BEA 2015: Unveiling Kids' Reads for Summer and Fall 2015

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This past week, I spent three tantalizing days walking the aisles of New York City's Javits Center at BEA - Book Expo of America's 2015 Convention.

This year BEA ran its convention from Wednesday through Friday, making way for BookCon which was open to the public over the weekend.

BEA had 600+ authors autographing over three very packed days. They had Book and Author Breakfasts and a BEA Bloggers Conference packed with education, extreme networking and more. This year,  Chinese publishers were featured exhibitors as they joined 996 other exhibitors. There were free "ARCs" (Advanced Reader Copies) of books to be published later this year, along with some great totes and fun swag.

I focused on Kids' books and graphic novels, and through I'd share some news about some awesome looking reads coming out later this year for kids, young adults and older.

Unveiling some exciting graphic novels featured at BEA:

• Hilo: The Boy Who Crashed to Earth by Judd Winick (to be released in September - for grades 3+)  is about Hilo, D;J. and Gina.  Hilo doesn't know where he came from or what he's doing on Earth but it seems he isn't the only "visitor." Together, Hilo, D.J., and Gina unlock the secrets of Hilo's past and as he tries to survive his first day of school and learns why going to school in only one's underwear is a bad idea.
• Little Robot by Ben Hatke - (to be released in September- for grades 2+) is the story of a girl who happens upon a box, opens it, and finds a 'baby?' robot. She helps him with is first steps, and like a baby duckling, the robot appears to bond to her.  There are, however, forces that want to separate this team.  This is their story.
• Space Dumplins by Craig Thompson (to be released in September) is fun graphic novels for young readers about a girl on a mission to save her dad.
  
• Sunny Side Up by Jennifer Holm and Matthew Holm (to be released in August). This is a WONDERFUL, empowering graphic memoir with an important message and a must read for middle school readers.
• The Golden Compass:The Graphic Novel Volume 1 by Philip Pullman, Adapted and illustrated by Stephane Melchior-Durand and Clement Oubrerie (to be released in September)

For Adults - I saw a preview of Trashed (to be released November, 2015) a graphic novel by Derf Backderf that looked awesome.  It is the story of trash collectors (Derf used to work as a sanitation engineer) and has plenty of snark, scoops of what it's really like out there, and some sobering facts about how we live and deal with waste. 


Unveiling some exciting UNgraphic novels (or regular novels for tweens/teens and YA):

• Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar (to be released in August) is a middle-grade novel that blends elements of mystery, suspense, and school-day life as a small group of students whose trip into the woods leads to a surprise encounter with 'fuzzy mud'.  This substance poses health risks to the kids and their community as Sachar's cautionary tale addressing our insatiable hunger for energy resources unfolds.
• It Came From Ohio! My Life as a Writer by R.L. Stine as told to Joe Arthur and Susan Lurie.  As R.L. Stine notes in the front, "Dear Readers: I had so much fun with this book, it's FRIGHTENING! I hope you enjoy y life as much as I have! Scary Best Wishes, RL Stine." That pretty much says it all by the author of Goosebumbs series.
• The Marvels by Brian Selznick (to be released September 15, 2015 grade 5+) is the wonderful story told with breathtaking illustrations and prose that covers three generations of sailors, of theatre and a family mystery that is finally revealed. The Marvels promised to follow in the footsteps of The Invention of Hugo Cabret  and  Wonderstruck with promises of much more!
•  Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff  (to be released October 20, 2015) is an incredible science fiction 599 page romp that is the first in a series of three.  I literally couldn't put this down (and am not an avid sci-fi can).  The dialogue is crisp and snarky, the characters are wonderfully developed and the authors play with some incredible graphic design to help tell their story.  

 

That's it for now, I have other gems (The Finisher by David Baldacci, I am Pricess X by Cherie Priest; The Last Kids on Earth by Max Brallier; The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra by Vaseem Khan, to name a few) but haven't vetted them yet.  Maybe for "V" week at ABCWednesdays, I'll have a few more wonderful books to unveil.

As always, I thank you for your visit.

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