Lovely War releases in paperback today!
The brilliant folks at Viking Children’s Books / Penguin Random
House have done an outstanding job once again of creating a truly gorgeous
package for this book. I loved the hardcover, but I might just love the paperback
more, and not only because it includes so many nice things people have said
about the book. (But I do like that, too. Can’t lie.)
Since the hardcover release nearly a year ago, Lovely War
has enjoyed a pretty incredible ride. It has won the 2020 S.C.B.W.I. GoldenKite Award for Young Adult fiction, and the last-ever YA prize for S.C.I.B.A.,
the Southern California Independent Booksellers’ Association (now merging with its
Northern California counterpart to form CALIBA). It’s a finalist for the
2019 Whitney Awards, and was a finalist for the 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards.
It’s a 2020 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults selection, and a 2020 TAYSHAS Reading List selection. The novel also found its place on the year-end best-of
lists compiled by Kirkus Reviews, Buzzfeed, Booklist, Wall Street Journal, The Horn Book (a Fanfare selection), Shelf Awareness, BookPage (ranking it #3), Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (a Blue Ribbon title), and the New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago Public Library lists.
While we're on the subject of other formats, LW's audiobook has been shortlisted for an Audie by the Audio Publishing Association, and been named one of 20 "Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults" by YALSA, and a Booklist Editor's Choice for Youth Audio title.
I love it when my books come out in paperback, because the
price point brings the title within reach of many more readers. LW’s paperback
edition includes a list of book club discussion questions, which I hope will be
helpful as I understand many book clubs have opted to share Lovely War
so far, including the Forever Young Adult Book Club, an international club that
has made Lovely War its June selection for 2020.
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| The Greek gods as narrators. Art by Laura Molnar. |
Lovely War remains, for me, an experience I can’t
fully explain. Sometimes the right idea just strikes at the right time, in the
right way, with the right point of view apparent. For creative types like me,
you embrace these miracles when they come. Seeing young lives through Aphrodite’s
eyes was such a joy. Researching the Great War and its impact on the world, on
cultures and communities, on politics and international relations, but
especially on families, sweethearts, survivors, and those who didn’t survive to
feel its impact, was a moving journey and a tremendous privilege. If this story
helps bring readers closer in heart and sympathy to this brave generation that
suffered and stumbled and went before us, then I am grateful.
I hope you’ll love it. (And gift it, and teach it, and recommend
it.) Here’s where you can find this shiny new edition: your local independentbookstore (my favorite place) | your local chain store | your local departmentstore | an online retailer.
