The first young adult novel by Joyce Carol Oates, Big Mouth & Ugly Girl (HarperCollins), is number one on the Book Sense 76 Teen Summer Reads list. Oates weaves controlled, elegant writing with her storytelling magic in a sweet story that includes a bit of Kafka, a little David and Lisa, and even some Nicholas Sparks.
Karl Pohrt, owner of Shaman Drum Bookshop in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and a member of the American Booksellers Association Board of Directors, has long been an active and vocal participant in his community. For the last nine years, he has been on the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority. For the last three years, hes been the president of the State Street Area Association (his store is on State Street).
New York is Book Country (NYIBC) has announced that the organization's founder and president, Linda C. Exman, will be stepping down at the end of this year. The person tapped to lead the organization, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2003, is Courtney Muller. According to NYIBC, Muller will work together with Exman through the end of this year, when she will take over the organization's leadership with Exman's assistance through its anniversary.
When Jean McGean, the long-time book buyer for Sam Weller's Zion Book Store in Salt Lake City, died recently, colleagues throughout the industry mourned her passing. McGean was a favorite among publishers' representatives, including the author of this piece, Bruce Roberts, who called on her for many years representing regional book wholesalers. Roberts is currently an account manager for Books West, a regional wholesaler in Boulder, Colorado.
Two independent bookstores in the Detroit, Michigan, area were recently treated to a visit from the 2002 Newbery Medal winner, children's author Linda Sue Park. Dressed in a traditional Korean gown, Park talked about her writing, answered questions, and autographed copies of her books at Halfway Down the Stairs Children's Book Shop in Rochester, on Friday, June 28, and the next day at Book Beat in Oak Park. Park won the Newbery, which is awarded annually by the American Library Association, for her novel A Single Shard.
On June 21, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) announced the election of three new Board members. Mitchell Kaplan of Books & Books, Coral Gables, Florida; Matt Miller of The Tattered Cover, Denver; and Wendy Strothman, executive vice president of Houghton Mifflin, have joined the ABFFE Board. Each will serve a three-year term.
Linda Ramsdell, owner of the Galaxy Bookshop in Hardwick, Vermont, is hanging up her booksellers hat for a few days and donning both author escort and limo drivers caps to add a new dimension to New England handselling. The author Ramsdell will escort, from June 30 to July 3, is Michael Crummey (Book Sense 76 Pick River Thieves, Houghton Mifflin), and the limo is her Subaru Impreza.
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The first young adult novel by Joyce Carol Oates, Big Mouth & Ugly Girl (HarperCollins), is number one on the Book Sense 76 Teen Summer Reads list. Oates weaves controlled, elegant writing with her storytelling magic in a sweet story that includes a bit of Kafka, a little David and Lisa, and even some Nicholas Sparks. 
Karl Pohrt, owner of Shaman Drum Bookshop in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and a member of the American Booksellers Association Board of Directors, has long been an active and vocal participant in his community. For the last nine years, he has been on the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority. For the last three years, hes been the president of the State Street Area Association (his store is on State Street).