J. K. Rowling News: Pottermore!

Big news! Watch J.K. Rowling's announcement about Pottermore, her new online world for Harry Potter fans. "Follow the owl" to Pottermore on July 31!

Tony DiTerlizzi WondLa Video

Scholastic News Kid Reporter, Cecilia Gault, interviewed Tony DiTerlizzi about his new book The Search for WondLa. If you loved The Spiderwick Chronicles, you won't want to miss this new book! Watch the video interview.

Have you read The Search for WondLa? Are you excited about it? Let us know in the Comments.

— Sonja, STACKS Staffer

R.L. Stine's NEW Hall of Horrors Series

If you love scary books, then you probably know all about Robert Lawrence Stine (a.k.a. R.L. Stine), the author of the Goosebumps and HorrorLand series. You have probably even watched the videos and chatted with people about them on the Message Board.

But have you read Stine's NEWEST series, Hall of Horrors? In this video, the master of horror himself tells you all about it.

Here are the books in the new series so far:

• Book 1: Claws
  Mickey and Amanda are put in charge of their vacationing neighbors' cat, Bella. But Bella escapes from the house and disappears. Amanda has an idea to replace the cat with a look-alike from the local pet store Cat Heaven. They find a cat that looks exactly like Bella, but the clerk won't sell it to them, so they decide to steal it. Big mistake! These cats are more than they seem to be.
• Book 2: Night of the Giant Everything
  When 11-year-old Steven Sweeney is tricked into drinking a strange mixture of chemicals by his classmates, things begin to get strange. Either his toothbrush is growing, or he is shrinking! Will he be able to make it through the day and return to his original size?

Are you a fan of R.L. Stine's books? Let us know in the Comments!

— Sonja, STACKS Staffer

Mike Lupica's New Book, Hero

If you are a fan of sports books, then you probably already know and love Mike Lupica's books. He wrote Million Dollar Throw, Summer Ball, Travel Team, and a bunch of other books about kids and sports. (Bradley Steven Perry from the show Good Luck Charlie is a fan.)

Lupica's newest book is about a different kind of hero - a superhero who can both fly and become invisible. Scholastic Kids Press Corps Reporter, Maya Williams, got to interview Mr. Lupica and ask him about the book. Watch her video interview.

Maya has lots of good things to say about Hero.

"I liked Hero a lot. Lupica's style makes you want to turn the pages and puts you right in the action. I would definitely recommend this book to a friend, either a boy or girl because the characters are both so strong. Hero is the kind of book you want to read if you are looking for action and surprise!"

Find out more about this book by reading Maya's review.

Have you read Hero? Are you going to read it? Let us know what you think in the Comments!

— Sonja, STACKS Staffer

Meet Wimpy Kid Author, Jeff Kinney

How many more books will there be in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series? How many more Wimpy Kid movies? Author, Jeff Kinney answers these questions and more in this Scholastic Kids Press Corps interview with Fred Hechinger.

What do you think? Are you excited for the next Wimpy Kid book/movie? Tell us what you think in the Comments.

— Sonja, STACKS Staffer

Allie Finkle Inspiration: Answer

Last week's Trivia Quiz asked you to find out who was the inspiration for the character Allie Finkle in Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls. Well, the answer is in this video, where Meg Cabot reveals the story behind the story  . . .

Do YOU keep a diary? Think about it. The things you write now could become the inspiration for a popular book series when you are older!

— Sonja, STACKS Staffer

Allie Finkle Inspiration

Welcome to Trivia Tuesday! One of the really awesome things about working at Scholastic is that I get to meet a lot of authors, and ask them questions about their books. (I know, I'm so lucky!!) The first time I met Meg Cabot, the author of Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls, one of the questions I asked her was:

Who is the character of Allie Finkle based on? 

Your job today is to find out the answer! This is a pretty tough question, but the answer is somewhere on this site — from the lips of author Meg Cabot herself. So here's a hint . . .

Good luck!

— Sonja, STACKS Staffer

Super Diaper Baby Sequel!

Dav Pilkey fans, this one's for you: the long-awaited sequel to the bestselling novel Super Diaper Baby is almost here, and here is a SUPER sneak preview of the book's cover!

Super Diaper Baby 2: Invasion of the Potty Snatchers by George Beard and Harold Hutchins (the fourth grade creators of Captain Underpants) will be published on June 28, 2011­­—just in time for summer reading! But that's not all. . . Dav Pilkey created an awesome video showing exactly how he created the book — in a breathtaking, dizzying two and a half minutes!

June 28 may feel very far away, so to pass the time, why not brush up on the world of Harold and George with The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby or The Adventures of Ook and Gluk, Kung-Fu Cavemen From the Future? And of course, you can always read the book that started it all: The Adventures of Captain Underpants.

Meeting Margaret Peterson Haddix

Hi everyone! It seems like ten years ago that I interviewed Margaret Peterson Haddix for THE STACKS. You all helped me prepare for the interview by giving me some awesome questions! Sadly, I couldn't ask them all. It was really tough to choose only one of your questions, but the final question I chose was submitted by marytonga, who asked: 

If you could meet ANY Cahill, dead or alive, who would you pick?

Margaret was really impressed with that question and I think she had fun answering it. Here is the entire interview including my questions too:

Kathryn Lasky Talks Ga'Hoole

Today is the day that Ga'Hoole fans have been waiting for! Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (rated PG) is hitting theaters today, and we have an exclusive interview with Kathryn Lasky, the author of the Ga'Hoole series, to talk about what it was like making her books into a movie.

Ask an Author: Margaret Peterson Haddix

UPDATE 9/2/10: I did the interview with Margaret on video and she was SO nice! Watch the video interview here!

Hi guys! I have AMAZING news!! Margaret Peterson Haddix will be coming to Scholastic on August 31 for The 39 Clues webcast, and I will have a chance to interview her for THE STACKS!!!!!!!! Do I have the best job ever, or what? Yes, I do, but stay with me here, because I need your help.

If you have read Margaret Peterson Haddix's books, then you understand why I'm so excited. They are AWESOME! If you haven't read them yet, you should definitely check them out. They are un-put-down-able action-filled page-turners. Read our reviews of Running Out of Time, and Found to see what I mean.

Wimpy Kid: Diary to DVD

Aah August. Hot summer days, back to school sales. . . and my cousin Katie's birthday. Pretty much the usual. EXCEPT this August 3, 2010, the Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie (rated PG) comes out on DVD. Now that doesn’t happen every year, does it? And how are we going to celebrate? With fun new interviews of course!

We spoke with Jeff Kinney, author of the books, and Zachary Gordon, the actor who plays Greg. First we asked Jeff: