As is usual for July, we have another quiet week, but conference organizers seem to be taking this time to get their fall line-ups posted. Scroll down to see the new writing events that have opened for registration.

Today I’m celebrating what may be the hottest new YA this summer, by my friend and SCBWI Blueboard Moderator, author of last year’s hit LEARNING TO SWEAR IN AMERICA, Katie Kennedy!

I’m also celebrating a new nonfiction book for kids and their parents by another writer from the SCBWI Blueboard, Dr. Eileen Kennedy-Moore!

Happy Book Birthday

WHAT GOES UP

By Katie Kennedy

Published by Bloomsbury USA

Rosa and Eddie are among hundreds of teens applying to NASA’s mysterious Interworlds Agency. They’re not exactly sure what the top-secret program entails, but they know they want in. Rosa has her brilliant parents’ legacies to live up to, and Eddie has nowhere else to go–he’s certainly not going to stick around and wait for his violent father to get out of jail. Even if they are selected, they have no idea what lies in store. But first they have to make it through round after round of crazy-competitive testing.

And then something happens that even NASA’s scientists couldn’t predict . . .

From the author of the acclaimed Learning to Swear in America comes another high-stakes adventure that’s absolutely out of this world.

Buy the book!

GROWING FRIENDSHIPS

A Kids’ Guide to Making and Keeping Friends

By Eileen Kennedy-Moore & Christine McLaughlin

Published by Beyond Words/Simon & Schuster

Strong friendships matter deeply for children. Friends make the good times better and the bad times more bearable. Kids with good friends are also less likely to get bullied.

But getting along with friends can be complicated. Arguments, shyness, jealousy, or misunderstandings can get in the way of children having the friendships they crave.

Growing Friendships features true-to-life examples of common friendship challenges and practical, research-based solutions. With entertaining cartoons and fun exercises, it helps kids ages six to twelve learn to be open to friendship, choose kind friends, and, most importantly, be a good friend.

Buy the book!

Conference Updates

For more conference information and links, visit the main conference pages. If you’d like to be notified of these weekly updates, please use the Subscribe to Updates form on the sidebar!

Agents & Editors @ Conferences

SEPTEMBER 9: ILLUSTRATORS DAY, PHILADELPHIA, PA

AGENT: James Burns/The Bright Agency
ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Hokanson/Random House Children’s Books

SEPTEMBER 16: SCBWI-INLAND NORTHWEST CONFERENCE, SPOKANE, WA

AGENTS: Jennifer Mattson, Andrea Brown Literary Agency; John Rudolph, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret LLC
EDITOR: Miriam Newman, Candlewick Press

OCTOBER 13-15: SCBWI-MONTANA CONFERENCE, BILLINGS, MT

AGENT: Linda Camacho, Prospect Agency
EDITOR: Kait Feldmann/Scholastic
ART DIRECTOR: Creative Director Heather Kindseth Wutschke/Capstone Press

Retreats & Workshops

SEPTEMBER 15–17: L.A. WORKING WRITERS RETREAT, ENCINO, CA

AUTHORS: Stephanie Gordon, Judy Enderle, Catherine Linka
EDITORS: Karen Chaplin/Harper Collins; Samantha Swank/Scholastic;
AGENTS: Tara Gonzalez/Erin Murphy Literary Agency; Kari Sutherland/Bradford Literary Agency

SEPTEMBER 15-17: DAKOTAS WRITING WORKSHOP, MOBRIDGE, SD

EDITOR: Kendra Levin/Viking

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