In light of the ongoing conversation about the changes to the American Booksellers Association's ends policies regarding free expression and the First Amendment, Shelf Awareness has spoken to booksellers on the DEI Committee and the Booksellers Advisory Council to hear their thoughts on the changes. More will run this week.

Luis Correa

"For me it's a step in the right direction," said Luis Correa, operations manager at Avid Bookshop in Athens, Ga. He explained that it's important to consider that working toward diversity, equity and inclusion is "going to be a work in progress," but the changes were a good way for the board and the ABA to consider a way of breaking the "circular logic" of having to tolerate intolerance in the name of the First Amendment, which could allow for hurtful, hateful and exclusionary speech to be part of the ABA.

Correa emphasized that this is not about the ABA telling member bookstores what they can or cannot carry in their own stores, or about advocating for certain books to be removed from the marketplace. He sees it as about making the ABA, a trade association, a more diverse and inclusive space, and in practical terms it is about the ABA's own activities, whether those be speakers invited to conferences, titles available in galley rooms or books included in mailings.

After an anti-trans book appeared in a monthly mailing last summer, that decision, in theory, could have been defended on the grounds of wanting to provide an open platform for all books regardless of their content. Instead the ABA took the position that it would not support books harmful to its membership and has committed to that position going forward, and Correa agrees that when it comes to its own activities, the ABA should "take the approach that is the most inclusive."

He conveyed frustration with the idea that supporting free expression automatically means having to tolerate intolerance, or that refusing to allow intolerant speech somehow makes a space less diverse and inclusive. Those intolerant voices "disagree with my being able to be married to a man, so where do we go from that? They disagree with my parents even being in this country, so why should I be a party to that? Why should the organization that represents all of us include voices like that?"

Correa added that he does not think it is courageous to point to the First Amendment as justification for stocking and selling books by authors with xenophobic, racist, homophobic or otherwise exclusionary views. Booksellers of course have that right, he continued, and can carry the work of any author they choose, but in the instances where those authors are elected officials or political candidates trying to turn their hateful views into law, whose book sales help fuel their election and re-election campaigns, it becomes "ultimately a harmful stance."

In discussions of the ends policies changes, booksellers frequently bring up hypothetical, slippery-slope arguments that Correa said can feel disingenuous at times. These arguments rarely consider the fact that real people are being harmed now by books with exclusionary views, and while the overall debate is sometimes treated as philosophical, these books can harm people in very real, very practical ways.

"There is a lot of nuance in this conversation," Correa remarked, noting that it's important to remember that "not every facet" of this issue is going to be addressed by a single broad change. But as the conversation goes on, he urges booksellers to approach it with openness and curiosity and to "think about the actual lives at stake here."

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Jhoanna Belfer

"I'm very happy to see they're trying to align practical matters with the mission and vision of the organization," said Jhoanna Belfer, owner of Bel Canto Books in Long Beach, Calif. While Belfer is relatively new to bookselling and to being part of the ABA, she has a background in the hospitality industry and has been a part of other trade organizations in the past. She notes that all too often those organizations will say they want to promote DEI initiatives or support anti-racist education but never follow through on a practical level.

"If we're saying that we are supporting DEI efforts, then we need to support them across the board throughout the organization," Belfer continued. That includes everything from programming and the make-up of the board of directors to encouraging underrepresented voices.

Drawing from her past experience with trade organizations and industry councils, she acknowledged that change can be difficult and challenging to enact, and can feel sudden. It can also be very easy for folks to second-guess why certain decisions have been made. As the conversation continues, she said, members need to make sure they're getting their points and concerns across.

Belfer added that she appreciates the efforts of the ABA staff and board and how hard they're working to "actually commit" to these principles and "put their money where their mouths are." --Alex Mutter

The Blue Manatee Literacy Project in Cincinnati, Ohio, closed its physical bookshop on Monday after more than three decades in business. The children's bookstore had changed ownership in 2019 and reopened as the Blue Manatee Literacy Project, a nonprofit organization aimed at boosting local children's reading skills. The building's landlord recently notified BMLP that it intends to pursue other commercial plans for the bookstore space at 3094 Madison Road. 

In a letter posted on social media, BMLP wrote: "While this development may have been beyond our control, it doesn't lessen our disappointment in seeing this community treasure close its doors. It has been our team's great joy and privilege to build and reinforce a lifelong love of reading through our stewardship of the Blue Manatee. We've been so heartened by the community's support for the store during this difficult two-year Covid period.... Our store team performed heroically to keep things moving and the spirit positive. But, as most of you know, operating a small, independent retail bookstore in the age of Amazon and, more recently, Covid, was not the purpose of establishing Blue Manatee Literacy Project in 2019.

"Three years ago, we proposed to reinvent the Blue Manatee Children's Bookstore as an engine of awareness and change," BMLP continued. "We were struck by the gap in reading resource access and lack of sustained literacy support for disadvantaged, school-aged children across Greater Cincinnati and vowed to contribute to turning that frustrating circumstance into a success story.... From that initial conceptual point to today, we have been blessed to have teamed with amazing individuals, partners, educators, parents, physicians, authors and artists to ensure that every resource a small bookstore could muster would be directed to leveling the literacy playing field."

While Blue Manatee's bricks-and-mortar chapter may have closed for now, the BMLP literacy mission will continue, remaining active in support of school partners, community engagement, program support and as a source of books via its online presence. 

In a Facebook post Monday, BMLP noted: "We're sorry to say the time has come to say goodbye. We just want to say, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much for every visit, every online order, every donation, every conversation, and everything in between! We have loved every minute of being your booksellers! Remember you can still order through our website at bluemanatee.org! Keep reading, friends!!!"

Finalists for the 2022 PW Bookstore of the Year and Sales Representative of the Year Awards have been announced:

Bookstore finalists
Books Are Magic, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Madison Books, Seattle, Wash.
Mitchell's Book Corner, Nantucket, Mass.
The Raven Book Store, Lawrence, Kan.
Two Birds, Santa Cruz, Calif.

Rep finalists
Randy Hickernell (Hachette)
Kurtis Lowe (Book Travelers West)
David Mallmann (Norton)
Katie McGarry (HarperCollins)
Wendy Pearl (Penguin Random House)

Winners will be named at the U.S. Book Show, May 23-26.

Page Edmunds

Page Edmunds has been named publisher of the Workman Calendars imprint, effective May 2. She takes over for Suzie Bolotin, who will retire as publisher and editorial director of Workman's adult, children's and calendar imprints on April 29; and Janet Harris, who is retiring as publisher of Workman Calendars on June 15. 

Edmunds brings more than 25 years of publishing experience to her new role. Most recently she was executive associate publisher of the Workman imprint, responsible for the positioning of Workman titles, and served as brand manager for Workman's key publishing brands in both children's and adult books. She was previously associate publisher and a national accounts sales director at Workman. Before joining the company, she held marketing and publishing positions at Random House and Little, Brown.

Edmunds will report directly to senior v-p and WP publisher Dan Reynolds, who said: "Page has a unique ability to get under the hood of the publishing process, something that calendar publishing requires--a good part of its success hinges on those few weeks of the year when calendars really sell, so the skill needed to manage and steer this large program through a narrow window is all-important. In addition, Page will be leaning on her knowledge of direct-to-consumer initiatives, metadata best practices, and warehouse and customer service, all of which are critical to how we publish and sell calendars today."
 
Edmunds commented: "I've learned so much from Janet Harris and Suzie Bolotin's leadership and admire the creativity and commerce of the business they've developed with their editorial and design teams. Calendars have been a showcase for Workman's innovation and excellence since our first titles were published more than 40 years ago, and I'm excited to lead and grow this vibrant piece of business."

Maureen Howard

Maureen Howard, an author of adventurous fiction and a prizewinning memoir, died March 13. She was 91. She was also a longtime teacher of creative writing.

Howard wrote 10 novels, three of which--Grace Abounding, Expensive Habits and Natural History--were finalists for the PEN/Faulkner Award. Her 1978 memoir, Facts of Life, was a National Book Critics Circle Award winner. She also edited The Penguin Book of Contemporary American Essays (1984). Among other honors, she was the recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship and an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and letters.

Her first novel, Not a Word About Nightingales, was published in 1962. A second novel, Bridgeport Bus (1965), told the story of a beguiling Irish-American woman who leaves the emptiness of small town life in Bridgeport, Conn., for the maelstrom of Manhattan. Doris Grumbach called it "one of the most astutely funny novels of our time."

Many considered Howard's 1992 novel Natural History to be her masterwork. It was a family chronicle that incorporated drawings and photographs, in which Howard took her hometown of Bridgeport as her Dublin. In a front page review in the New York Times Book Review, John Casey wrote that "it is the combination, the jump-cuts, and layering and dovetailing of fiction and history and of a variety of voices that make reading this novel like watching a display of the aurora borealis." Later in her career, Howard produced a quartet of novels published by Viking Penguin--A Lover's Almanac (1998), Big as Life (2001), The Silver Screen (2004) and The Rags of Time (2009)--that critics praised as "brazenly intelligent" and "raptly adventurous" works of "historical density and deep emotional power." Each of the four novels was complete on its own, but characters and themes were woven across the cycle as a tapestry of seasons.

Anne Tyler called Howard "a most agile, inventive, and satisfying writer" who was always seeking new ways of telling stories. And John Leonard wrote in the New York Times, "Why Howard isn't cherished more is mystifying. It's as if, while nobody watched, Mary McCarthy had grown up to be Nadine Gordimer, getting smarter, going deeper and writing better than ever before, and she was already special to begin with."

A memorial is planned for the spring.

"Congratulations to Kelly and Danielle, two amazing mamas-to-be who threw a literature-themed baby shower with us," Books & Mortar, Grand Rapids, Mich., posted on Facebook yesterday. "Nothing makes us happier than seeing our space filled with this kind of love! We're so excited for you two."

"The best part about rainy days? The coziest spaces get even cozier," Ada's Technical Books & Café, Seattle, Wash., posted on Facebook. 

Alex Kanenwisher, book buyer at Costco, has selected Women in White Coats: How the First Women Doctors Changed the World of Medicine by Olivia Campbell (‎Park Row, $17.99, 9780778311980) as the pick for March. In Costco Connection, which goes to many of the warehouse club's members, Kanenwisher writes:

"While it's little surprise that women had to fight their way into the world of medicine, it's fascinating to learn about the personal and public obstacles they faced.

"Women in White Coats tells the story of three pioneering women who, despite societal conventions, norms and expectations, created places for themselves in the medical field, while also paving the way for others."

Janet Joy Wilson has joined Melville House as v-p, sales. She was formerly senior executive sales director of Penguin Random House Canada, where earlier she was a manager of special sales and imprint sales director. Since Melville House is distributed by PRHPS, she has represented the publisher's titles for more than 15 years and is very familiar with its backlist.

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At the St. Martin's Publishing Group:

Martin Quinn has been promoted to director, marketing and bookseller strategy.

Kirsi Balazs has been promoted to associate manager, marketing & sales operations.

Alexis Neuville has been promoted to associate manager, marketing.

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In the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group marketing department:

Kelsey Manning has joined as associate director of marketing for Knopf. She was formerly on the consumer marketing team and earlier was the assistant director of marketing at Touchstone and then Scribner.

Emily Murphy has been promoted to associate director of marketing for Knopf. She joined the Group in 2015 and has worked in marketing since 2017.

Lindsay Mandel has been promoted to senior manager for Doubleday. She joined the company in 2010, and came to the marketing department in 2017 as the assistant manager for Vintage Anchor.

Asharee Peters is joining the company on March 28 as associate manager, focusing on Pantheon marketing. She has worked for two years at Macmillan.

Sophie Normil has joined the company as marketing associate at Vintage Anchor and her responsibilities include overseeing the Vintage Anchor social media platforms. She was formerly an assistant publicist at Morrow.

Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys and Andrew Weiner, illustrated by Brittney Williams (HarperAlley, $19.99, 9780063029569).

Today:
Fresh Air: Dr. Jonathan Reisman, author of The Unseen Body: A Doctor's Journey Through the Hidden Wonders of Human Anatomy (Flatiron Books, $27.99, 9781250246622).

Tomorrow:
The View: Josh Peck, author of Happy People Are Annoying (HarperOne, $26.99, 9780063073616).

Kelly Clarkson Show: Seth Meyers, author of I'm Not Scared, You're Scared (Flamingo Books, $18.99, 9780593352373).

Netflix has greenlighted five new animated series and specials inspired by Dr. Seuss books, including One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish; The Sneetches; Horton Hears A Who!; Wacky Wednesday; and Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose. Deadline reported that the deal "expands the partnership between Netflix and Dr. Seuss Enterprises following the launch of the critically acclaimed animated series Green Eggs and Ham in 2019."

Dustin Ferrer (Esme & Roy, Shimmer & Shine) will serve as showrunner for all five projects, and additional showrunners will be revealed in the coming weeks. Netflix said: "Introducing concepts of foundational learning, this new slate of programming will explore themes of diversity and respect for others all told through fun and engaging stories that incorporate the whimsical humor, distinctive visuals and rhythmic style of Dr. Seuss."

Heather Tilert, director of preschool content, Netflix, commented: "Netflix is a trusted home for characters kids love, and generations of kids love the characters imagined by Dr. Seuss. These beloved stories have been a core part of families' libraries for many years and it gives me great pride that we are bringing them to our catalog of Netflix shows, in a fresh and modern way that resonates with audiences today."

Susan Brandt, president and CEO of Dr. Seuss Enterprises, added that the company "is proud of the collaborative relationship we share with Netflix. We are always looking for new and engaging ways to share our stories, characters and messages with the next generation of fans, and Netflix has a unique ability to create original, delightful adaptations of our timeless classics with an emphasis on imagination, fun, and education. Our partnership has been very prosperous thus far with our award-winning animated series Green Eggs and Ham. We hope to continue that success with our upcoming projects."

Longlists have been announced for the Jhalak Prize for Book of the Year by a Writer of Color, as well as the inaugural Children's & YA Prize. The awards celebrate books by British/British resident BAME writers. Each winner receives £1,000 (about $1,300) along with a work of art created by artists chosen for the annual Jhalak Art Residency. Shortlists will be released April 19 and the winners named May 26.

Prize director Sunny Singh said: "In the sixth year of the Jhalak Prize, and second for our dedicated Children's & Young Adult Prize, there is so much to celebrate, starting with a larger number of submissions than ever before. Our longlists this year demonstrate the extraordinary variety and quality of work being produced by writers of colour in Britain and ranging from pioneering fiction and luminous poetry to insightful non-fiction. Each of these books defy conventions, expand writing repertoires into new genres, and break new ground in form, technique and style. These are books to savour, to love and remember long after the last page!"

photo: Johnny Lee Chapman III

Julian Randall is a Living Queer Black poet from Chicago. His poetry and essays have been published in the New York Times Magazine, POETRY, the Atlantic and Vibe. Randall's first book, Refuse, won the Cave Canem Poetry Prize and was a finalist for an NAACP Image Award. He was also a contributor to the anthology Black Boy Joy. His debut novel, Pilar Ramirez and the Escape from Zafa (Holt BYR, $16.99), is the first in a planned duology featuring 12-year-old Pilar, who is transported to Zafa, an island where Dominican myths and legends come to life.

On your nightstand now:

Luster by Raven Leilani
Tristan Strong Keeps Punching by Kwame Mbalia
Come Clean by Joshua Nguyen

Favorite book when you were a child:

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. Beyond the clarity of voice and the majesty of the prose, I don't know that any book (series) has been more crucial to ya boi becoming an author. The Golden Compass arrived at a huge turning point in my life where I was constantly considering the What If--the alternate universe. I'd lived enough life to have a frame of reference for how small choices became large events. Pullman gave me an abundance of worlds, and it was part of the map for how I began making my own.

Your top five authors:

This morning it's Jason Reynolds, Toni Morrison, Gwendolyn Brooks, Jesmyn Ward, Hanif Abdurraqib. But realistically, anyone whose been on the phone with me knows I make endless smaller and more specific top fives and Imma tell you about them, for hours if left unchecked.

Book you've faked reading:

Real talk, Pride and Prejudice is exceedingly boring, but I wasn't about to lose my participation credit for AP Lit, so... I had a choice to make.

Book you're an evangelist for:

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds. There are some books that gift you the privilege of always remembering exactly where you were when you read it for the first time. And at the mention of that book, it is instantly 2018 again and I'm sitting on the floor one sock on, one off, reading Jason's magic into the air, all 300 pages in one sitting.

Book you've bought for the cover:

Aight, this one's kind of a stretch because I didn't buy it that day but, the answer is The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch. The cover was so utterly striking, and the title dragged me in immediately. It's the third in a series that I adored (and I'm hoping we get the next one soon because I've been sitting with that cliffhanger for half a decade), and I began the series so that I could finally own that book and know who this republic allegedly was. It didn't disappoint!

Book you hid from your parents:

None, my parents were a very low-censorship type of family. If ever there was a book hidden it's because I was supposed to be focused on the standardized tests. But the fourth grade made the mistake of telling us we could read freely if we finished early. I never saw my scores, but I was mid-way through book five of Deltora Quest and filling in every other bubble at random, so I'm sure they were remarkably bad.

Book that changed your life:

Notes from the Divided Country by Suji Kwock Kim, pound for pound one of the best first books I've ever read. Masterclass of imagery, I get at least one unexpected poem a year out of sitting with it.

Favorite line from a book:

"Husband, what was he but a word I loved?" --Lyrae Van-Cleif Stefanon [from the poem "RR Lyrae: Matter"]

Five books you'll never part with:

I have a signed first edition of Sing Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward--ain't nothing parting me from that book. I'm very protective of my copy of [insert] boy by Danez Smith, ditto for my copy of Wild Hundreds by Nate Marshall. My copies of A Story, A Story by Gail E. Haley and The People Could Fly by Virginia Hamilton are books I hope will be in my family for as many generations as we have a planet.

Book you most want to read again for the first time:

Sula by Toni Morrison.

A gutsy young apprentice sails off the edge of the map in this bold, high-stakes fantasy adventure from Newbery Honor winner Christina Soontornvat (A Wish in the Dark; All Thirteen).

In the Kingdom of Mangkon, generational wealth is a literal concept. Golden chain bracelets called lineals show how far back a person can trace their lineage, and the longer the lineal, the more opportunities and privilege go to the wearer. Children receive their lineals when they turn 13, but as 12-year-old Sai watches other kids begin to show off theirs, she dreads her upcoming birthday. In her Apprentice uniform, Sai can fool the higher classes into thinking she belongs, including her employer Paiyoon, Master Mapmaker of the Mangkon Royal Navy. In reality, "there was exactly one link to my past, and it certainly wasn't made of gold." Sai's father is a small-time criminal, her background not prestigious enough to earn her a lineal. Instead, she saves her wages and dreams of the day she can start a new life far from her roots. When Paiyoon receives a commission to serve as mapmaker on a royal expedition, Sai leaps at the chance to join him. During the voyage, she learns the ship's true mission is to search for a southern continent where dragons are rumored to wreck any ships that dare to venture into the uncharted waters. The ship captain's friend, a charismatic, ambitious war hero, suggests success could change Sai's life. Paiyoon insists the southern land does not exist, but Sai can tell he's hiding something. On the high seas, surprising alliances may form, but any betrayal is inescapable.

Daring deeds and the shadow of destiny loom large in this Thai-inspired world, and Soontornvat strings a series of dangerous situations and narrow escapes close together throughout the story. The high action factor and hints at possible dragon appearances makes The Last Mapmaker a solid bet to draw a middle-grade audience, and subtle themes of anti-imperialism and environmental preservation add an appealing social message. Sai's journey from wanting to shed her past to learning that society cannot define a person's inner worth should ring pitch perfect for kids entering the heavy peer pressure years of upper elementary and middle school. This bighearted, moving tale of finding one's place and living by a moral compass is eminently seaworthy and set in a rich, thoughtfully built world. --Jaclyn Fulwood, youth experience manager, Dayton Metro Library

Shelf Talker: Double Newbery Honor Medalist Christina Soontornvat takes middle-grade readers on a fast-paced, morally complex high seas fantasy adventure.