Announcements

UTAH CHILDREN'S WRITERS AND ILLUSTRATORS

Announcement List—March 5, 2008

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CONGRATULATIONS!

To Ann Dee Ellis, whose book THIS IS WHAT I DID received the AML Award for Best Young Adult Novel.

To Mette Ivie Harrison, whose book THE PRINCESS AND THE HOUND received Honorable Mention for the Best Young Adult Novel, was chosen by Texas Women's University as one of the top 100 Librarian Choices in 2007 and was nominated for ALA's Best Books for Young Adults.

To Shannon Hale, whose book BOOK OF A THOUSAND DAYS received the Cybils Award for Best YA Speculative Fiction and is a Chicago Public Library Best of the Best book.

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COMING SOON

from Kristyn Crow, COOL DADDY RAT, illustrated by Mike Lester and published by G.P. Putnam's Sons) will be released March 27, 2008.

From Kristyn Crow, BEDTIME AT THE SWAMP (illustrated by Macky Pamintuan and published by HarperCollins) will be released July 22, 2008.

from James Dashner, THE JOURNAL OF CURIOUS LETTERS by Shadow Mountain.

from Jessica Day George, SUN AND MOON, ICE AND SNOW (January, Bloomsbury.)

from Jessica Day George, DRAGON FLIGHT (April, Bloomsbury)

from Sharlee Glenn, JUST WHAT MAMA NEEDS, April 2008, by Harcourt.

from Nathan Hale, BALLOONS ON THE MOON, by Walker, April 2008.

from Shannon Hale and Dean Hale, RAPUNZEL'S REVENGE, illustrated by Nathan Hale, September 2008.

from Kimberley Heuston, BOOK OF JUDE, March 28 with Front Street.

from Brandon Mull, GRIP OF THE SHADOW PLAGUE (Book 3 of the FABLEHAVEN series), by Shadow Mountain, April 21.

from Kim Williams-Justesen, sequel to MY BROTHER, THE DOG, 2008

from Gloria Skurzynski, SWEAT AND BLOOD: A HISTORY OF AMERICAN LABOR UNIONS.

2009

from Kristyn Crow, THE MIDDLE CHILD BLUES, Fall 2009.

from Ann Dee Ellis, EVERYTHING IS FINE, Little, Brown.

from Danna Smith, MY DADDY'S A GRIZZLY BEAR, Illustrated by Lynn Munsinger, Hyperion, Spring 2009

from Mette Ivie Harrison, THE PRINCESS AND THE BEAR, sequel to THE PRINCESS AND THE HOUND, HarperEos, Fall 2009.

from Anne Bowen, I KNOW AN OLD TEACHER, Illustrated by Stephen Gammell, (Carolrhoda Books, Fall, 2009)

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APPEARANCES AND EVENTS

March 7, 2008—Rick Walton will be visiting North Summit Elementary.

March 10-12, 2008—Jessica Day George will be doing book club visits.

March 12, 2008—Sherry Meidell will be presenting at Willow Springs Elementary.

March 13, 2008—Rick Walton will be doing an evening presentation at Northlake Elementary in Tooele.

March 20 and 21, 2008—Sharlee Glenn will be presenting at the UVSC Forum on Children and Literature. Sherry Meidell will also be presenting on how illustrating helped her to connect to people in Kenya.

March 22, 2008—Jessica Day George will be presenting (and receiving) a Whitney Award.

March 24, 2008—Wendy Tollier will be doing an event at Tattered Cover in Highlands Ranch (just south of Denver proper) at 7 p.m.

April 3, 2008—Sharlee Glenn will be doing an assembly at Quail Hollow Elementary

April 11, 2008—Sharlee Gleen will be doing a full-day school visit at Myton Elementary.

April 12-13, 2008—Sherry Meidell will be talking about illustrating to Davis County ninth graders at the David County Fairgrounds.

April 17—Sharlee Glenn will be doing a Literacy Night at Quail Hollow Elementary.

April 25, 2008—Brandon Mull will be doing a launch of Book 3 of FABLEHAVEN at Cottonwood High auditorium (admission free).

April 26, 2008—Sharlee Glenn will be signing books at the Jordan Landing Barnes and Noble.

May 10, 2008—Authorapalooza at Orem Barnes and Noble.

May 15, 2008—Rick Walton will be visiting Grandview Elementary in Provo.

May 17, 2008—Provo Children's Book Festival.

May 21—Sharlee Glenn will be presenting at the Young Authors' Celebration in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

February 4-7, 2009—Rick Walton will be speaking at the Colorado Conference on Literacy, and visiting schools in Colorado.


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SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES

Randall Wright is now available for storytelling for birthday parties, church socials, business meetings, school events, etc. He tells original stories, folk tales, ghost stories, etc. For information and prices email him at randall.w.wright@comcast.net.

Sara Zarr is now the ALAN State Representative for the State of Utah. ALAN is the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents, an affinity group of NCTE (National Council for Teachers of English), and is considered the leading society dedicated to the study of Young Adult Literature. Sara wants you to know that for a mere $20, you can be a member! With your membership, you become a subscriber to the gorgeous print journal The ALAN Review, published three times a year. The journal contains articles on YA literature and its teaching, interviews with authors,
reports on publishing trends, current research on YA literature, a section of reviews of new books, and ALAN membership news. For more information about ALAN, visit http://www.alan-ya.org. To download a
membership form, go to http://alan-ya.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=65&Itemid=31. You can contact Sara Zarr at sara@sarazarr.com if you have any questions.

BRING AN AUTHOR OR ILLUSTRATOR TO YOUR SCHOOL

When kids get to meet and learn from real authors they get excited about reading and writing. It's a great way to bring books to life. For information on presentations, fees, and contacts, go to www.ucwi.org/visit.htm, or check out the author/illustrator websites below. If you've never held an author visit and don't know what to do, go to www.rickwalton.com/utahauth/bringing.htm for information, guidelines, and advice.

A DEAL FOR SPECIAL CAUSES

If you want to get books into the hands of kids who need them--e.g., kids in shelters, kids in hospitals, kids in foreign countries, kids in summer reading programs--we can get you select novels, picture books and joke books at rock bottom prices. You can get hardcover books at prices lower than a cheap paperback. Contact Rick at rick@rickwalton.com or Carol at carolthewriter@yahoo.com for more information.

GET BOOKS INTO THE HANDS OF YOUR STUDENTS

Rick Walton has a supply of deeply discounted books. If you buy one copy for each of the students in your school, Rick will do a day long visit at your school for free.

For more information see www.rickwalton.com/aboutric/deal.htm.

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UTAH AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR WEBSITES

Matthew Armstrong -- www.matthewart.com  
Ken Baker -- www.bravemonster.com 
Anne Bowen -- www.annebowenbooks.com 
Ann Edwards Cannon -- www.aecannon.com 

Ann Dee Knight Ellis – www.anndeeellis.com 
Chris Crowe -- www.chriscrowe.com 
Alane Ferguson -- www.alaneferguson.com 
Guy Francis -- www.guyfrancis.com 
Sharlee Glenn -- www.sharleeglenn.com 
Shannon Hale -- www.shannonhale.com 
Mette Ivie Harrison -- www.metteivieharrison.com 
Kim Williams Justesen -- http://hometown.aol.com/kimorchid/myhomepage/profile.html 
Sherry Meidell -- www.sherrymeidell.com 
Robert Neubecker -- www.neubecker.com 
Michael Nordenstrom -- www.riversoffire.com 
Julie Olson -- www.jujubeeillustrations.com 
Gloria Skurzynski -- http://gloriabooks.com 
Dana Kessimakis Smith -- www.danasmithbooks.com 
Will Terry -- www.willterry.com 
Laura Torres-- www.lauratorres.com   
Michael O. Tunnell-- www.michaelotunnell.com  
Rick Walton -- www.rickwalton.com 
Kevin Wasden -- www.kevinwasden.com 
Hala Wittwer-- www.artbyhala.com  
Carol Lynch Williams -- www.carolinutah.com 
Randall Wright -- www.booksbywright.com 

Sara Zarr and Ann Dee Knight Ellis are both a part of the Class of 2K7--a group of about 40 debut novelists across the country who are all publishing in 2007. They have an ezine for the group that will come out quarterly for anyone who is interested. There will also be a pamphlet, a movie (a short short movie), and some other pub stuff. The official website has more details. www.classof2k7.com. It's turning into a very cool project! Check it out!


UTAH WRITER AND LITERATURE ORGANIZATIONS WEBSITES

BYU Children's Book Review -- http://cbpr.lib.byu.edu  
Children's Lit. Assoc. of Utah (Beehive Book Awards)-- www.clau.org  
League of Utah Writers -- www.luwrite.com 
UCTE/LA -- http://community.weber.edu/uctela 
UT Council/International Reading Assoc. -- www.utahreading.org 
Utah Children's Writers and Illustrators -- www.ucwi.org 

If you have a Utah organization related to children's literature, please send it to us and we'll add it to the list.


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Are you, or do you know an author or illustrator of books for young readers? Are you sponsoring a children's literature related event? Is there something else related to this list that we should announce? Send announcements to rick@rickwalton.com.

Are you interested in writing for kids? If so, you should join the Utah Children's Writers listserv. Get involved with other writers in discussions about writing, reading, and marketing literature for kids. To join, send a blank e-mail to utahchildrenswriters- subscribe@yahoogroups.com.