New York, NY (April 9, 2008)–HarperCollins Publishers announced today that it has appointed Alessandra Balzer and Donna Bray to the newly created position of Co-Publishers of the new imprint Balzer & Bray. They will join HarperCollins on May 5, 2008, reporting to Kate Morgan Jackson, Senior Vice President and Associate Publisher of HarperCollins Children’s Books.

“We are so pleased and proud that Alessandra and Donna are coming to HarperCollins,”

Continue Reading Alessandra Balzer and Donna Bray to Launch New Imprint at HarperCollins »

The Lacapa Spirit Prize is proud to announce its 2008 winner. Named for Michael Lacapa, children’s book illustrator and writer who died in 2005, the award honors the legacy of his artistic vision and talent for storytelling. This prize acknowledges great books for children that best embody the spirit of the peoples, culture and natural landscape of the Southwest.

Continue Reading Jóhonaa’éí: Bringer of Dawn Receives Lacapa Spirit Prize for Southwest Children’s Literature »

Donald R. Gallo on Donald R. Gallo: “I have played a variety of roles in the education and book business during the past 47 years, each role overlapping and reinforcing the other. I have been especially fortunate.

“My professional life began as a junior high school English teacher in Connecticut and expanded into college teaching after I earned a PhD at Syracuse University in 1968.

Continue Reading Author Feature: Donald R. Gallo on Owning It: Stories About Teens with Disabilities »

Carla Killough McClafferty, award-winning author of nonfiction middle grade books, is not one of those people who always knew they wanted to be a writer. She backed into the field from a background in science. She has two books out with Farrar, Straus and Giroux, The Head Bone’s Connected to the Neck Bone: The Weird,

Continue Reading Author Interview: Carla Killough McClafferty on Something Out of Nothing: Marie Curie and Radium »

“Operation TBD” puts 10,000 books into North America’s top pediatric hospitals in celebration of Support Teen Literature Day on April 17

April 14, 2008 (Seattle, Wash.) – Teen patients in pediatric hospitals across the United States and Canada will receive 10,000 young adult novels, audio books, and graphic novels Thursday as readergirlz and the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) celebrate the second annual Support Teen Lit Day on April 17.

Continue Reading Record Numbers of YA Books Will Be Donated to Teen Patients As Part of Readergirlz, YALSA Literacy Program »

Deborah Lynn Jacobs is the author of three books for young people. Visit Deborah at MySpace, and read her LJ!

The Same Difference (Royal Fireworks Press, 2000) is about a girl with Asperger’s Syndrome, and her struggle for identity and self-acceptance.

Powers (Roaring Brook,

Continue Reading Author Interview: Deborah Lynn Jacobs on Choices »

“The School Librarian”
by J. Patrick Lewis

A sign hangs on her door,

BOOKLYN, NEW YORK
WE OPEN UP A MIND
YOU’LL NEVER CLOSE!

When you walk in, the whole library knows—

A welcome bell hums like a tuning fork.

She’ll tell you what to read and what to skip.

Continue Reading “The School Librarian” by J. Patrick Lewis »

Interview: D. Anne Love on Defying the Diva from Little Willow at Slayground. Here’s a sneak peek [on how publishing has changed in the past decade]: “It has become more competitive, but also more open to edgier and more challenging themes. There was a time when Robert Cormier‘s The Chocolate War and Katherine Patterson‘s Jacob Have I Loved were considered “out there.”

Continue Reading Cynsational News & Links »

Sheila Barry on Sheila Barry:

The Personal

“I am 44 years old, and I live in Toronto with my husband, our daughter, our cat, and some fish.”

The Professional

“I have worked in publishing for sixteen years. I have been editor-in-chief at Kids Can Press for almost five years,

Continue Reading Editor Interview: Sheila Barry on Kids Can Press »

On March 29, I had the honor of visiting with librarian Marian McTrusty and her YA book club at the Cedar Park (TX) Public Library.

The full group of 12 teens, plus an enthusiastic mom, Marian, and I discussed Rain Is Not My Indian Name (HarperCollins, 2001)(Listening Library, 2001). Everyone had read the book ahead of time,

Continue Reading In Memoriam: Marian McTrusty of Cedar Park Public Library »