Beast is in its Second Printing! Thank You, Readers

THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST second printing samples with a lovely note from my editor.

This Thanksgiving week, I’m incredibly thankful, because THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST has gone into a second printing!

When I was writing this book, I thought it would never get published. It received a LOT of rejections along its journey. But it’s a story from my heart and I was so thrilled to finally be able to share it with the world on June 26 thanks to the Paula Wiseman Books imprint at Simon & Schuster.

Learning that it’s gone into a second printing in just five months, warms my heart more than I can say. But it would never have happened without the support and enthusiasm of so many booksellers, reviewers and readers. So this Thanksgiving, I’m so thankful to people who recommend books to others.

Early on, THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST got a lot of love from the teacher and librarian readers in groups like #BookPosse, “BookJourney and #Bookollaboration. These readers are fantastic. They pass advanced reader copies of books between each other, sharing their thoughts online. #BookPosse member Mandy Stallard called the book her “most exciting debut of 2018 so far.”

Teachers and librarians have put THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST on their Mock Newbery lists, including Ohio fifth-grade teacher Amanda Schreiber. I can’t tell you how honored that makes me.

THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST shelf talker at Interabang Books in Dallas.

I’m so grateful for the love THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST has received from independent bookstores. In the book’s first month of release, it was the Kids Book of the Month at the Cincinnati location of Joseph-Beth Booksellers. Houston’s Brazos Bookstore and my own local indie, BookPeople, interviewed me for their blogs. Dallas indie Interabang Books gave the book a lovely shelf-talker (check it out in the picture — and thank you to author Sean Easley for sending it to me!).

Wonderful book bloggers have recommended the book through reviews, including Word Spelunking, calling the book a “spellbinding and stunning tale”; Kid Lit Exchange saying they “truly appreciated this story”, Bookworm for Kids calling the book “a literary gem”; and Reading Rumpus describing it as having “wide appeal for many readers” and being an “excellent mentor text for teaching point of view.”

Other authors have supported me and the book, including interviews with Chris Barton, Jonathan Roth and Kim Tomsic, recommendations from Donna Janell Bowman, Caroline Starr Rose and Jason Gallaher in his “High-Pitched Hits”, a review from Kathy MacMillan saying the book is “so heartfelt, so immediate,” and a podcast with Bethany Hegedus and her Writing Barn, which I had so much fun recording.

A kid reviewer even gave THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST five stars on Litpick!

The book also made lists on BRIT + CO, Brightly and Southern Living, and was featured at the Texas Book Festival, with Austin 360 calling me an author to check out.

And that’s not all! Wonderful librarians and teachers have shared the book with their students, even inviting me to speak to them in school visits.

A book starts out as an idea, is fleshed out by a writer, guided by critique partners, championed by an agent, and cared for by an editor and publishing team.

But once the story is out in the world, on shelves in bookstores and libraries, it’s the readers who are the rock stars. Readers take books into their hearts then recommend them to everyone they know. Whether that reader is sharing with friends, bookstore customers, library members, students, or readers of their own blog or retail reviews, on behalf of myself and all authors…

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