Disclaimer: I’m sorry, I just can’t help but write about a certain wizarding franchise that is once again taking the world by storm this weekend. I wasn’t planning to. Then I read a certain piece on Slate.com that made me laugh so much, soup almost came out of my nose. It also got me thinking.   […]Read more "The Final Installment"

Fish You Were Here, the fourth volume of Guinea PIG Pet Shop Private Eye, will hit book stores in September. Kirkus Reviews ran an early review in their July issue. Here’s an excerpt: “…. Venable and Yue’s Pet Shop Private Eye graphic series continues to charm. Yue’s adorable pet-shop fur (and scale) people are just […]Read more "Long May Sasspants Detect!"

I invited our summer editorial intern, Ben Isenstein, to write a blog entry for this week’s TFCB posting. Ben is a sophomore at Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri. He is majoring in comparative literature and is minoring in marketing. Dear those of you who are tech savvy enough to read this, As the world […]Read more "A Protest for Paper"

I’m done defending YA. I’m done with the WSJ piece and everything that comes after it (and be assured, there will be much more). Forces of evil, I hold up my lightsaber. Swing away. And, of course, this is not because I think YA is indefensible. Far from it. I’m done defending because I don’t […]Read more "You Can’t Win, Darth"

According to School Library Journal, if you love Scholastic’s Goosebumps graphic novel series, you’ll love I Love Him To Pieces Alana Joli Abbott reviewed the book for their July issue. From her review: “This is a strong beginning to a series of short teen romances that will later feature a vampire, faerie, and “monster” boyfriend. […]Read more "R.L. Stine’s Book Covers"

I was so excited to learn that a former Lerner editorial colleague, Joan Freese (left), won an Emmy this June for producing the web component of the  PBS science program SciGirls. The program won the category of “New Approaches” for its creative and unique way of merging television and the web. SciGirls is a production […]Read more "An Emmy for Dr. Freeze!"

A lot of people assume that editing short books takes less time than editing long books. They think YA edits must be easier than adult edits, and that K–2 edits are less taxing than YAs. I can certainly see why someone might think this. After all, fewer words per page = fewer words to edit, […]Read more "Deceptively Simple"

My walk from the Herald Square subway stop to The Empire State Building (the headquarters of Graphic Universe) takes me through one of the most tourist-saturated areas in New York City. The block is lined with high-end clothing stores. Imagine my surprise to see a mannequin dressed in this shirt, on display in such a […]Read more "Punk Rock on 34th Street"