Ink Splot 26: Book Flap: Ranger's Apprentice, Jon Scieszka & More

Welcome to Book Flap, your every-other-Friday book news column with all the latest news about upcoming books, books becoming movies, and more! It's all part of our first Summer on the Splot!

Jon Scieszka Kicks Off The Exquisite Corpse Adventure

Everyone's favorite National Ambassador for Young People's Literature (and not just because he's the only National Ambassador for Young People's Literature so far) Jon Scieszka will be the first children's author to write a story of The Exquisite Corpse Adventure, a new series spearheaded by the Library of Congress and the National Children's Book and Literary Alliance.

The Exquisite Corpse Adventure will bring 18 children's book authors and illustrators together to write "episodes" of the ongoing adventure, which will be published on The Library of Congress' new read.gov website. Scieszka will premiere his episode at this year's National Book Festival on September 26. New episodes will be published on the website throughout the year, with the story culminating at the 2010 National Book Festival.

Check out the list of all-star talent lined up to contribute episodes: M.T. Anderson, Natalie Babbitt, Calef Brown, Susan Cooper, Kate DiCamillo, Timothy Basil Ering, Nikki Grimes, Shannon Hale, Daniel Handler, Steven Kellogg, Gregory Maguire, Megan McDonald, Patricia and Fredrick McKissack, Linda Sue Park, Katherine Paterson, James Ransome and Chris Van Dusen.

Ranger's Apprentice: Escape to Aralven Tout to Put on a Show

This September, the sixth book of the Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan, The Siege of Macindaw, is being released. Normally, to promote the release of a new book an author will go on tour. But John Flanagan is from Australia, and won't be making it over to the U.S. for this book. So, 27 cities on the Ranger's Apprentice book tour will be treated to something different: Ranger's Apprentice on stage!

Actors from the Striking Viking Story Pirates will be performing an interactive show entitled "Escape to Araluen," which is based on the first book in the series, The Ruins of Gorlan. Check out the Ranger's Apprentice website to see if the tour is rolling into your town, or to follow along online if you can't make it to the show.

Watch Your Reads: The Wedding Planner's Daughter and Godesses

Bookflap_goddesses_weddingplannerdaughter Two new shows will be jumping off of the pages of books this fall. Both The Wedding Planner's Daughter and Goddesses will be making their way to live action shows.

The Wedding Planner's Daughter is a series by Coleen Murtagh Paratore which follows Willa and her wedding-planner mother, Stella. They move around a lot, but Willa's hoping that their latest stop in Bramble, MA will be their last. She's finally making friends, getting to bond with her grandmother, and maybe-possibly this will be the place where her mother finds love.

The Goddesses series by Clea Hantman is about three sisters, Polly, Era, and Thalia. Polly, Era, and Thalia aren't just any sisters—they're Zeus' daughters! As punishment for a prank, Zeus sends them to Athens (they live in heaven, obviously). But Zeus messes up. Instead of sending them to Athens in Ancient Greece they wind up in Athens, GA in modern times. Their powers don't work there, leaving them to navigate life, and worse, high school just like regular kids.

And More: Now in Bulleted List Form!

The 39 Clues Book 5: The Black Circle by Patrick Carman came out this Tuesday, August 11!
Kenneth Oppel's book Airborn became air-born for real when astronaut Bob Thirsk brought it into space with him for his mission on the International Space Station.
More Eclipse casting news: Jack Huston will play Royce King II in the third movie based on Stephenie Meyers' Twilight series for ages 12 and up.
If you loved Ann Martin's A Dog's Life, you're in luck, because the sequel, Everything for a Dog, comes out September 1.

Check back on August 28th for another edition of Book Flap!

— Carly H., STACKS Staffer

Total Approved Comments: 7

i love harry potter sooo much

Comment #1 | Posted by: Hermonie on August 14, 2009 at 11:55 AM

I cant beleive the WEDDING PLANNERS DAUGHTER is going to be a show. I love the books!!!