The Book Industry Study Group is honoring Dominique Raccah, founder and CEO of Sourcebooks, with the Sally Dedecker Award for Lifetime Service. She will be presented with the award at BISG's annual meeting, which takes place on Friday, April 25, at the Times Center in New York City.

Dominique Raccah

BISG cited Raccah for having "led Sourcebooks in ways that have made it a beacon for change in the industry. An entrepreneur who embraces change and leads with an author-first mindset, Raccah has built the company from a one-woman startup into the sixth largest U.S. publisher and the fastest-growing publisher in the U.K. Under her leadership, Sourcebooks has pioneered new ways to connect authors and readers, championed banned books and diverse voices, and led the industry in data-driven publishing, redefining what it means to be a book publisher in the 21st century."

Raccah is also being honored for her service to BISG. She was co-chair or chair of the board of directors for a combined six years, and was an active member of the executive committee for nine years. During her time on the board, BISG oversaw the implementation of the 13-digit ISBN as well as discussed identification requirements for digital products and supported closer engagement with other industry organizations.

BISG board chair Joshua Tallent of Firebrand Technologies said that Raccah "led BISG at a time when the nature of the business was changing. Online sales became the majority of all book purchases. Digital products grew from a footnote to almost a fifth of all revenues, and the expectations for metadata changed alongside that growth. Without her leadership over that time, BISG and the industry would have lagged behind where both needed to be."

Raccah said, "I am beyond honored to receive the Sally Dedecker Award for Lifetime Service. Sally was a powerhouse--someone who made publishing better just by being in the room. I had the privilege of working alongside her in my previous role at BISG, and I loved that our work together embraced that the book industry never stands still--there's always change, evolution, and new opportunities to make things better. Whether it was navigating the shift to digital, updating industry standards, or making sure we were always thinking ahead, this work matters so deeply. Sally Dedecker was someone who believed in this industry and put in the work to drive real change. I'm incredibly honored to receive this award in her name."

BISG executive director Brian O'Leary added, "One of the best aspects of BISG is its connection to the people who have made a difference in the industry. Sally Dedecker embodied that spirit, and Dominique Raccah does, as well. We're looking forward to celebrating Dominique at our annual meeting, both for her accomplishments at Sourcebooks and the many ways that she helped shape BISG and keep it a vital rudder for the industry."

At Longfellow Books. Portland, Maine

Yesterday, indie booksellers were celebrating the release of the highly anticipated novel Sunrise on the Reaping (Scholastic), by Hunger Games series author Suzanne Collins, in a variety of creative ways. Among the stores sharing their excitement on social media with the hashtag #SunriseOnTheReaping:

Búho Bookstore, Brownsville, Tex.: "TONIGHT!!! Sunrise on the Reaping Midnight Release Party!... May the odds be ever in your favor if you'd like to preorder one of our limited quantity of books--only at Búho!"

Plenty Bookshop, Cookeville, Tenn.: "What a night! Our Sunrise on the Reaping midnight release party was absolutely unforgettable. The excitement was real--trivia battles, themed drinks, and a whole room full of Hunger Games fans counting down the minutes until midnight. Some of you even showed up in costume (which we loved), and the energy was just incredible. The best part? That moment when the books finally landed in your hands. Pure magic."

Wandering Raccoon Books, Grimes, Iowa: "We are opening EXTRA EARLY for our Sunrise on the Scones party! Celebrate the release of Sunrise on the Reaping, grab a delicious scone from @fourelementsbakery, and still make it to work on time! We'll be offering books and scones all day long, but only until we run out! May the odds be ever in your favor."

Owner Timothy Otte (left) and events lead Heather Albinson at the sold-out midnight release party at Wild Rumpus Books in Minneapolis, Minn. (photo: Oskar Barrett)

About Time Bookstore, Libertyville, Ill.: "Sunrise on the Reaping (a Hunger Games Novel) is here! & Finn was wanting to photo bomb the beautiful book stack."

Belmont Books, Belmont, Mass.: "Poor Emily came into the store to get her copy but has been put to work and must actually sell books before she can sink her teeth into this exciting new book in the series. Don't be like Emily--get your copy and call out of work immediately!"

Prologue Bookshop, Columbus, Ohio: "Happy Sunrise on the Reaping day! The fifth book in The Hunger Games series is on shelves now."

Nottawa Cottage Books, Nottawa, Ont., Canada: "Citizens of Panem, the time has come. The reaping is upon us, and with it, a new chapter in the history of the Hunger Games....And for those in need of a little extra comfort in these perilous times, we have a limited quantity of emotional support mockingjays and snakes, handmade by the skilled Emily from @purplegardencrochet. They are small but mighty."

Longfellow Books, Portland, Maine: "After a looong wait, SUNRISE ON THE REAPING, the newest addition to the Hunger Games universe, is finally out!... Read it and then come talk to Tuesday because she Really wants to talk to people about it. Happy Hunger Games!"

Lykke Books, New Ulm, Minn.: "Stop in today for self-guided Hunger Games activities, a special Haymitch-inspired Lotus drink at NU Brew Cafe, and to pick up your copy of the book. Happy reading!"

At Analog Books, Lethbridge, Alb.

Plaid Elephant Books, Danville, Ken.: "We had a blast at our 'Sunrise on the Waffles' book launch celebration this morning at the Waffle Stop Cafe. Owners Tina and Shelly are always up for creative fun--and the waffles they invented for the occasion?!? Perfection. Thanks to the intrepid bookworms who joined us in the dark for breakfast, trivia, and fun."

Analog Books, Lethbridge, Alb., Canada: "Thank you to everyone who came out to our Sunrise at the Reaping party this morning! We hope everyone had a great time! Keep an eye out for future book release celebrations!"

Columbus Bound Bookshop, Columbus, Ga.: "Thank you to all our customers who volunteered to purchase Sunrise on the Reaping with us this morning!"

Blacksburg Books, Blacksburg, Va.: "Getting ready for our release party tonight with a special Agave Sunrise soda from Moon Hollow Brewing AND some mockingjays to snack on.... We'll have snacks & trivia & fun!"

Katie Cunningham has been named publisher of Nosy Crow. She was most recently senior v-p, editorial, and associate publisher at Candlewick Press before stepping away from that role in late 2024.

Katie Cunningham (photo: Erin Cunningham)

Cunningham is known, Nosy Crow said, for "identifying, developing, and championing extraordinary debut works that reflect children's experiences, such as Jessica Love's picture book Julián Is a Mermaid, which received a Stonewall Book Award and has become a classic of gender representation; Rescue and Jessica, which received the Schneider Family Book Award; and Gather, a debut novel set in rural Vermont that was named a 2023 National Book Award finalist, received the 2024 Kirkus Prize, and was a Michael L. Printz Award finalist."

Cunningham has also acquired and edited books by author-illustrator Matt Tavares, including Growing Up Pedro, the annual holiday bestseller Dasher, and the graphic novel Hoops; poet Charles R. Smith Jr.'s Sports Royalty series; and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's children's book What Color Is My World, which won an NAACP Image Award.

Founded in the U.K. in 2010, children's publisher Nosy Crow established operations in the U.S. in 2022 with John Mendelson as president. It published 34 books on its debut list in 2023 and has expanded rapidly since then and will publish 100 books in the U.S. this year.

Mendelson said, "I don't think it's an overstatement to say that Katie is a visionary leader and an extraordinary editorial talent. Even more than these attributes, she is a consummate teammate, and I am so excited to work alongside her as we continue to support our current publishing output and begin in earnest the process of originating books here in North America."

Kate Wilson, group CEO of Nosy Crow, said, "We've been gratified to see the growth of Nosy Crow in the U.S. Katie Cunningham's strong editorial vision will enable her to further shape the list and to cultivate new, homegrown authors as she lends her own perspective to the quality, representation, and environmental integrity that Nosy Crow books are known for around the world."

Cunningham said, "As a longtime admirer of Nosy Crow, I was delighted, though not at all surprised, to see Nosy Crow take off on a running start in the U.S. under John Mendelson's leadership. I'm thrilled to join Jennifer [B. Greene], Allison [Hunter Hill], Sofie [Jones], John, Kate, and all of the committed, creative, and hardworking team to create books that will speak to children read after read--because every child deserves a favorite book."

Dag Solstad, "a towering figure of Norwegian letters admired by literary greats around the world," died March 14, the Guardian reported. He was 83. "Known for prose combining existential despair, political subjects and a droll sense of humor," he won the Norwegian critics prize for literature three times and was a perennial contender for the Nobel Prize in literature.

Dag Solstad

Solstad was translated into Japanese by Haruki Murakami and author Lydia Davis taught herself Norwegian by reading his 400-page novel The Insoluble Epic Element in Telemark in the Years 1592–1896, the Guardian noted. Karl Ove Knausgård admired his "old-fashioned elegance" and Per Petterson called him "Norway's bravest, most intelligent novelist." 

Solstad's other books include Novel 11, Book 18, translated by Sverre Lyngstad; Professor Andersen's Night, translated by Agnes Scott Langeland; T Singer, translated by Tiina Nunnally; and Armand V, translated by Steven T. Murray.

Solstad began his writing career as a newspaper journalist, before writing short fiction in his early 20s. "The core concerns of his 18 novels, stories, plays and essays, however, were more personal, frequently featuring difficult father-son relationships," the Guardian noted. He also wrote (with crime writer Jon Michelet) five books about soccer's World Cups between 1982 and 1998. 

Norway's prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre told NTB that Solstad was one of the most significant Norwegian authors of all time: "His work will continue to engage and inspire new readers. Today my thoughts go out to his family and loved ones."

This past week, Shelf Awareness sent our new Kids & YA Pre-Order E-Blast to more than 190,000 of the country's best book readers. The e-blast went to 190,432 customers of 31 participating independent bookstores.

The mailing features four upcoming titles selected by Shelf Awareness editors and three advertised titles, one of which is a sponsored feature. Customers can buy these books via "pre-order" buttons that lead directly to the purchase page for the title on each sending store's website. A key feature is that bookstore partners can easily change title selections to best reflect the tastes of their customers and can customize the mailing with links, images and promotional copy of their own.

The pre-order e-blasts are sent the second Wednesday of each month; the next will go out on Wednesday, April 9. This is a free service for indies. Stores interested in learning more can visit our program registration page or contact our partner program team via e-mail.

Ad spots are also available in the Kids & YA Pre-Order E-Blast. For more information contact sales@shelf-awareness.com for details.

For a sample of the March Kids & YA Pre-Order E-Blast, see this one from Mavey Books, Ardmore, Pa.

The titles highlighted in the pre-order e-blast were:

The Cartoonists Club by Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud (Graphix/Scholastic)
Are You a Friend of Dorothy: The True Story of an Imaginary Woman and the Real People She Helped by Kyle Lukoff, illustrated by Levi Hastings (S&S Books for Young Readers)
On Again, Awkward Again by Erin Entrada Kelly and Kwame Mbalia (Amulet/Abrams)
The Trouble with Heroes by Kate Messner (Bloomsbury)

"Can't get comfy while you read your book? Try out some of these reading positions!" Schuler Books, with stores in Grand Rapids, Okemos, Ann Arbor, & West Bloomfield, Mich., shared a video offering some unique reading position advice.

Posted by Pagination Bookshop, Springfield, Mo.: "On a windy day like this, it's nice to curl up with a good book. Stop by and pick out your next read, we're here til 6!"

At Scholastic:

OIivia Lusk, formerly a publicist at Page Street Publishing, has joined Scholastic as publicist.

Nara Cowing, formerly an intern at Writer's House, has joined Scholastic as a sales assistant.

Healing Sexual Trauma Guided Journal: Writing and Somatic Practices to Help You Process, Heal, and Feel Safe by Erika Shershun (New Harbinger).

Today:
All Things Considered: Emily Feng, author of Let Only Red Flowers Bloom: Identity and Belonging in Xi Jinping's China (Crown, $29, 9780593594223).

Fresh Air: Gary Rivlin, author of AI Valley: Microsoft, Google, and the Trillion-Dollar Race to Cash In on Artificial Intelligence (Harper Business, $32, 9780063347496).

Tomorrow:
Today: Carmen Baldwin and Hilaria Baldwin, authors of Glowing Up: Recipes to Rock Your Natural Beauty (Di Angelo Publications, $30, 9781962603324).

Also on Today: Michael Kosta, author of Lucky Loser: Adventures in Tennis and Comedy (Harper Influence, $32, 9780063418066).

NPR's On Point: Natasha Hakimi Zapata, author of Another World Is Possible: Lessons for America from Around the Globe (The New Press, $30.99, 9781620978443).

Late Show with Stephen Colbert repeat: Jake Tapper, co-author of Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again (Penguin Press, $32, 9798217060672).

Producer Ellie Wood (The Dig) has struck a development deal with Banijay U.K. and is working on an adaptation of Barbara Pym's novel Excellent Women. Deadline reported that under terms of the agreement, Wood's Clearwood Films "will get access to funding to develop ideas and treatments and support from centralized resources including finance, legal and business affairs."

In 2019, Wood produced the Netflix feature The Dig, and three years later made the ITV and BritBox limited series Stonehouse. She is also an executive producer on Hot Milk, Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s film adaptation of Deborah Levy's novel.

Patrick Holland, CEO of Banijay U.K., said: "Ellie is a brilliant producer with an established reputation for creating standout, high quality drama. Banijay Rights have had a successful first-look deal in place with Clearwood, working with Ellie on projects including Stonehouse, and we are delighted to be backing her vision."  

Wood added: "I'm particularly excited to be developing the novels of one of my favorite authors, the inimitable Barbara Pym.... Just as Jilly Cooper's Rivals gave us a 'Cooperverse', I look forward to creating a 'Pymverse' and bringing this iconic author's uniquely British tales of comic observation and unrequited love not only to her legions of fans but also to a wider TV audience."

Sue Prideaux won the £5,000 (about $6,465) Pol Roger Duff Cooper Prize for historical work for Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin, which drew praise from the judging panel for making "an extraordinarily bold and provocative case." In addition to the cash award, the winner receives a magnum of Pol Roger champagne and a copy of Cooper's autobiography, Old Men Forget.  

Chair of the judges Artemis Cooper said: "In recent years, Paul Gauguin's paintings have been dismissed as a colonialist and exploitative view of exotic people in a lush landscape. Sue Prideaux's Wild Thing brings to light a far more complex picture, of a man who struggled all his life--whether in Paris, Pont-Aven or Tahiti--to evoke his experience of being alive. The way she writes about his art and sets him in the context of his time is dazzling."

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The shortlist has been selected for the 2025 Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, dedicated to "literature addressing racism and cultural diversity" and sponsored by the Cleveland Foundation. The winner will be announced April 10. See the 10 finalists here.

photo: A.L. Sirois

Valerie Nieman spent weeks solo hiking in Scotland to research Upon the Corner of the Moon (Regal House Publishing, March 11, 2025), the story of the young Macbeths. The follow-up, The Last Highland King, in which these rulers unite Scotland in the 11th century, will be published in 2027. Nieman is the author of six other novels, including the Sir Walter Raleigh Award-winning In the Lonely Backwater, a short fiction collection, and three poetry books. A graduate of West Virginia University and Queens University of Charlotte, Nieman was a journalist in West Virginia and a college professor in North Carolina. When not writing or walking or reading, she enjoys fly fishing.

Handsell readers your book in 25 words or less:

The Macbeths you've never known: destined to unite Scotland, they first had to survive as pawns in a dynastic struggle.

On your nightstand now:

H Is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald. Like her, I was a girl who drew hawks and horses, fell down a lot, and read omnivorously. When my mother passed and then my father, I found solace on hiking trails and midstream in trout waters. This book brought back the grief and the healing--and reacquainted me with T.H. White whose The Once and Future King entranced me long ago.

The Birth of Tragedy by Friedrich Nietzsche, because I like something light at bedtime.

All Hallows' Eve by Charles Williams, whose work crosses many boundaries, plus you can't ignore an introduction by T.S. Eliot.

Whish: Poems by Jackie Craven.

Favorite book when you were a child:

Apart from everything about horses, I remember two: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, and a book of Jack London stories that I plucked off a display meant for older readers during a school book fair. Oh, and all those Little Golden Guides and then Peterson Field Guides--birds, butterflies, rocks, stars, trees, etc.

Your top five authors:

Whatever book I'm currently reading--no, really, I have such a hard time with this as I read all over the place, but just from the top of my head, Margaret Atwood, Hilary Mantel, Edgar Allan Poe, Fred Chappell, Robert Macfarlane.

Book you've faked reading:

I don't think I've ever faked reading a book. I dipped into Harry Potter and found it wasn't for me, but I have enough familiarity from the omnipresent media that I can be part of a discussion. I have, however, more than once implied that I have already read a book by a friend when it is still on my To Be Read stacks, otherwise known as the floor of my office. I cannot keep up!

Book you're an evangelist for:

Indigo Field by Marjorie Hudson, because it's a Southern book by a non-Southerner, and deals with issues of race and class and belonging while being magnificently readable.

Book you've bought for the cover:

Oh, I'm a sucker for a beautiful binding, especially those Victorian, Art Nouveau, and Glasgow Style wonders created for cloth-and-paperboard popular editions. Did you know that many of those gorgeous covers were created by women? Here's a link to an exhibit focusing on Margaret Armstrong's work. For a single book, a fairly recent book, I think Get in Trouble by Kelly Link really drew me in.

Book you hid from your parents:

None. My parents were extraordinary. Although not college educated, they encouraged my reading and never put up any barriers. When I picked up a paperback copy of D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover from my uncle's yard sale, he was scarlet with embarrassment and refused to take my quarter. My father intervened: "If she wants to read it, and she can read it, then she can buy it." I was at the time a "tween." I still have that worn book, a memory of unwavering parental support that led directly, I think, to my becoming a writer.

Book that changed your life:

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. Along with The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury and Walter Miller's A Canticle for Leibowitz, it was my introduction one hot teenage summer to the wonders of speculative fiction.

Favorite line from a book:

Oh, this is torturous, as whole books rise up in my memory, but remembering a single line? "It was a pleasure to burn." --Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

Five books you'll never part with:

The John Ciardi translation of Dante's The Divine Comedy, which brought the poetry to new life in English.

Candide by Voltaire, my introduction to the great thinker in high school French class.

The White Goddess by Robert Graves, because of its intricate exploration of language and myth.

Adversaria by Timothy Russell, which has poems delicate as a Chinese painting but set in the apocalyptic landscape of an Ohio Valley steel mill town.

Norton Anthology of World Literature (hey, that's cheating!)

And one I let get away, my annotated Riverside Shakespeare--because that person needed it more.

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

Dune by Frank Herbert, because I was absolutely immersed in a world where a planet's ecology was addressed.

Why Macbeth?

Among the out-of-my-age-group books I devoured at home was Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb. Macbeth was my favorite, which led to my father taking me to see a traveling production that came to our rural Appalachian region when I was in junior high. I was hooked forever. Then, while doing research for another book, I learned that the entire story was inside-out, and that Macbeth was a rightful king who ruled well for 17 years. Of his queen, Gruach, we know little more than her name. I would be haunted by this for decades, beginning my research in the 1990s with interlibrary loan books, then on through the arrival of the Internet and two month-long trips to Scotland, where I wandered among ancient stones and got a library card from the National Library of Scotland so that I could access rare volumes and work in the reading room. What book lover wouldn't geek out at that?

Frank's Red Hat is a hilarious tale of creativity--first scorned, then redeemed--as one inventive penguin tries to get his fellow seabirds to appreciate the finer qualities of his functional, fashionable way to keep warm.

Frank is known within the penguin community for "doing things differently" and for being "full of ideas." Unfortunately, most of his ideas are not great (such as the time he figured out how to spear multiple fish at once, only to have a resident walrus insist that Frank give its tusk back). The penguins are understandably nervous when, one day, Frank wears a red hat. Not only had the seabirds never seen a hat before but, in their "cold and colorless world," they had never seen anything red. Frank tries to explain that a hat is for "keeping your head warm--in style," but when Neville gives the hat a try, a killer whale leaps out of the ocean and eats the penguin "in one big bite." Despite Frank's assurances that the hat had nothing to do with Neville's tragic accident, the other penguins want nothing to do with the hat or with Frank.

Disappointed, Frank tries to get the penguins to appreciate his creation by making several differently colored hats in hopes of creating the perfect head covering, but the wary seabirds don't trust him at all. Frank decides to make one final, perfect hat: "The evil hat will end us all!" the terrified penguins yell, "waddling for their lives." Frank is crushed and vows to never again make another hat, until... a non-penguin someone asks for his masterpiece!

Sean E Avery (Happy as a Hog Out of Mud) uses jaunty text that is active, direct, and suitably sly. His characters feature large, round eyes with expressive eyebrow lines, and his world is rendered almost entirely in black, white, and grays, which allows the colorful hats to stand out. The clever, digitally collaged illustrations add plenty of humor and depth to the story, and readers are advised to pay attention: sight gags amplify the fun and loose ends are often tied up in the art. In fact, hints in the illustrations set up the possibility that savvy readers may guess at the resolution, and the final twist adds to the satisfying finish. Frank's Red Hat shouldserve as both a boisterous read-aloud and an excellent choice to linger with after story time. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author

Shelf Talker: Frank's Red Hat is the jaunty, sly, extremely amusing tale of a penguin who creates a colorful hat, only to find his fellow penguins are too nervous to appreciate it.