Elizabeth Law.

Douglas Pocock, executive v-p of Egmont USA, said Law “comes to us with a wealth of experience publishing top authors and handling some of the best-loved properties in the industry.” While at S&S, Law worked on the Eloise series, edited Marlo Thomas’s bestselling collection Thanks and Giving All Year Long, and oversaw publication of the Spiderwick series. She left S&S in February and has been serving as a consultant.

Although Law doesn’t begin her job for another month, she will start building a staff, reading manuscripts and meeting with agents immediately.   

Pullman, at Tuesday's night's premiere of The Golden Compass in London.

The large marketing push for the film—its official Web site has already received nearly 10 million unique visitors—has put an intense spotlight on Pullman’s work and has stirred up some fierce debate over what are deemed anti-Christian elements of his story. In the detractors’ camp, the Catholic League (not officially affiliated with the Church) has called, via its president Bill Donohue, for a boycott of the film, and a school board in the Halton region of Ontario, Canada has pulled Pullman’s books from library shelves in the district’s Catholic schools because of a complaint about the author’s statements that he is an atheist. Students may request the books in the school libraries, but the volumes are not openly available; the titles are being reviewed by a school board committee.

Though he has maintained a calm public demeanor as the kerfuffle has escalated over the last several months, Pullman recently vented some steam on the topic in a story in this week’s Newsweek. “To regard it as this Donohue man has said—that I’m a militant atheist, and my intention is convert people—how the hell does he know that?… Oh, it causes me to shake my head with sorrow that such nitwits could be loose in the world.”  

Most recently a senior editor at Dial Books for Young readers, Mercado has edited such well-received titles as Paul Acampora’s Defining Dulcie, Kevin Sherry’s I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean and Emma Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree by Lauren Tarshis. Mercado says she has admired Roaring Brook’s publishing philosophy since the house’s inception. “The company has a very personal approach to publishing and to me that is very important,” she says. “I like Roaring Book’s entrepreneurial spirit, willingness to take risks and individualistic attention to books and authors. I am excited about continuing in this tradition and adding more titles to the list.”   

Rubin Pfeffer, senior v-p and publisher of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, acquired the project (which consisted of the play's script at the time) in fall 2006, and it was edited by Alexandra Cooper, an editor at S&S Books for Young Readers. "It's historical fiction that's meant to be accessible to today's kids," says Cooper. The story is told from the point of view of 12-year-old Archie Roosevelt, one of the President's children, though the play was not. "We had to make sure that the details of the narrative were consistent," Cooper says. "There's a lot you can show on stage that you need to say in a book." The book was vetted by the White House Historical Association to ensure that historical details were correct.

Two additional books are planned, and although titles have not yet been decided, they will also be adapted from plays that will debut at the Kennedy Center. "The script for the [second] play is still being worked out," Cooper says. "We think it is going to feature George Washington, but it will be in a contemporary setting. It's going to involve a chase around the White House with kids taking an official tour who get off track." —John Sellers   

The impact was mixed according to whether titles were the winners in their categories—there were four categories and two winners in each—or just one of the original 19 titles (click here to see the full list), but all of the books were given a considerable sales boost. Chicken House, which had three titles nominated but no winners, was still delighted by the Richard & Judy effect, as it brought new books into the limelight. Rachel Hickman, deputy managing director of Chicken House, said, “It highlighted terrific newer writers with broad popular appeal to parents in an unstuffy and accessible way. We hope it can build into a regular feature."    read more London news