Member News—January 2022

Member News is a monthly feature on the EasternPennPoints blog. We want to celebrate our Eastern PA SCBWI members’ good news and help spread the word far and wide. Send us your children’s book–related news—book deals, releases, awards, author or illustrator events (signings, launch parties, appearances), etc. If you’d like your news to be included in next month’s column, please email Laura Parnum at epa-ra2@scbwi.org before February 20, or fill out our “Good News Survey.”

Here’s some exciting news from our members this month:

Book Release

Maxine’s Critters Get the Vaccine Jitters by Jan Zauzmer

Author Jan Zauzmer’s newest picture book, Maxine’s Critters Get the Vaccine Jitters (illustrated by Corlette Douglas, and published by The Experiment), will be released on February 1. Just in time for the kids’ Covid vaccine, this cheerful and soothing story about spunky Maxine and her adorable stuffies shows that there’s no need to be grouchy about this little ouchy!

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Agent Signing

Author Annette Whipple recently signed with literary agent Stacey Kondla at The Rights Factory. We wish you a successful partnership!

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Deal Announcements

Laura Parnum’s middle grade novel, Peril at Price Manor, has been acquired by Sarah Homer at Harper Children’s in a two-book deal. The novel tells the story of a young girl who is determined to play the damsel in distress in a future horror film by her favorite director, but when she visits his home, she finds his household under attack by a mysterious creature. With the help of the director’s uniquely resourceful twins, she must embrace her inner heroine. Publication is scheduled for summer 2023.

Author Diana Rodriquez Wallach just announced the acquisition of her next novel, Hatchet Girls, a YA Latinx horror in which a teenager living in Fall River, Massachusetts, home to New England’s infamous Bridgewater Triangle, must prove her brother innocent in the murder of his girlfriend’s parents with an ax—a mystery that proves to be all too close to the Lizzie Borden murders of 100 years before. The book was acquired by Alison Romig at Delacorte and is scheduled for publication in fall 2023.

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Cover Reveal and Publication Announcement

The Mouse Who Played Football, illustrated by Tom Uleau

Illustrator Tom Uleau recently announced his collaboration with Temple University Press on the upcoming picture book The Mouse Who Played Football, which was written by Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Famer Brian Westbrook and TV personality Lesley Van Arsdall. The Mouse Who Played Football is about a mouse named Brian who is looked down upon because of his size. He proves doubters wrong at each stage of his life, mirroring the experiences of Westbrook, former Eagles running back from 2002 to 2010. The book will be released in July 2022, and half of the profits will go to nonprofits dedicated to helping children.

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Award Announcement

A Bird Will Soar by Alison Green Myers

The American Library Association recently announced in its 2022 ALA Youth Media Awards that Alison Green Myers was awarded the Schneider Family Book Award for Best Middle Grade Book for her debut novel, A Bird Will Soar (Dutton Books for Young Readers, October 2021). The Schneider Family Book Award is for creators of books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience. The ALA Youth Media Awards has become known as the premiere event for the recognition of books and media for children and young adults.

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If you have good news to share, please send it to epa-ra2@scbwi.org to be included in next month’s Member News column or fill out our “Good News Survey.”