The Lerner Blog

With summer truly upon us, and a new fashion series soon to launch in the TFCB imprint, I’ve been thinking a lot about…eyewear. The New York Times had a small piece in last Thursday’s Style section about the Oliver Goldsmith sunglasses that Audrey Hepburn wore in the 1961 film version of Truman Capote’s novella Breakfast […]Read more "It’s All about the Eyewear"

A few weeks ago, I blogged about the novelty of being able to simply add a page at will to a vaguely described “new digital offering.” I’m very excited that I can now share a little more. Last fall, we published the book Journey into the Deep: Discovering New Ocean Creatures by Rebecca L. Johnson. […]Read more "An App Is Born"

Earlier this week, I found myself remembering the events from more than 60 years ago in northern France. I refer to, of course, D-Day. What springs to my mind is a long-ago coach (read: bus) adventure with a chum while I was living in England. Judy had received two free ferry and coach tickets to […]Read more "Remembering D-Day"

I like this. Not entirely sure why. Maybe it’s because of a certain “aesthetic coarseness” on my part. http://www.guardian.co.uk/video/embedRead more "“Children, believe it or not, are the first line of defense for every community.”"

Did you miss the May issue of School Library Journal? Don’t worry, here’s a recap of the Graphic Universe titles that were profiled. The Ferret’s a Footby Colleen AF Venable, illustrated by Stephanie Yue This makes an amiable addition to the series. Guinea pig detective Sasspants and his manic hamster assistant, Hamisher, are among the […]Read more "More Scooby Doo Than Nancy Drew"

  Cities around the country are preparing for their annual Gay Pride festivals this month. I was a teen when my hometown—Madison, Wisconsin—had its first gay pride parade. It’s amazing to have seen the shift, in my own lifetime, from the parade as a controversial, even risky enterprise to just another summer festival. Nonetheless, the […]Read more "Coming Out"

Once upon a time, Andrew Karre and I took a fiction writing class together. From time to time, someone in the class would criticize part of a classmate’s story for containing events or details that were unbelievable. Inevitably, when the writer had a chance to respond to the critique, he or she would say, “But […]Read more "“But It Really Happened!”"

You know how you hear about baseball players who eat scrambled eggs for good luck before games or always wear red socks when they’re pitching? Well, I’m sort of the same way with editing. Now, I’m not quite as extreme as Mark Fidrych of the Tigers, who talked to baseballs during games and insisted a […]Read more "Very Superstitious"

<img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Iv0MKTW5jJs/Tee69o_4GGI/AAAAAAAAAuc/pX21PgbpnXs/video68a735eecdd3%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-style: none" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('6ef4b090-dd69-4bb5-9da3-c90aedb943b3'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = " http://www.youtube.com/v/Sbqv3MwwVd8&hl=en“;” alt=””> There was a flurry of discussion on #yalitchat last week about the indispensability (or not) of romance in YA. I think this was the match that sparked the tinder: @cafecliche: Do you think YA without a central romance can sell? I […]Read more "“Skip to the End.”"