and Nikola Sellmair, translated by Carolin Sommer (The Experiment, $24.95, 9781615192533) is the memoir of a woman with a German mother and Nigerian father who in her 30s discovers her grandfather was Amon Goeth, the infamous concentration camp commandant portrayed in Schindler's List.

Capital Dames: The Civil War and the Women of Washington, 1848-1868 by Cokie Roberts (Harper, $27.99, 9780062002761) explores the roles of women in the capital during the Civil War, from the NPR and ABC journalist.

The Road to Character by David Brooks (Random House, $28, 9780812993257) investigates the creation of strong inner character, from the New York Times columnist.

Dealing with China: An Insider Unmasks the New Economic Superpower by Henry M. Paulson (Twelve, $32, 9781455504213) gives the former Secretary of the Treasury's perspective on China's economic role.

The Real-Life MBA: Your No-BS Guide to Winning the Game, Building a Team, and Growing Your Career by Jack Welch and Suzy Welch (HarperBusiness, $29.99, 9780062362803) gives business career advice, from the former GE exec and his wife.

Every Fifteen Minutes by Lisa Scottoline (St. Martin's Press, $27.99, 9781250010117) brings a psychiatrist into conflict with a troublesome teenaged OCD patient.

The Liar by Nora Roberts (Putnam, $27.95, 9780399170867) follows a widow whose dead husband held multiple identities.

The Thunder of Giants: A Novel by Joel Fishbane (St. Martin's Press, $25.99, 9781250050847) follows an eight-foot-tall woman in 1937 Hollywood playing the role of a 19th-century P.T. Barnum giantess.

The Turner House by Angela Flournoy (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $23, 9780544303164) follows several generations of a Detroit family.

Now in paperback:

Flash Fiction International: Very Short Stories from Around the World edited by James Thomas, Robert Shapard and Christopher Merrill (Norton, $15.95, 9780393346077).

Movies:

Child 44, based on the novel by Tom Rob Smith, opens April 17. Tom Hardy stars as a former military policeman investigating child murders in the Soviet Union under Stalin.

True Story, starring Jonah Hill and James Franco and based on the memoir by Michael Finkel, opens April 17. A movie tie-in (Harper Perennial, $15.99, 9780062339270) is available.

Beyond the Reach, based on the thriller Deathwatch by Robb White, opens April 17.


Book Review

Review: Two

Two by Melissa Ann Pinney, edited by Ann Patchett (Harper Design, $29.99 hardcover, 9780062334428, April 14, 2015)

"I've always been interested in watching people together. I wonder what their story is, who they are to each other," explains photographer Melissa Ann Pinney in Two, a collection of more than 90 color images that focus on pairs of people and objects, accompanied by 10 essays by notable contemporary writers.

In this group of vivid, often mystical and playful images, Pinney builds upon her other books, Girl Ascending and Regarding Emma, which featured women and girls from infancy to old age. In Two, she continues to explore connection, identity and relationships. This time, however, her images feature male and female subjects--relatives, strangers, couples and lovers--and even objects, such as jetties, park benches and toy trucks.

There is a candid aesthetic to Pinney's work. Even her posed photographs grant viewers a glimpse into lives-in-action: a couple's embrace; a tender moment between mother and child; two nested teacups; a girl and her obedient dog; two barefoot, suspender-wearing Amish men staring into a placid sea; an elderly man having his hair done poolside; a print of Raphael's two angels hanging above a vacated double bed with a pair of slept-on pillows.

The accompanying essays, which delve into the nature of pairs and twosomes, make the book even more compelling. Edwidge Danticat writes about having her feet washed by a stranger in church. Barbara Kingsolver expresses her feelings of being left out of the "charmed Romeo-Julietness" of her parents' marriage. Maile Meloy explores, with awe, the 70-year bond between her grandparents. A poem by Billy Collins ruminates on canines and people, while a devoted pair of chickens is the centerpiece of Susan Orlean's essay. Richard Russo's boyhood experience with a jockstrap continues to resonate in his adult life. Jane Hamilton writes about an unforgettable friendship forged in childhood. Elizabeth Gilbert expounds upon the role her editor plays in each of her published works. Allan Gurganus considers the possibility of vanishing twin syndrome, and Elizabeth McCracken writes about her mother's enduring bond with her fraternal twin.

In the moving, eloquent opening essay, Ann Patchett notes that writers and photographers share a similar drive to exist "alone and in the world" in order to create their art. That concept makes Patchett and Pinney's collaborative exploration into the "the power of two" all the more thought-provoking. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines

Shelf Talker: A collection of remarkable photographs and essays that explores the nature of pairs and twosomes.


Deeper Understanding

The Magical Menagerie of Kate DiCamillo

DiCamillo

It's been 15 years since two-time Newbery Medal–winner Kate DiCamillo's first novel, Because of Winn-Dixie, was published to widespread acclaim (earning a Newbery Honor), and Candlewick Press is celebrating by giving her five backlist trade paperbacks a unified look. The new editions will be available in December.

"We wanted to refresh and reinvigorate the look for each cover," said Candlewick creative director Chris Paul, "and to tie them together through the treatment of her name." Each of DiCamillo's novels has light and dark, Paul noted, and the animals at the center of each book provide visual continuity, along with the consistent type treatment of the author's name.

At the same time Candlewick was creating an overall look, it went with a distinct palette for each book: summer green for Winn-Dixie and bluish night tones for The Magician's Elephant. When Chris Paul contacted Yoko Tanaka in 2008 to illustrate The Magician's Elephant, the artist had never illustrated a children's book. "I wasn't sure," Tanaka admitted, "but she told me to read it. I immediately said, 'Yes, I'd love to illustrate it.' It's difficult to explain, but the scenery, the emotions, expressed so simply, quickly, precisely--it all came to my heart." The Japanese-born Tanaka was living in Thailand at the time she accepted the project. "I made it dark and turned down the heat, and put on Mozart--which was perfect for this book," she said.

Tanaka did the sketches quickly, and Paul accepted "almost everything," the artist said. She painted the final illustrations in acrylics, which give the interiors a rich, layered look. The new cover for the trade paperback is brighter and uses more color than the original, and centers on the magician and his elephant, leaving out the bystanders of the original interior painting. "We wanted it lighter in mood and warmer in palette," Paul said.

Stephen Walton, a British artist who works from his own photographs of life in the wild, is also a first-time artist for the cover of The Tiger Rising. "He's not really a jacket artist, but he's come up with something quite magical here," said Paul. At her direction, Timothy Basil Ering used a royal palette for his revisiting of the cover for the Newbery Medal–winning The Tale of Despereaux. "We wanted a little more excitement and angle, with Despereaux running through the courtyard," Paul said. Similarly, the rabbit hero is larger in the new version of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, "and turned more towards us, so we see a bit more of him and his little red outfit," observed Paul. "It's the same scene; it's the best scene for this story."

E.B. Lewis hadn't read Because of Winn-Dixie before Chris Paul sent it to him with an invitation to re-illustrate the cover. "The story touched me in ways you wouldn't believe," said Lewis. "I had a dog, his name was Harry. My dog Harry reminds me of [Winn-Dixie] so much, it was an opportunity to paint with my heart." Lewis said that Paul asked him to paint the dog standing up, but the artist wanted to portray him seated, the way he remembered his own dog, filled with barely contained energy. "With Harry, when I drove up in my driveway, he would sit like that, and he'd prance [using only] his front feet."

Lewis does not do sketches. "There's something about the immediacy that happens in a sketch that I want to go over into my finished art. If I try to translate that into the final piece, I can't get it." In essence, he "sketches" with his watercolor brush, and if it's not working, he starts over. The white that readers can see in the painting is the bare watercolor paper. "My gift is emotion," Lewis said. That makes him an excellent match to the words that follow. --Jennifer M. Brown


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