Most Anticipated Titles of ’08

h1 January 15th, 2008 by jules

New year. New titles. Pretty exciting. In no way does this mean I’m going to ignore my ’07 review or library or personal copies of titles that I have yet to read. I’m still working on those, believe it or not.

But if you head over to Chasing Ray today, you’ll see that Colleen is talkin’ titles that she can’t wait to see this year, and she’ll be rounding up other bloggers doing the same (yes, only one day after the big awards were announced — YES, HUGO! — but we Book Nerds are like that, revelling in last year’s great titles and looking ahead to the new ones). Here’s my stab at a list, though invariably I’m going to overlook some thrilling title I will have forgotten about (not to mention some publishers still haven’t announced new releases for the year yet). I’m also a little bit nervous, to be honest, as this list will reveal in a most glaring fashion my fiction bias (sorry, non-fiction) and my near-obsession with picture books. But just humor me. I’ll do my best.

(Note: If I were really organized, I would have started noting release dates before I started feverishly listing titles. But I linked to the publisher on each title if you’re really dying to get a release date yourself. For Henry Holt and Farrar, Straus and Giroux links, you’ll be taken to the search page or a main page of new titles, and you’ll have to either type the title in yourself or just browse and search. Oh, one more note: I’m leaving off some brand new titles that have been recently acquired and added to my to-review stack. New reviews to come then, as my schedule allows).

All Things Illustrated

* Any new Elephant & Piggie titles Mo decides to share with the world (Fuse has the titles in her own most-anticipated-titles list from today);

* Any new Mo picture book (is this a sneak peek into a new title perhaps?);

* The forthcoming titles LeUyen Pham shared with us in October;

* Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Sean Qualls (I already have an ARC from Henry Holt, and it’s good stuff. Review to come);

* Big Bad Bunny by Franny Billingsley and illustrated by G. Brian Karas (a Richard Jackson book for Atheneum Books);

* Buster Goes to Cowboy Camp by Denise Fleming (Henry Holt);

* A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever by Marla Frazee (Harcourt);

* The Dangerous Alphabet by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Gris Grimly (HarperCollins);

* The Elephant Quilt: Stitch by Stitch to California! by Susan Lowell with illustrations by Stacey Dressen-McQueen (Melanie Kroupa Books);

* Frankenstein Takes the Cake by Adam Rex (Harcourt, I assume);

* The Girl in the Castle Inside the Museum by Kate Bernheimer and illustrated by Nicoletta Ceccoli (Schwartz & Wade; I already have a copy of this, and it’s beautiful. Review to come);

* How I Learned Geography by Uri Shulevitz (Farrar, Straus and Giroux);

* How to Be Nice by David Ezra Stein (Putnam; that link brings you a preview illustration at a previous kicks list);

*Imaginary Menagerie: A Book of Curious Creatures by Julie Larios and illustrated by Julie Paschkis (Harcourt);

* It’s Library Day by Janet Morgan Stoeke (Dutton Books; another preview illustration from a kicks list at that link);

* Jukebox by David Merveille (Kane/Miller);

* Jumpy Jack & Googily by Meg Rosoff and illustrated by Sophie Blackall (Henry Holt);

* Just in Case: A Trickster Tale and Alphabet Book by Yuyi Morales (a Neal Porter book; click on that link and see the preview illustrations she sent us in November. Ohmybeautiful!);

*Little Rabbit and the Night Mare by Kate Klise and illustrated by M. Sarah Klise (Harcourt);

* Max’s Dragon by Kate Banks with illustrations by Boris Kulikov (Farrar, Straus and Giroux);

* Me Hungry by Jeremy Tankard (Candlewick);

* Minji’s Salon by Eun-hee Choung (Kane/Miller);

* Mokie & Bik Go to Sea by Wendy Orr and illustrated by Jonathan Bean (Henry Holt);

* Not So Tall for Six by Dianna Hutts Astson and illustrated by Frank Dormer, published by Charlesbridge (7-Imp got a preview from Mr. Dormer himself back here in July);

* Oodles of Animals by Lois Ehlert (Harcourt);

* Otto the Old Sea Dog by Trudy White (this year? Not sure. Publisher? Not sure. Go here to see our preview);

* Priscilla and the Hollyhocks by Anne Broyles and illustrated by Anna Alter (Charlesbridge);

* Rabbit & Squirrel: A Tale of War and Peas by Kara LaReau and illustrated by Scott Magoon (Harcourt; YES! Did you see the demented and wonderful Ugly Fish?);

* Rain Play by Cynthia Cotten and illustrated by Javaka Steptoe (Henry Holt);

* Skunk Dog by Emily Jenkins and illustrated by Pierre Pratt (Farrar, Straus and Giroux);

*To Be Like the Sun by Susan Marie Swanson and illustrated by Margaret Chodos-Irvine (Harcourt);

* Uh-oh! by Rachel Isadora (Harcourt);

* Any ‘ol Swedish picture book title from R & S Books, ESPECIALLY Oink, Oink Benny by Barbro Lindgren with illustrations by Olof Landström (I LOVE BENNY).

Novels, Poetry, Etc.

Frank Portman and his new novel, shamelessly lifted from his blog, but at least I'm linking to it. Don't hate me, Frank* Andromeda Klein by Frank Portman (Random House; 4/08 release date, I believe, despite what that Amazon link says about 2009);

* Bird Lake Moon by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow);

*The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer (Harcourt);

* Debbie Harry Sings in French by Meagan Brothers (Henry Holt);

* Don’t Bump the Glump and Other Fantasies by Shel Silverstein (HarperCollins);

* Game by Walter Dean Myers (HarperTeen);

* Greetings from Nowhere by Barbara O’Connor (Frances Foster Books);

* Honeybee: Poems and Short Prose by Naomi Shihab Nye (Greenwillow);

* The House of Djinn by Suzanne Fisher Staples (Frances Foster Books);

* I am Scout: The Biography of Harper Lee by Charles J. Shields (Henry Holt);

* Kaline Klattermaster’s Tree House by Haven Kimmel with illustrations from Peter Brown (Simon & Schuster; O! Yes! Eisha and I have already read an ARC of this little gem. We’ll review soon);

* The Life and Crimes of Bernetta Wallflower by Lisa Graff (Laura Geringer);

* Magic in the Mirrorstone: Tales of Fantasy edited by Steve Berman (Mirrorstone);

* My Dog May Be a Genius by Jack Prelutsky, illustrated by James Stevenson (Greenwillow);

* Woman’s World: A Novel by Graham Rawle (published by Counterpoint; this man assembled this novel from 40,000 fragments of text snipped from women’s magazines. Yes, that kind of thing could fail miserably, but it was reviewed well in the UK. I’m intrigued).

I’m sure I missed a thousand titles, not to mention my list is woefully lacking in non-fiction, but — for what it’s worth — that’s my stab at my most anticipated titles of ’08, very subject to change.

What about you? What are you looking forward to reading this year?

* * * * * * *

Morning Addendum

How could I forget A La Carte by Tanita Davis, a.k.a. TadMack, of Finding Wonderland? It’ll be published by Knopf Books for Young Readers in June. Thanks to The YA YA YAs for the heads-up.

And bookshelves of doom’s list includes Out of the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst. YES! I completely forgot that comes out this year, but I look forward to that read, too.

Kelly Fineman points out that Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire by Derek Landy comes out in May — HarperCollins, that is. Excellent.

Last but not least and ooh! ooh!, Little Willow points out that November will bring us Dog and Bear: Two’s Company by Laura Vaccaro Seeger. Best news of the day.





16 comments to “Most Anticipated Titles of ’08”

  1. Posting my list tomorrow morning!


  2. What a juicy list! *furiously writing titles down* Drooling over the Marla Frazee book and The Dangerous Alphabet.


  3. The Dangerous Alphabet looks FANTASTIC, but I don’t think I can make myself go near Andromeda Klein.


  4. Priscilla and the Hollyhocks is actually written by Anne Broyles and illustrated by Anna Alter!


  5. Gotta go adjust my list to add Frankenstein Makes a Sequel (heh) and The Dangerous Alphabet. Squee!


  6. Oh goodness, thanks, Jamie. Big Oops. I fixed that. Many thanks for pointing that out.


  7. GREAT list! I can’t wait for

    GREETINGS FROM NOWHERE by Barb O’Connor either-


  8. I’m flattered my anthology made the list! Thanks.


  9. Tracie, congrats on the award! Your book is on my TBR list from last year. Still wanna read it!

    Steve, can’t wait to read it.

    Thanks, you all.


  10. Feeling like chopped liver here.

    Jane


  11. Jane, you should just assume you’re always on the list, especially since you write, like, a book a day (that’s a compliment, in case you’re wondering).


  12. Hey, now! Thanks so much for including Rabbit & Squirrel: a Tale of War & Peas (and mentioning Ugly Fish). It’s an honor to be listed among such amazing-looking books!

    Peas out,
    Kara : )


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