YA novelist John Green captured four spots on the New York Times Young Adult Best Sellers list for the week of January 20, 2013.

His most recent novel, The Fault in Our Stars, took the No. 2 slot while Looking for Alaska came in at No. 6, An Abundance of Katherines hit No. 10 and Paper Towns held at No. 15.

Penguin Young Readers Group released An Abundance of Katherines  in September 2006, and this was the first time it landed on the list. Looking for Alaska came out in 2005 and Paper Towns was published in 2008. (Image via)

To celebrate the final installment of the Matched trilogy, Penguin Group set up a photo booth at BookExpo America so fans could pose for a photograph inside a 3D life-size replica of Ally Condie’s book cover.

Fans could share their photographs online (we’ve embedded a sample above).

Ally Condie appeared at the Reached photo booth to check out the conference and do a little posing of her own. GalleyCat caught up with Condie and asked her what it was like to finish writing her first book series. Condie replied: “It’s kind of scary. It’s really exciting, but all the threads need to be tied together or not. Mostly I just want the readers to feel like this was satisfying.”

Read more

Penguin Young Readers Group will release S.E. Hinton‘s The Outsiders as an eBook for the first time.

Hinton (pictured, via) published The Outsiders in 1967 while completing her first year in college. This digital version celebrates the 45th anniversary of the controversial young adult book’s release.

Here’s more from the release: “Today, with more than fourteen million copies in print, and translated into more than 30 languages, the book is the best-selling young adult novel of all time. The book was also made into a film in 1983, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and featuring such future stars as Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon and Rob Lowe.”

Read more

Pendragon author D.J. MacHale has landed a deal with Penguin Young Readers Group’s Razorbill imprint for a new science-fiction trilogy.

The first book will be released in summer 2013. Razorbill senior editor Laura Arnold negotiated the deal with Richard Curtis of the Richard Curtis Agency. Arnold described the series: “his new trilogy packs a clean punch, blending mystery and sci-fi in an exhilarating and action-packed adventure.”

According to the release, MacHale’s new series stars “Tucker Pierce, a teenager whose tranquil coastal community is invaded by a mysterious branch of the U.S. military called SYLO.”

Read more

Secret Series author Pseudonymous Bosch (a.k.a. Raphael Simon) has inked a deal for a new middle grade trilogy with Penguin’s Dial Books for Young Readers.

The not-yet-titled first book is slated for release in 2013. Literary agent Sarah Burnes (from the Gernert Company) negotiated the deal with editor-at-large Jennifer Hunt. Hunt will edit the project.

Bosch (pictured, via) submitted this “secret” statement in the release: “It is a thrill to be working with Jennifer Hunt again as well as with all my new friends at Dial.  As my readers know, I love to eat, especially anything chocolate.  I couldn’t be more excited to embark on this important search for three new cooks.  If bread is the staff of life, then a good cook is…What?  Not cooks, books?  I’m supposed to write three new books?  Oh, no—how distressing!”

Read more

Novelist and publishing executive Ben Schrank has mastered the art of compartmentalizing his life.

During business hours, he is the publisher of Penguin Young Readers Group Razorbill imprint, but he has maintained a writing life as well. Farrar, Straus and Giroux will publish his adult novel (Love Is a Canoe) in February.

We caught up with him to ask about how he manages to juggle these two different roles.

Read more

Kristin Ostby will join Albert Whitman & Company as a senior editor.

Previously, Ostby served as an editor at the Penguin Young Readers Group. She worked on the Mad Libs series and licensed books from Nickelodeon, Disney, and DreamWorks.

After leaving Penguin, she worked with a number of publishers as a freelance editor based in Chicago.

If you’ve ever attended Book Expo America (BEA), you’ll know that the food cart choices parked outside the Javits Center typically feature hot dogs and kebabs.

Penguin Young Readers Group author Sarah Dessen (pictured, via) will shake things up with the Dessen Sweetery Truck.

Associate director of publicity Elyse Marshall explained in an email: “Sarah will head out to the truck to hand out free whoopee pies to fans and hungry BEAers. There will be three flavors available: red velvet, chocolate, and Sarah’s Strawberry Surprise (a custom whoopee pie). The truck will be entirely wrapped in Sarah Dessen branding, with all her book covers featured. There will be giveaways available for a few lucky attendees before the Dessen Sweetery Truck moves onto it’s second location of the day: Union Square.”

Read more

Scholastic has made two promotions and one new hire.

Doug Analla and Anamika Bhatnagar have both received promotions. Analla has been named director of marketing and creative services. Bhatnagar now serves as executive editor and director of paperback reprints.

Samantha Schutz has joined Scholastic as executive editor in licensed publishing. Prior to this, Schutz worked as an editor at Penguin Young Readers Group.

Starting February 22nd, Elyse Marshall will serve as associate director of publicity at Penguin Young Readers Group. Prior to this move, Marshall held the position of publicity manager at HarperCollins Children’s Books.

Marshall helped establish her department’s online media and blogger outreach. She has worked with many authors, including Neil Gaiman, Lauren Oliver, Kelley Armstrong, Dan Gutman, Mo Willems, Rob Scotton, Tim Green and the Shel Silverstein estate.

Before she carved out a career in the children’s market, Marshall worked at several of Random House’s nonfiction imprints.

Read more