Hugs and Hurrahs

Happy November, everyone! 

 Welcome to this quarter's Hugs and Hurrahs!

Although Katherine Higgs-Couthard lives in Michigan, she works at Saint Mary's College in Indiana and her YA novel, Junkyard Dogs, made the shortlist for the Indiana Author Awards. Junkyard Dogs explores teen homelessness and poverty and is inspired by Kat's experiences growing up in poverty and also by South Bend’s 2006 Manhole Murders, which made national news.

We're so happy for you, Kat!

Kristin Bartley Lenz's young adult flash fiction, Metamorphosis, was published in a YA anthology, Just YA: Short Poems, Essays, & Fiction for Grades 7-12. The anthology is part of an open access program at Oklahoma State University and includes a teacher guide. Learn more at https://open.library.okstate.edu/justya/.

Congratulations, Kristin!

Lori McElrath Eslick has a solo exhibition at the St. Cecilia Music Center's Terryberry Gallery, including paintings from Cricket Magazine, and several of her book's cover art and interior painting/illustrations. Oct. 1- Oct. 31 Terryberry Gallery, St. Cecilia Music Society's gallery

She is also honored to be in the Ezra Jack Keats Memorial Fellowship Exhibition at the Kerlan Collection of Children's Literature and Art, University of Minnesota. As a former fellow, she was invited to exhibit art, and explain how the research collection influenced her art going for future children's books. More about this at www.lib.umn.edu/clrc/  Oct. 22, 2014 - Jan. 4, 2025

What an honor, Lori!

Sarah Rockett at Tilbury House has acquired world rights to My Backyard Used to Be by debut author Lynn Baldwin about a child playing the backyard who ponders the history of the land—from the present to the prehistoric—imagining all the people and animals that played there before. Publication is planned for Fall 2025. 

That's wonderful, Lynn!

Upasna Kakroo’s nonprofit, Peerbagh, just released the first edition their BIPOC-led illustrated children's magazine, Bento. It is the only South-Asia-inspired children's print magazine in the world with contributors from US, Canada, India, Pakistan. The magazine has opened to glowing reader/parent reviews.The first issue is themed, "where the wild things are" and it talks about wildlife and conservation.

Way to go, Upasna!

Rhonda Gowler Greene is excited to announce the sale of her manuscript If You Want to See a Narwal to Little Brown which will be published in Fall 2026 and illustrated by Xin Li. Xin lives in Norway (one of the few places narwhals live!).  She was a grand prize winner for the SCBWI 2021 Winter Conference Portfolio Showcase.

Rhonda also sold her story THE TRICK-OR-TREAT TRAIN to Bloomsbury. Its planned release is Fall 2027.

Finally, she was happy to learn that Bernie’s Book Bank, a literacy organization based in Chicago, is publishing a low-cost edition of her book THIS MAGICAL, MUSICAL NIGHT (little bee books, 2021) and planning to donate 20,000 copies.

That's incredible, Rhonda!

Please join me in congratulating our talented and prolific colleagues! 

Next quarter's Hugs and Hurrahs will be in the new year. Please feel free to send your good news any time to aewhodgson@gmail.com. 

Keep writing!

~Alison Hodgson

Hugs and Hurrahs

 Welcome to the first Hugs and Hurrahs of 2024!

At the end of 2023, Jamie Bills signed with Agent Amy Nielsen from The Purcell Agency. 

Way to go, Jamie!

Lisa Wheeler is happy to report two more board-book titles in the "My First Dino" series from Carolrhoda/Lerner. My First Dino-Boarding and My First Dino-Swimming will be available in February. Both are illustrated by Barry Gott.

Congratulations times two, Lisa!

Cady and the Birchbark Box, by Ann Dallman, was named recently as a finalist in the 2023 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards (Juvenile category). 

“This was a challenging book to write as I brought together so many elements—shipwrecks on the Great Lakes, a mysterious birchbark box, the restoring of the reputation of a tribal elder and my young heroine’s struggle with many challenges universal to young people. Uniting it all is her close relationship with her grandmother,” Dallman explained.

Amazing, Ann!

Molly David's debut picture book, MY MISCHIEVOUS WHEELCHAIR, is a Firebird Book Award Winner. It won first place in the category of Children's Special Needs.

 

Yay, Molly!

Lisa Rose with new representation from Lary Rosenblatt from 22 MediaWorks, sold her picture book Stand Up!  to Row House Publishing. No illustrator has been assigned yet , but this model was presented to help sell the book Click here: https://youtu.be/qA4lZZxmwuk

That's wonderful, Lisa!

Congratulations again to all of you! Please send all your good news to Alison Hodgson at aewhodgson@gmail.com for the next Hugs and Hurrahs post.