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Gotham's Craig Robinson Dominates the Airwaves Promoting A Game of Character
The media blitz for Craig Robinson's new Gotham book, A Game of Character, began in full force this week, kicking off with Craig's exclusive interview with Matt Lauer on "The Today Show." Craig told Matt that his book is really a love letter to his parents, whose lessons on character resonates in a boardroom, on a basketball court, and at the dinner table. Tuesday evening, Craig appeared on "Larry King", where he tells the story of his now famous pick-up game with Barack Obama. On CNN's "American Morning," Craig shot some hoops with reporter Kiran Chetry, and even taught her one tip that resulted in the perfect shot. In a hilarious segment on Wednesday night, Craig appeared on "The Colbert Report", where, in typical Colbert fashion, he got grilled for leaving a career on Wall Street "to go teach children." Time.com has a Q&A with Craig that is mentioned on the homepage of the website, and on newsstands now there is an exclusive excerpt from the book in the current issue of People magazine. He was also interviewed by Mike Francesca on WFAN 66 AM Sports Radio, which you can listen to here.
Expect lots more to come for A Game of Character, including interviews on "Weekend Today," CNN's "Campbell Brown," "Charlie Rose," "The View," "Extra," "Jimmy Kimmel," ESPN's "Jim Rome is Burning," and much more.
Watch our video with Craig Robinson.
Penguin Group and Pearson Foundation Announce the Launch of We Give Books 
This week marked the launch of a new digital initiative dedicated to literacy from Penguin Group and the Pearson Foundation: www.wegivebooks.org.
The announcement was made at a formal press conference in Washington, DC, where Pearson Foundation President Mark Nieker, Penguin Young Readers Associate Publisher Jen Haller, Putnam author Dave Barry, and educational expert Dr. Marvin Berkowitz spoke about the importance of literacy and philanthropy. Dave Barry gave a short, humorous address about the Rock Bottom Remainders Tour and the importance of We Give Books, and both Amy Tan and Ridley Pearson, members of the Rock Bottom Remainders, were also there. The conference was well attended by local print and radio media, as well as a number of "mommy bloggers," and the launch press coverage has been very positive.
We Give Books enables anyone with access to the internet to put books in the hands of children who don't have them, simply by reading online. The free website gives parents, caregivers, and educators immediate access to a growing digital library of children's books from Penguin Group (including DK titles). For each book read online at www.wegivebooks.org, the Pearson Foundation-working together with a growing list of great non-profit organizations-will donate a brand new hardcover or paperback book to a child in need.
This U.S. launch has been timed to coincide with a four-city tour by the Rock Bottom Remainders, featuring authors Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson, Amy Tan, Scott Turow, and Roy Blount, Jr., who will be performing benefit concerts on behalf of We Give Books this week. Later this summer, there will be a similar formal rollout in the UK.
Click here to see photos from the press conference.
David Shanks to Headline CEO Panel to Kick Off Book Expo America on May 25th
BEA has revealed the details about the highly-anticipated CEO Panel that will launch this year's national Book Expo in New York City on the morning of May 25th. It will feature David Shanks, ICM agent Esther Newberg, Ingram CEO Skip Pritchard, American Booksellers Association CEO Oren Teicher; Workman Group Publisher Bob Miller, and incoming Authors Guild president Scott Turow, as well as FSG President Jonathan Galassi, who will moderate the discussion of "the value of a book." The event is open to all BEA attendees with badges. Approximate attendance at the convention is usually 25,000 people, and attendance is expected to be up by about 10 percent this year.
Click here to read the Publishers Weekly story on the panel.
The Help Wins a 2010 Indies Choice Award and Two PGI Titles are Inducted to The Picture Book Hall of Fame
The American Booksellers Association announced the winners of the 2010 Indies Choice Book Awards and The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Amy Einhorn/Putnam) won for Adult Debut.
In addition, ABA members also inducted three of their all-time favorites into the Indies Choice Book Awards Picture Book Hall of Fame including two PGI Titles: Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans (Viking Children's Books); and The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson (Viking Children's Books).
The awards reflect the spirit of independent bookstores nationwide and the IndieBoun d movement. This year's winners were chosen by the owners and staff at ABA member stores nationwide during more than four weeks of voting.
All of the Indies Choice Book Award winners and Honor Award recipients are being invited to the Celebration of Bookselling Lunch on Wednesday, May 26th, at BEA, which is being held in New York at the Javits Convention Center.
Read an excerpt from The Help, view the reading group guide, and listen to our podcast with Kathryn Stockett.
Henry Winkler Tours for Final Installment of his New York Times Bestselling Children's Series
Henry Winker, the actor, producer, director and New York Times bestselling children's book author, will embark on his last national tour to promote Hank Zipzer #17: A Brand-New Me! (Grosset & Dunlap), the final installment in the hysterical kid's series, Hank Zipzer: The World's Greatest Underachiever. The series is loosely based on Henry's early life growing up with undiagnosed dyslexia. Winkler will kick off the tour with appearances on the "Today Show," "Live with Regis and Kelly" and "The Joy Behar Show," as well as a nightcap on "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson." The books are very close to Henry Winkler's heart, since as a child with dyslexia, he always felt like a classic underachiever. Looking back he is proud to say, "At one time it was so hard for me to read a book. It is so monumental for me to be able to write a book. I want kids to be able to identify, laugh, and realize that they're not alone no matter what their learning challenge is."
On this final journey, Winkler will head out to inspire children to find their greatness and discover other ways to achieve goals, just as he did through acting. The tour will run from April 30th to May 13th and the lucky cities include Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, Princeton NJ, Madison CT, Washington, DC and Raleigh, NC.
Watch our video with Henry Winkler.
Great Media Launch for Spoon Fed by Kim Severson
Spoon Fed: How Eight Cooks Saved My Life, the new memoir by New York Times food writer Kim Severson (Riverhead, on sale now) was published to major media attention last week, with a taping of the nationally syndicated television program "The Rachael Ray Show," which will air today (click here to view images from show). Kim also made live appearances on XM Radio's "Martha Stewart Whole Living Morning Show," WNYC "The Takeaway" and the nationally syndicated NPR show, "On Point" which airs in over 163 markets. A taped interview on WHYY's "Chef's Table," which is syndicated on 19 stations nationwide, will air in early May.
Print coverage has been just as enthusiastic, with reviews already in from Vanity Fair, Newsweek, More, CNN.com, Associated Press and the San Francisco Chronicle, to name a few. Additionally, a review is scheduled to run in the May 13th issue of the New York Times Book Review.
Kim will be making numerous appearances to promote Spoon Fed, starting with a keynote address, along with Ruth Reichl, at the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) convention this week in Portland, OR. Her other appearances include talks and signings in Seattle, the San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, and Connecticut.
Plume Author Daniel Levitin Wins 2010 Cine Special Jury Prize for PBS Film
The Music Instinct, a PBS film based on Daniel Levitin's This Is Your Brain On Music (Plume), made by the author and artist Bobby McFerrin, was awarded the 2010 Cine Special Jury Prize for Arts and Culture. The Music Instinct explores the startling connection between music and the human mind and body, the natural world and the cosmos. The film follows visionary neuroscientists and compelling musicians in search of answers to music's deep mysteries. Read more about the movie here.
The Music Instinct is also nominated for the 2010 Rockie Awards at Banff.
Listen to our podcast with Daniel Levitin.
Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth Continues to Receive National Attention
Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth (Plume) continues to receive national attention. This past Wednesday, "The Oprah Winfrey Show" included a demonstration of the iPad book reader feature, using the jacket image and content from the book.
In addition, a feature on Eckhart Tolle ran in last Sunday's USA Today. And, in this month's 10th Anniversary issue of O Magazine, Tolle writes an original piece on the beauty of today.
Watch a video from Oprah Winfrey's interview with Eckhart Tolle.
The Help is 2010 Community Read in Deschutes, Oregon
Kathryn Stockett's The Help (Amy Einhorn Books/ Putnam) was chosen as Deschutes County, Oregon's 2010 Community Read. Kathryn will travel there in early May to speak at two events the community has organized as part of its year-long programming in support of its community read pick.1,000 of the 6,000 residents of the county lined up as early as 6:00 a.m. last Monday for tickets that weren't to be distributed until 10:00 a.m., and the tickets were gone in under 20 minutes! This will be Deschutes County's seventh year running this program. Past choices include Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner and Dara Horn's The World to Come.
Velva Jean Learns to Drive Selected as the "Wilkes Reads Together"
Jennifer Niven's Velva Jean Learns to Drive (Plume) has been chosen as Wilkes County, North Carolina's "Wilkes Reads Together" book for October 2010. Niven will be reading at Wilkes County Public Library and BookMarks in Winston-Salem at the end of October in conjunction with the selection.
Niven was also selected as Greenville South Carolina's Amazing Read earlier this month!
Read an excerpt.
More National Media Coverage for Riverhead Author Seth Stevenson 
Seth Stevenson, author of Grounded: A Down to Earth Journey Around the World (Riverhead Trade Paperback Original) is still receiving great media coverage. Seth wrote an op-ed article for The New York Times about alternate ways to travel in this past Tuesday's edition. In addition, Seth's "My Turn" piece in Newsweek was published this week, and an interview in Reuters ran last week. Still to come is his New York Times review in Armchair Traveler, which will run on May 2nd.
Penguin Group (USA) Titles Continue to be Selected for FYE and Common Reads Programs Around the Country
PGI titles continue to be the books of choice between faculty, students and alumni across the country for their First Year Experience (FYE) programs. Here are more recent highlights:
- Ursinus College chose The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (Riverhead) for their inaugural Common Read book. They ordered the title for about 2,000 students.
- Michael Gates Gill's How Starbucks Saved My Life (Gotham) was chosen by the University of Illinois at Chicago for their Freshman Read. They are ordering approximately 3,600 copies.
- Gregory Howard Williams' Life on the Color Line (Plume) was the Summer Reading selection by University of Cincinnati for their 1900 incoming freshmen.
- University of California Riverside adopted T.C. Boyle's Tortilla Curtain (Penguin) as a required text for their English Department's writing program. The enrollment is 2,415 students.
- For the third straight year Siena College is using Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma (Penguin) as a required text for all of their 800 incoming students, Albion College in Michigan placed a Business-to-Business order for 500 copies of The Omnivore's Dilemma, and Linfield College in Oregon just came in for 525 copies of Pollan's In Defense of Food (Penguin).
- University of the Sciences in Philadelphia will be purchasing 700-800 copies of The Wal-Mart Effect by Charles Fishman (Penguin). The author Charles Fishman helped the school make their selection by writing a study guide for the book which we are now featuring on Penguin's website at http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pdf/teachersguides/thewalmarteffectTG.pdf
- Concordia University Texas selected The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead) for 375 incoming freshmen.
- Beloit College in Beloit, WI purchased 475 copies of Salmon Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories (Penguin) as a Business-to-Business purchase for their freshman giveaway.
- My Freshman Year by Rebekah Nathan (Penguin) is being used for 240 freshman at Creighton University for their required "Introduction to the Culture of Collegiate Life" Freshman Seminar. Creighton is also using Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns (Riverhead) for half of the enrolled class, 120 students.
New on the Penguin Website
Read the introduction and chapter one from Three Times the Love, Lynn and Randy Gaston's powerfully moving story of their family's journey toward healing their triplet sons with autism.
Happy 40th Birthday Earth Day! - see our roundup of the newest books on cultivating our earth.
Digital Digest - see this week's full list of digital additions on us.penguingroup.com.
New Just Released Penguin Titles
The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain by Barbara Strauch (Viking)
Barbara Strauch, author of The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain: The Surprising Talents of the Middle-Aged Mind, and deputy science editor and health and medical science editor at The New York Times, asserts that our brains may actually reach their peak in middle age. Publicity for The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain was launched with interviews on NPR's nationally syndicated shows "Fresh Air" and "Morning Edition" and will continue with radio interviews on Dr. Oz and "The Doctors" on Sirius XM Satellite radio, plus more to come. Print and online hits include reviews in More magazine and the Boston Globe, excerpts The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain in Discover and Reader's Digest, and blog posts on The Huffington Post and wowOwow.com, with much more to come.
Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matt Crawford (Penguin)
We're experiencing a DIY moment, moving away from a culture where no one makes things, where we buy new rather than repair, and where understanding how things work under the hood is irrelevant. Matthew Crawford argues that turning everyone into a "knowledge worker" is misguided, and based on an assumption that there is a separation of thinking from doing; the work of the hand from that of the mind. Shop Class as Soulcraft is an inspiring manifesto on the revitalization of the manual arts. Matt Crawford kicks off his tour May 6th in Philadelphia, he will then travel to Boulder, Seattle, and San Francisco.
Listen to our podcast with Matthew Crawford.
The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen (Penguin
Reif Larsen's debut novel, The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet was an international bestseller in hardcover. Vanity Fair praised it as "Like nothing you've ever picked up before. . . . Steeped in poignancy, humor, and wisdom," Entertainment Weekly called it "A mightily impressive debut," and Ron Charles at the Washington Post raved "I fell in love with [this book] on the first page."
The imaginative, richly illustrated book follows the unique story of twelve-year-old genius cartographer T. S. Spivet who lives with his family on their ranch just north of Divide, Montana. When late one August afternoon he receives an unexpected phone call from the Smithsonian announcing that he has won the prestigious Baird Award, life as normal-or normal for a twelve-year-old cartographer-is interrupted.
As T.S. makes his way from the Coppertop Ranch to the Smithsonian, his adventures stretch wider than the miles he covers: he falls into a mythical wormhole, discovers an underground hobo information network, and observes the urban phenomenon of "rims." He meets a deranged preacher, a racist trucker, and other fellow travelers - all the while meticulously charting and illustrating his exploits. As T.S. travels farther away from Montana, light is shed on the parts of life which are far more difficult to map than the physical world: loss, love, loneliness.
In May, Reif Larsen will tour to six cities, including Oxford, MS; Raleigh, NC; Kansas City, MO; Tulsa, OK; Boston, MA; and Brooklyn, NY, and will give select interviews.
Listen to our podcast with Reif Larsen.
The Slap by Christos Tsiolka (Penguin)
Winner of the 2009 Commonwealth Prize-beating out Jhumpa Lahiri's Unaccustomed Earth, David Lodge's Deaf Sentence, and Salman Rushdie's The Enchantress of Florence — The Slap is Australian mega-sensation Christos Tsiolkas's first novel to be published in the U.S., as a Penguin Paperback Original. The titular altercation occurs at a barbecue among friends, adults in their 30s and 40s trying to manage the demands of marital life, small children, loyalty, work, and of course the friendships that have tied them together for more than a decade.
Told from the points of view of eight people who were all present at the barbecue, Tsiolkas has created a remarkable and gripping portrait of love, sex, marriage, suburban ennui, and what it is to be in the middle class in modern Australia. Each character's voice and story will resonate with readers of thoughtful fiction about modern society and the way we live today-indeed, The Slap has now been sold in 11 countries and has sold more than 100,000 copies in Australia.
Author Christos Tsiolkas will be touring through the country as part of the PEN/World Voices Festival, appearing in New York on April 30th and May 1st. He'll be interviewed on NPR's "Diane Rehm Show" on Monday, April 26th, and reviews are expected in the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and others.
The Leavenworth Case by Anna Katharine Green, Introduced by Michael Sims (Penguin Classics)
The Leavenworth Case opens with the shocking murder of Horatio Leavenworth, a wealthy New York merchant, philanthropist and well-known member of the community. His favorite niece, Mary, is to inherit his fortune and all of the evidence seems to implicate her or her sister. Yet the case is not as concrete as it seems. The first mystery of its kind, introducing detective Ebenezer Gryce, Green changed the mystery genre with her distinctive verse and style. And according to Publishers Weekly, "This atmospheric and suspenseful mystery well deserves a modern audience. . .Green (1846-1935), whose smooth prose remains fresh, makes Gryce an interesting enough character to leave fans of traditional whodunits eager to see more of the detective in reissues of his further exploits."
Michael Sims is the author of Apollo's Fire, which National Public Radio chose as one of the Best Science Books of the Year; Adam's Navel, which was a New York Times Notable Book and a Library Journal Best Science Book; and Darwin's Orchestra. He is the editor of Penguin Classics' The Annotated Archy and Mehitabel and Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Thief (which inspired The Penguin Book of Gaslight Crime). His work has appeared in the Washington Post, Orion, Gourmet, New Statesman, Chronicle of Higher Education, and many other periodicals, as well as radio.
Eiffel's Tower by Jill Jonnes (Penguin, 4/27)
Acclaimed historian Jill Jonnes will be marking the paperback publication of her book Eiffel's Tower: The Thrilling Story Behind Paris's Beloved Monument and the Extraordinary World's Fair that Introduced It, with an event at Cooper Union Rose Auditorium on May 4th at 6:30pm. Jonnes will be giving a presentation on the history and architecture behind the famous monument. Books will be sold and Jonnes available for signing. She will also be participating in a private event May 8th for new website FabOverFifty.com. The FabOverFifty book group discussion will be held in the Washington, D.C. home of website contributor Ann Hand. The dialogue will be video taped and later steamed online. Jonnes' author feature on the FabOverFifty.com also goes live next week.
Read an excerpt from Eiffel's Tower.
Nightingale Wood by Stella Gibbons (Penguin)
In stores next week is Nightingale Wood, a modern satirical fairytale by Stella Gibbons, the celebrated author of Cold Comfort Farm. Harper's Bazaar UK praises Gibbons, saying she "was an expert in comic absurdity....a wonderfully comforting retro read, a sort of Cinderella lampoon filled with slightly surreal characters." Nightingale Wood centers around Viola, for which life has not quite been a fairytale. Left penniless, the young widow is forced to live with her late husband's family in a joyless old house. Her living companions include Mr. Wither, a tyrannical old miser; his wife, who thinks Viola is just a common shop girl; and two unlovely sisters-in-law. There are few bright spots in Viola's life, until she gets news of a charity ball-a ball that the local prince charming, Victor Spring, will be attending. Viola's spirits are raised as she prepares for the ball and her prince, but Victor's intentions towards Viola are, in short, not quite honorable. With a beautiful introduction by Sophie Dahl, Nightingale Wood is a Cinderella story with an edge.
