SMASH Nominated for Oregon Spirit Book Award!

We've received wonderful news — SMASH: TRIAL BY FIRE is on the shortlist in the Graphic Novel category for the 2013 Oregon Spirit Book Award. The Awards are presented by the Oregon Council of Teachers of English. Kyle and I are hugely thrilled and want to thank the Oregon Council of Teachers of English for this honor.

The Oregon Spirit Book Awards are given to Oregon authors who make "a distinguished contribution to children's literature or young adult literature that engage and encourage readers' imagination, discovery, and understanding, reflecting the spirit and values held by Oregonians."

Winners will be announced on June 1st. As SMASH appears to be the only title nominated in the category, I have to admit... I like our chances!

X-MEN Sketchbook: COLOSSUS

With the new X-Men movie, Days of Future Past, opening this weekend, Kyle was inspired to revisit his favorite mutant superheroes. Today's sketch is the team's Russian powerhouse... COLOSSUS! (Click the image for a bigger version.)

To my mind, the essential X-Men team has always been Cyclops, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Wolverine. The fact that Colossus was never a major character in the movie series has always bugged me. (I haven't watched them in a while, but I think he has a brief cameo in X2 and some kind of small role in X-Men: The Last Stand.) I hope the new movie fixes this, once and for all.

To see more of Kyle's artwork, visit his website.

Or follow him on Tumblr.

X-MEN Sketchbook: WOLVERINE

Today is opening day for the new X-Men movie, Days of Future Past, and Kyle was inspired to revisit his favorite mutant superheroes. Today's sketch is a guy who's the best at what he does (and what he does ain't pretty)... WOLVERINE! (Click the image for a bigger version.)

To see more of Kyle's artwork, visit his website.

Or follow him on Tumblr.

X-MEN Sketchbook: CYCLOPS

With the new X-Men movie, Days of Future Past, heading toward theaters, Kyle was inspired to revisit his favorite mutant superheroes. We'll post a sketch each day over the opening weekend, starting with... CYCLOPS! (Click the image for a bigger version.)

Honestly, it's a shame that Cyclops was dropped from the movie series. Love him or hate him (and Grantland has a terrific defense of Cyclops), Cyke is an essential part of any X-Men team. He's so important that Chris Claremont, who wrote X-Men and its spin-offs in the '70s and '80s, tried to retire Cyclops — but he came rushing back into action!

To see more of Kyle's artwork, visit his website.

Or follow him on Tumblr.

SMASH Sketchbook: THE PUNISHER

SMASH artist Kyle Bolton's first attempt at drawing the Punisher. (Click the image for a larger version.)

To see more of Kyle's artwork, visit his website.

Or follow him on Tumblr.

Great Review: SMASH "Made My Day!"

Smash: Trial by Fire earned a wonderful review from the blog Kiss the Book:

I am always on the hunt for a great graphic novels for elementary students. The catch is that they must have quality artwork and a quality story, all while staying G rated. It’s a tricky bill to fit and this graphic novel does a fantastic job. The cover art itself is so great that students are going to be fighting over this. The illustrations are top notch: bright, fun, action packed, and creative. The story will relate to any student who would like to try to their hand at superhero powers. Hooray, this book made my day! A must have for any graphic novel collection!

To order your copy of Smash, click on any of the links in the margin to the right!

Indies First Storytime Pics

Bestselling, award-winning (and fellow Candlewick) author Kate DiCamillo liked what she saw on Indies First day and decided there should be a similar celebration for children's bookstores. So began Indies First Storytime Day, which encourages authors to visit their favorite independent children's bookstore on May 17th and read a book (or two) out loud. I was thrilled to participate at Green Bean Books in Portland, Oregon.

Green Bean is basically a tiny house that is one of the ten most amazing places on the planet Earth. You walk in and fall in love with shelves full of beautiful books — and there are some dioramas that you can't take your eyes off of. (Signs ask people not to touch, which is good because even the adults could barely help themselves...)

The Indies First Storytime display, with our very own SMASH: TRIAL BY FIRE right in front! I'm in the back with owner Jennifer Green, whose infectious love of children's books grabs you right away.

Seriously, are you in love yet? Great things come in small packages.

You could spend half the day admiring displays like this Hello Kitty corner.

Here I am reading the wonderful Sparky, written by Jenny Offill and illustrated by Chris Applehans. Now I want a sloth for a pet!

The endpapers of Dan Santat's beautiful The Adventures of Beekle show a gallery of imaginary friends. This pumpkin-headed one is my pick!

Reading Sparky to a great group of eager listeners.

Dinosaurs roam the beautiful back deck at Green Bean, feeding on delicious donuts.

Signing a copy of SMASH for some new fans.

I had a fantastic time on Indies First Storytime Day and I can't wait for next year!

Special thanks to Jennifer Green and everyone at Green Bean Books for hosting a great event — I'm even more excited to read at Green Bean Books next month for Superhero Weekend! And if you live in Portland, make sure you visit Green Bean Books the first chance you get. I promise it will be love at first sight!

FREE TYRION!

This is a cause I'm sure we can all agree on.

SMASH Sketchbook: HAWKEYE

SMASH artist Kyle Bolton's version of the Avengers' resident archer. (Click the image for a larger version.)

To see more of Kyle's artwork, visit his website.

Or follow him on Tumblr.

SMASH Is a Top Ten Most Circulated Book!

The school librarian blog 100 Scope Notes has compiled a list of the Top 10 Circulated Books of 2014:

As we approacheth the end of the year, I like to take a look back at the books that really moved in my K-4 school library. These are the books that my students couldn’t get enough of during the 2013-14 school year.

And guess which book is #10? We'll give you a hint:

We're honored to sit right next to Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Amulet on the list!

We like to think Smash, Wimpy Kid, and the Amulet heroes all hang out on school library shelves, swapping wild tales about how excited kids get when they read them.