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Banned Books Week
 PRH Throws a Banned Books Week Party in the Nation’s CapitalBy setting its substantial industry weight behind anti-censorship advocacy, Penguin Random House has become a leading force against book bans. To kick off BBW, PRH sent its bright orange Banned Wagon on a weeklong tour, and also organized a Save Our Stories Supper on October 6 in Washington, D.C. Right to read champions mingled and took turns at the mic, sharing their perspectives and demonstrating solidarity. See some highlights from the evening. more   Teachers and Students Share Anti-Censorship Strategies in New BookWith the school year under way, and classrooms and school libraries across the U.S. embroiled in censorship efforts, a team of authors have assembled their advice for right to read advocacy. Ban This! How One School Fought Two Book Bans and Won (and How You Can Too), published by Zest Books, compiles arguments and approaches used by teacher and student activists at Central York High School in southeastern Pennsylvania. more  What Happened After ‘All Boys Aren’t Blue’ by George M. Johnson Got BannedWe take a look at the fight to keep Johnson's bestselling memoir-manifesto, the most challenged book of 2024, on the shelves. more In the News
 Libraries Look to Fill the Gap Left by Baker & TaylorWith the closure of the country’s largest library wholesaler now underway, librarians are searching for new options as Ingram, Bookazine, and even Amazon make a play to court B&T customers left in the lurch. more  Franceschelli to Step Back from Chronicle’s Handprint BooksChristopher Franceschelli has announced his plan to step back from Handprint Books, the children’s publishing outfit he formed in 2000, which became an imprint of Chronicle Books in 2008. more Frankfurt Preview
 Frankfurt Book Fair 2025: Children’s Books in a Fragile World The third annual Frankfurt Kids Conference, slated for October 15, will address the importance of engaging young readers in times of global unrest. Lawrence Schimel, author and literary translator, is reprising his role as moderator. “We want to show that children’s book publishing is an important part of citizenship,” he told PW. more
First Person
 Widening the Circle: Native Authors Center CommunityStacy Wells (l.) is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation, a children’s librarian, and an author. Christine Hartman Derr is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, English adjunct faculty, and an author. Here they reflect on the growth of the We Need Diverse Books Native Children’s and YA Writing Intensive and its impact. more On the Scene
 Reading as an Act of Resistance: MPIBA Breakfast Speakers Emphasize Accessibility to BooksThe Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association's annual FallCon, held earlier this week, kicked off with the Children’s Authors and Illustrators Keynote Breakfast. This year’s presentations touched on themes of accessibility, inclusion, censorship, and the freedom to read. more New Ventures
 Creating a 'Hullabaloo' for Middle Grade Readers Cartoonist and author Josh Smeaton and HarperAlley editor Josh Sippie have teamed up to launch Hullabaloo, a monthly comic magazine for kids ages 8–13, which aims to deliver fun stories that hook kids on reading. The debut issue is slated for January. more Four Questions
 Jennifer L. HolmNewbery Honoree Jennifer L. Holm's books for young readers have nearly 10 million copies in print. She ventures onto chilling territory in her latest middle grade novel, Outside, in which a girl being raised inside a walled compound doesn’t realize how isolated and abnormal her life is until she encounters the outside world for the first time. We spoke with Holm about the genesis of her new book, the range of her fiction offerings, and collaborating with her brother. Q: This is a darker, more intense novel than your previous children’s books. Was it a challenge to switch gears after focusing on lighter fiction for kids? A: It was the best writing experience of my career. I usually have terrible writer’s block when it comes to doing a first draft. But for this book, I “locked in”—as the kids like to say—and slammed out a draft in three months. A miracle! Of course, it took a few years to revise, but the first draft phase wasn’t painful. more Out Next Week
 Hot Off the Press: Week of October 13 Among the books hitting shelves next week are a picture book about an unexpected friendship between predator and prey, a National Book Award finalist, a YA dystopian novel set in a climate-ravaged Miami, and more. more In Brief
 In Brief: October 9, 2025Recently an author celebrated a young readers adaptation, a launch event turned into game night, an exhibition honoring a children’s author closed, an author made her debut, collaborators took part in arts and crafts, and a museum welcomed an author for an event. more
Rights Report
 Kate Prosswimmer at McElderry Books has acquired Chaos Ensues and two additional books by F.T. Lukens (Love at Second Sight; Spell Bound). Two strangers are charged by the goddess of chaos to fulfill a prophecy and cause turmoil in an otherwise utopian kingdom, but when one of them falls for a royal, they must decide if romance and friendship is worth garnering her wrath. The first book is scheduled for summer 2027; Eva Scalzo at Speilburg Literary Agency did the deal for world rights.   Marisa DiNovis at Knopf has bought Alexander M. Rigby's YA debut Meet Me at the Creek. Set in rural northwest Pennsylvania in the early 2000s, the novel follows best friends Mark and Brett, who spend their adolescence exploring the creek that runs through their neighborhood, as the two reckon with their sexuality in wildly different ways. Publication is set for spring 2027; Kelly Karczewski and Dan Milaschewski at UTA sold North American rights.  Alison Romig at Delacorte has acquired Stranglehold by Cale Plett (Wavelength), a queer YA horror novel combining the twisted miracle of Midnight Mass with the frozen, cosmic dread of True Detective: Night Country. After two tragic accidents leave a nonbinary teen's best friend and crush both buried, all of the town's suffocated dead come back to life during a snowstorm, revealing secrets about an ancient evil. Publication is planned for fall 2027; Amy Tompkins at Transatlantic Agency handled the deal for world English rights.  Katherine Easter at HarperCollins Blink has bought The Music of Us by debut author Emerald Alexandrea, a contemporary YA rom-com about a cat café barista who reaches out to her ex-best friend, now a famous boy band member, who just might help save her mom's café. Jacque Alberta will edit; publication is slated for summer 2026. Amy Thrall Flynn at Aevitas Creative Management negotiated the deal for world rights.  Rob Valois at Penguin Workshop has acquired, at auction, world rights to Vile, Wrecked, & Rotten, a musical middle grade graphic novel about the misadventures of Joanie Rotten, the 11-year-old protégé of two kid-phobic composers who ply their trade in the music-loving metropolis of San Orchestropolis, by Gabe Soria (l.) (The Midnight Arcade); Steve Burns (c.), host of Alive with Steve Burns and star of Blue's Clues; and Jim Campbell (r.), Eisner Award-winning artist of Over the Garden Wall. Publication is set for summer 2027; Charlie Olsen at InkWell Management represented Soria and Campbell, and Chad Kojouri at Range Media Partners represented Burns.  Julia McCarthy at Atheneum has bought There's a Monster in Nocturne Grove, a middle grade graphic novel by Caroline Palmer (Camp Prodigy). When Mi-Young moves to the quiet town of Nocturne Grove, she begins to notice that something is amiss with its residents—could there be a monster behind the town's microaggressions and strange behavior? Publication is scheduled for fall 2027; Alex Slater at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates brokered the deal for world rights.  Janine O'Malley at FSG has acquired, in a preempt, The Extraordinary Lives of Lily Tripp and two untitled books by Amelia Tait. This middle grade series is pitched as Judy Blume meets Back to the Future, in a diary of friendship and first love with a unique time slip twist as every New Year's Day Lily wakes in a new century. Publication is planned for spring 2026, spring 2027, and spring 2028; Valentina Fazio at Hachette UK sold North American rights.  Emily Daluga at Chronicle has bought world English rights to On Thin Ice by Lorien Lawrence, a middle grade thriller set at a hockey camp plagued by accidents, but when a counselor goes missing, the campers realize the events weren't accidents at all. Publication is slated for fall 2027; Kathleen Rushall at Andrea Brown Literary Agency negotiated the deal.  Margaret Raymo at Little, Brown has acquired Lucía and the Sombra Trees by Darlene Pagán, a middle grade novel in which Lucía discovers a magical oasis when she bravely ventures into a dangerous forest to find a rare, life-saving fruit for her beloved grandmother. Publication is scheduled for summer 2027; Ritu Anand at D4EO Literary Agency handled the deal for world rights.  Lisa Yoskowitz at Little, Brown has bought ADHD: Understanding You, Your Superpowers, and How to Thrive with Neurodiversity by Blue Seat Studios founder Rachel Brian (Consent for Kids; The Worry (Less) Book), an illustrated guide offering explanations and strategies for kids with and without ADHD. Publication is set for fall 2026; Molly Ker Hawn at the Bent Agency sold world rights.  Kristin Allard at Norton Young Readers has acquired, in a three-book deal, Jen White's Ghost and Bat: Guardians of the Garden. This younger graphic novel series follows the titular best friends as they solve mysteries in their garden home, celebrate community, and learn about nature and ecosystems—and that things feel a lot less scary when we can shine a light on the unknown. The first book, The Phantom Pollinator, is slated for fall 2027, with the second two books planned for 2028; Christie Megill at the CAT Agency negotiated the deal for world rights.  Sylvie Frank at Flamingo Books has bought, in a preempt, two picture books in the Beginner's Guide picture book series by author-illustrator Keith Negley. With deadpan humor, The Beginner's Guide to Being a Wizard is an essential handbook for aspiring wizards and includes tips like the importance of a wand (a stick works too) and a cloak (a towel is fine). Publication is slated for fall 2026, with the second book to follow in fall 2027; Hannah Mann at Writers House brokered the deal for world rights.  Nancy Paulsen at Penguin/Nancy Paulsen Books has acquired world rights to The River of Caregiving by Jocelyn Chung (l.), illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats Award winner Sarah Gonzales, a picture book about the many ways different generations of a family care for one another. Publication is set for summer 2026; Chris Park at DeFiore & Company represented the author, and Alexandra Levick at Writers House represented the illustrator.  Lois Evans at Random House/Make Me a World has bought world rights to In Case of Las Moscas by Jackie Morera (l.), illustrated by Mariana Ruiz Johnson, in which a tiny misunderstanding snowballs into a zany adventure as a boy attempts to save his grandparents from an attack of flies. Publication is scheduled for fall 2026; Ashley Reisinger at Triada US represented the author, and the illustrator represented herself.  Millie Von Platen at Astra House has acquired world rights to We Will Not Hide Our Pride by debut author Devyn Douvier (l.), illustrated by Evan Turk, celebrating the diverse achievements of the LGBTQ+ community past and present and affirming all that is possible for children to achieve, even in the face of prejudice. Publication is planned for spring 2028; Stefanie Molina-Santos, now at Looking Glass Literary Agency, represented the author while at Ladderbird Literary Agency, and Brenda Bowen at the Book Group represented the illustrator.  Sylvie Frank at Flamingo Books has bought world rights to the picture book Dentist Kitty by Alice Bradley (l.), illustrated by Heather Fox. Armed with facts, fish-flavored toothpaste, and the occasional bap to the face, Dr. Kitty is determined to get the Ragazzi family on the path to fresh breath and healthy teeth. Publication is slated for fall 2027; Kirsten Hall at Catbird Productions represented the author, and Elena Giovinazzo at Heirloom Literary represented the illustrator.  Barb McNally at Sleeping Bear Press acquired The Cats of Dogville by Sahtinay Abaza (l.), illustrated by Fanny Liem, a picture book about when cats decide to compete for the title of Man's Best Friend. Publication is scheduled for spring 2027; the author represented herself, and Christy Ewers at the CAT Agency represented the illustrator. IN THE MEDIA
FEATURED REVIEWS
  How to Hatch: A Gosling’s Guide to Breaking FreeSara Holly Ackerman, illus. by Galia Bernstein. Knopf, $18.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-593-81106-1 Gouache-like digital spreads provide detailed cutaway views of a goose egg from multiple angles—in one sweetly comical scene, the developing bird’s tiny webbed feet are drawn up to its face. Play-by-play narration takes readers through the steps, alternating between sportscaster-style excitement and practical tips, while boxed text provides additional facts. The gosling emerges looking wet and worse for wear but utterly endearing, and soon transforms into a fluffy bird that’s “healthy, happy, hatched.” more  A Book of LovesCynthia Rylant. Beach Lane, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-66598-794-3 Unadorned lists spotlight concepts and things loved by cats, dogs, and human children in an affectionately observant picture book that captures loving’s universality. Split into three parallel sections, narration introduces each subject before playfully defining their everyday comforts and preferences, showcased in spare acrylic vignettes. Smudgy, thickly colored artwork has an approachable, naïve quality that suits the text’s minimalism as it builds to the repeated observation that creatures also share love for experiencing love. more  | ||||
