"Pirate Chic" from flux

[Cover of The Dust of 100 Dogs, image from flux; catalog cover from flux via ShelfTalker]

One of my favorite blog reads is Alison Morris' ShelfTalker at publishersweekly.com. Alison is the children's book buyer at Wellesley Booksmith and has an eclectic mix of posts on all things children's books---including design! While I of course love reading the books, I can't get past my background as a graphic designer and picture editor and am constantly evaluating the cover art.

She posted a really fabulous catalog cover from flux, a new imprint for teens. It is a variation on the cover of the book The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King, and is what Alison describes as "pirate chic." I love the mix of visuals---that silhouette is so cliche in "chick-lit" but here it gets an unexpected twist (since it's a book about pirates) by being paired with a skull and a model ship. I like how simple yet bold the graphics are, and very fashionable. Our eyes aren't bombarded by too many elements, and I'm a big fan of books where there isn't a photograph of the main character so that the reader doesn't have an image of her right off the bat.

Check out flux here and Alison Morris' blog here.

What Claudia Wore

[Images from What Claudia Wore (photos originally from Nylon Magazine)]

I used to adore the Babysitter's Club. I probably read a good portion of all of the Ann M. Martin books up until I grew out of them around junior high. I would get really excited about any new BSC books they would have at the bookstore, and then I would promptly go home and read it in one night with a flashlight under the covers.*
Claudia Kishi was my FAVORITE character, and I somehow stumbled onto this blog through my random searching: What Claudia Wore. It's hilarious. One of my favorite posts is the post on June 27th (sorry, no direct link,) which updates the look of the BSC characters as hipsters using photos from Nylon. Ha!

I love it. Bookmark it. It's a good read, almost as good as the BSC. ;)

*I would not recommend doing this. I'm close to being legally blind.

I Hope You Know That This Will Go Down on Your Permanent Record

[Image from featherproof books]

*This post to be read with the Violent Femmes playing in your head.*

Chicago indie-publisher featherproof has a neat little section where you can download and print your own free mini-books. Who needs a printing press when I have a trusty HP Laserjet and a stapler?
This Will Go Down on Your Permanent Record, by Susannah Felts, caught my attention because of its awesome title, way cool cover--what can I say, I'm a shallow pig when it comes to book covers--and storyline surrounding a young photographer. Chapter 3 of TWGDOYPR is available as a mini-book, so I'll be printing and stapling and reading in no time.

Thanks to the Ya Ya Yas for reviewing the book and leading me to featherproof!

The L.A. Times Festival of Books: recap

I survived the sweltering heat at the L.A. Times Festival of Books and ended up gulping down lots of water during the day...and at one point (when I was desperate,) one gigantic cup of lemonade in under 5 minutes. But besides the heat, I had a fantastic time! There were so many great vendors there and it seemed like every other booth had a book signing. I first stopped by the Target Children's Stage (since I'm a big kid myself) and listened to two story times. The first was the lovely Katharine Holabird, the author of Angelina Ballerina. She was joined on stage by Angelina Ballerina, which I must say was a pretty cute costume considering how freaked out I usually am by people in costumes. Maybe it was because it was far away on stage.
The second reading was by the very funny Mo Willems, who read three of his books in the most animated story time I have ever seen. I'm not sure what it is about yelling a lot and jumping around that is so funny. But it is. And Mo did a lot of it to the tune of his clever books!
After maneuvering my way through the swarms of strollers, I made it to a panel about food culture which was moderated by Barry Glassner. This panel not only made me really hungry, but it also introduced a lot of issues in food culture that I vaguely knew about but had never really thought about in depth (ie: the slow food movement and "food porn".) The panel included Jennifer 8. Lee, Fred Kaufman, and Raj Patel. After the panel, I got Jennifer 8. Lee to sign my copy of The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, and she taped a fortune next to her signature.
It says "Trust him but still keep your eyes open" and then there are happy faces flanking it. Hilarious--especially the happy faces.

I also got to meet Lela Lee, the Original Angry Little Asian Girl! I've been reading Angry Little Girls (formerly Angry Little Asian Girl) since high school, and I proudly wore an ALAG tee to school, the classic white baby tee with Kim flipping the world off.

I was fully planning to buy a book, and then was sad when I went fishing through my wallet only to find a couple of $1 bills and a $5--not enough for a book (why did I need that lemonade??!) But she was so sweet and took a picture with me!

[All images by Mo, with the exception of the picture of me and Lela Lee, which was taken by Lela Lee's friend, and the "A is for Angry" art print by Lela Lee which is from Angry Little Girls. ]

I finished the day by meeting the talented and lovely Paula Yoo, author of Good Enough! I gobbled up the book in a couple of days and was so happy to meet her in person. It also led me to the Book Soup booth, where I snagged an autographed copy of Marjane Satrapi's Embroideries.

*Whew* I'm tired even recapping the day! If you're in my neck of the woods next year, come with me to next year's book festival! This time I'll bring sunscreen.