August 2011 New Titles

JUNIOR FICTION

• Felice Arena – Whippersnapper

A stand-alone novel for younger readers from Mr Specky Magee. Think Freaky Friday on a basketball court.

• Michael Wagner – Ted Goes Wild

The first in a new series from the man behind The Undys. Full of adventure and heart and capped off with gorgeous illustrations from Tom Jellett.

YOUNG ADULT FICTION

• Penni Russon – Only Ever Always

For fans of dystopian fantasy, Penni’s latest offering is “fascinating and absolutely memorable”.

• Chrissie Perry (Keighery) – Whisper

Going by Keighery for her YA fiction, you would otherwise know her as one of the Go Girl authors. This is her second novel, following from her teen debut Outside In. Whisper gives a unique perspective as the reader is invited into the inner thoughts of a deaf teenager.

2011 Forthcoming Titles

There’s a couple of big titles looming in the latter half of the year that we’re pretty excited about here in the office. Watch out for these hotly anticipated forthcoming titles.

• Steven Amsterdam – What the Family Needed

Reviewed in next month’s Bookseller+Publisher with a star rating of 4.5 out of 5. Similar structure to Things We Didn’t See Coming – somewhat sequential, linked short stories which help the reader piece together the bigger picture. Unfortunately we’ll have to wait until November for its release!

• Alice Pung – Her Father’s Daughter

Alice’s first memoir focussed on the matriarchs of her family. In this next piece of the puzzle we are told her father’s story, one that takes place largely in Cambodia and documents the atrocities of Pol Pot’s killing fields. For more of a teaser, take a look at this review from last week’sAge.

Have you ever met a spunky, hanky-panky cranky stinky dinky lanky honky-tonky winky Wonky Donkey? The book/CD/ipad app has been a runaway success in Australia – in fact it is the third best-selling picture book of all time. New Zealand based Craig Smith will be touring Australia in October/November later this year and is available in Victoria and Queensland for performances which include the hit song about the poor three-legged animal and more.

At the same time, Australia’s premier young adult and children’s spoken word presenter, Ghostboy will be hitting the road and stopping off in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. Well known in his native Queensland for bringing poetry and words alive, he will be available for performances, workshops or even full day productions.

More information:

Download flyer

Download flyer

The Childrens Book Council of Australia today announced the winners of the 2011 Book of the Year Awards.

Big congrats to Nicki Greenberg for her shared victory in the Picture Book category, and to Doug Macleod, Cath Crowley and Michael Gerard Bauer for winning Honour Book status.

Doug’s The Life of a Teenage Body Snatcher has been a hit with older readers, as has Cath’s Graffiti Moon which last month bagged the coveted Victorian Premier’s Literary Award. It was Michael’s book for younger readers, Just a Dog which earned him recognition this year – he took out the Book of the Year (Older Readers) for The Running Manin 2005.

In Melbourne, when August rolls around each year, it feels like the literary equivalent of Christmas. One of the most exciting things to unwrap is the program for the Melbourne Writers Festival. Things kick off next Thursday with the festival keynote featuring (omg) Jonathon Franzen!! Now while we can’t quite promise you he’ll come talk at your school or library, we can certainly point out a few sessions on the bill that feature BookedOuters.

Deb Abela, Mystery Writing Workshop

Steven Amsterdam, Max Barry & Meg Mundell, Things They See Coming

David Astle, Anna Krien, Nick Earls & Dr Leslie Cannold, Stories Unbound

Steph Bowe, Emerging Writers

Sophie Cunningam, Michael Hyde, Mary Delahunty & Rosalie Ham,Melbourne Stories

Hanifa Deen & Arnold Zable, Stories with a Conscience

Sean Dooley (with The Franzen!), Birds of a Feather

Kate Holden, A Book’s Journey

Tim Pegler & Alice Pung, Why I Write

Maria Tumarkin, Life Stories in the Age of Terror

And so much more, particularly in the Schools’ Program.

If you’re in cold and windy Melbourne, we hope to see you around Fed Square warming up with a hot chocolate between sessions.

(This photo from mwf’s flickr)

To celebrate the online launch of Bookseller+Publisher’s Junior e-mag, we have three print subscriptions of B+P to help give away.

Junior is a great resource for teachers interested in children’s and young adult books. Each edition is packed with news, interviews and reviews on children’s books from around Australia and New Zealand.Junior is published three times per year as part of Bookseller+Publisher magazine and is now available as a free e-mag. View the Junior e-mag on the website:www.booksellerandpublisher.com.au/junior/

Teachers can also sign up (on the same page) to The Junior Newsletter to receive a monthly newsletter of interviews and reviews, as well as the next Junior e-mag as soon as it is published. Those who sign up to The Junior Newsletter before 15 August 2011 will have the chance to win one of three print subscriptions to Bookseller+Publisher magazine worth $140.

The winners of the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards were announced this morning and we were squealing with delight in the office to see that Cath Crowley has won the coveted award in the Young Adult category for her critically acclaimed, award-winning Graffiti Moon.

Our biggest congrats go out to Cath who has been part of the Booked Out family since 2005 and one of our most popular writers-in-residence for secondary schools in Melbourne and across Australia.

Watch a video of Cath talking about her work in schools.

The Australian Book Industry Awards shortlist have been announced and – no surprise, really – there are quite a few friendly names on the press release. Extra special excitement is reserved for Mr Benjamin Law, a relatively new addition to the Booked Out family (but we’ve loved his writing for oh, like ages). He’s shortlisted in THREE categories, including the gold logie of the awards, Book of the Year 2011.

• Benjamin Law – The Family Law

Shortlisted for Biography of the Year, Newcomer of the Year (debut writer) and Book of the Year

• Jane Godwin & Anna Walker – All Through the Year

Shortlisted for Book of the Year for Younger Children

• Freya Blackwood – Maudie and Bear

Shortlisted for Book of the Year for Younger Children

• Cath Crowley – Graffiti Moon

Shortlisted for Book of the Year for Older Children

• Morris Gleitzman – Now

Shortlisted for Book of the Year for Older Children

• Jon Bauer – Rocks in the Belly

Shortlisted for Literary Fiction Book of the Year

• Anna Krien – Into the Woods: The Battle for Tasmania’s Forests

Shortlisted for Newcomer of the Year (debut writer)

The winners will be announced on July 25.

P.S. Prime Minister’s Literary Awards announced later today…

FICTION

• Rosalie Ham – There Should be More Dancing

Margery Blandon has led a life of principles. Now she finds herself sitting on the 43rd floor of the Tropic Hotel, preparing to throw herself to her death. There Should be More Dancing is a story of Margery’s reckonings on loyalty, grief and love.

YOUNG ADULT FICTION

• Michael Gerard Bauer – Ishmael and the Hoops of Steel

Ishmael, Razz and the gang take on their final two years of high school.

• Karen Healey – The Shattering

Keri, Janna and Sione have two things in common: they each have an older brother who committed suicide, and they each have a connection with Summerton. As the three teenagers delve deeper into the mystery they uncover secrets that will shatter everything they thought they knew.

• Sue Saliba – Alaska

When Mia follows her sister halfway across the world to Alaska, she discovers that love can be found in the most unexpected and beautiful of places. But can Mia find the courage to follow her heart in Alaska? And what if the one you love is not all that you wish them to be?

JUNIOR FICTION

New titles in the Our Australian Girl series:

• Sofie Laguna – Grace and Glory
• Sherryl Clark – Rose’s Challenge
• Gabrielle Wang – Poppy and the Thief

We know, we know “the book is always better than the movie”. Still, you cannot deny the excitement of learning that a much-loved novel is about to be given a visual interpretation. With actors – no longer a description but a real face to clap eyes on!

Max Barry is no stranger to the world of book to film adaptation. All of his novels are under development for film. Famously, his cult favouriteJennifer Government has been optioned by George Clooney’s production company and Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, The Wrestler) has signed on to direct his latest, Machine Man which hasn’t even been published yet as a hard copy book! But that’s not even what’s getting our adrenaline going.

The film adaptation of Syrup is currently being filmed in New York. And in order to allow his loyal readers to virtually tag along, Max has beenblogging and tweeting from the big apple about his experience of being “on set”. Fortunately for Max so far, there’s been no artistic clashes and he’s been gushingly ecstatic about everything from the actors to the lighting.

There’s also some pretty cool paparazzi shots here and here and if you’re still not satisfied, you can read about the development of Machine Man here.

Max’s latest novel, Machine Man comes out August 9.

Booked Out was proud to see so many of our talented speakers and friends on the shortlist for the WA Premier’s Book Awards when they were announced this week.

Congratulations to the following Booked Outers and to all the speakers who were short-listed this year. It is a tough competition, with a dramatic increase in the number of entrants this year from 2010. Winners will be announced in September.

• Scot Gardner, Happy as Larry (Young Adults)
• Leanne Hall This is Shyness (Young Adults)
• Anna Krien, Into the Woods (Non Fiction)
• Fiona McGregor “Indelible Ink” (Fiction)
• Isobelle Carmody “The Red Wind” (Children’s Books)