Book Notes: Covers, Deals, and UK events

Book Notes highlights bookish news, reviews, curiosities and gossip spotted across the blogosphere. 

New Book Deals

• Little, Brown Books for Young Readers has acquired two books (Arcanum and an untitled novel) by Ransom Riggs, the New York Times bestselling author of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. Arcanum, a new young adult novel, begins in the attic of an old, forgotten rural museum, where secret objects from the distant past lie in dust and in wait. When a group of teens discover this cache of sinister curiosities, they unsuspectingly unleash hell in their sleepy town. Magic, mystery, and evil intertwine in this dark, creepy, and frightening story, which is set for a spring 2014 publication. I haven't had the chance to read Ransom's first book yet, but it is on my TBR pile!
• Vicki Pettersson, Sign of the Zodiac series author and one-time showgirl, sold a new series to Harper Voyager/Morrow. The three book deal begins with The Taken, and is scheduled as a paperback original for June 2012.
• Rachel Caine has sold a stand-alone novel to NAL built around the character of Benvolio, from Romeo and Juliet. She's also sold 3 new books in her YA Morganville Vampires series to NAL. I'm starting to wonder when these books will ever end.
• Bloomsbury/Walker Books for Young Readers bought a new trilogy by recent Columbia-grad  Yelena Black; book one is called Diabolical. The book is a tale of a 15-year-old who starts witnessing spooky goings-on at her prestigious ballet school. When she becomes suspicious of the controlling choreographer at her academy, she stumbles upon the fact that he is staging a performance in which the school's dancers become pawns in a world of demons. The first book in the series will be published internationally in English—in the U.S., U.K., and Australia—in winter 2013.

UK signings and events

• Jeffrey Eugenides. Jeffrey - bloody - Eugenides. Be still my heart. In case you've been hiding under a rock, Jeffrey is the world-renowned, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Middlesex (which is one of my favourite novels). He is going to be at Waterstone's Picadilly, London, on Friday, 4 November 2011, 7:00PM. This is a proper meet-and-greet event, so you do have to buy tickets. They are £5 (or £3 for Waterstones card holders). You can buy them online here. 

New Book Covers

• Blue-Blooded Vamp by Jaye Wells -  This is the final book in the fantastic Sabina Kane series. In case you somehow missed it, I am a BIG Jaye Wells fan. She epitomises everything that is brilliant about the Urban Fantasy genre and, in short, rocks.
• Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore - There is a reason bloggers everywhere dedicated posts to the release of this book. Because OMGSDFSHKFHS BITTERBLUE!
• Darkness Falls by Cate Tiernan - This is the gorgeous US cover to the next book in Cate's Immortal Beloved series. I liked the first book but I LOVE this cover! 

• Partials by Dan Wells - I had heard nothing about this book until the cover came out... and what a cover! Now it's way up on my 2012 wishlist!
• Revived by Cat Patrick - Cat's novel, Forgotten, has gotten nothing but brilliant reviews. Although I haven't read her work yet, this cover is making me want to run out and buy her work. I just adore the cover of Revived - it's actually pretty damn original!
• Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock - I found this book on goodreads way back when, and was very excited when it finally got a cover (even one I'm not too keen on!).

See your art on a book cover!

Faber and Faber and The Guardian are hosting a fantastic initiative for artists aged 13 to 16... putting their cover art on seminal novel The Lord of the Flies by William Golding. It's a terrifying novel, and I can't wait to see what scary images contestants come up with. Here's some more detail about the competition (and info about how to enter!):

Faber and Faber and Guardian News & Media are calling on young artists to create a brand new look for one of the world’s most famous books: Lord of the Flies by William Golding. One talented artist will be selected by a team of expert judges and will have the chance to watch as their work is transformed by the Faber design team into a cover for the new educational edition of Lord of the Flies.

The winning illustration will be unveiled at a special exhibition showcasing the best of the entries. The winner and other featured entrants will be invited to the opening of the exhibition at the Guardian’s offices in London in February 2012.

The competition is open to young artists aged 13 to 16, and submissions are welcome in any medium. The closing date for entries is 20 January 2012. The competition is hosted on its own site, which also features exciting additional content for aspiring illustrators. Please visit: http://lordofthefliescover.com/