Category: News

COVER REVEALS — PLURAL! Plus: a roundup of what’s in store for 2026!

~ Jarrett Lerner ~ Leave a comment

I’ve had an exceptionally busy fall — one filled with school visits all over the country, a handful of conference appearances, a family trip to Disney World, and a whole bunch of book-making. Because of all this busyness, I haven’t been keeping up with sharing new book covers and new news here on the blog. Add all that to the fact that 2026 is going to be the biggest publisher year of my career so far, and I’ve fallen way behind.

What makes next year such a big one for me? Well, I’ve got nine — yes, NINE! — books coming out. Two of these are bind-ups of previously released series of books. But still. It’s a lot! So, below, here’s a catch-up/roundup of what I’ve got in store for 2026.

First up, in January (on the 13th, one day after my birthday!), is my fifth Nat the Cat early reader, Nat the Cat Finds a Map. I did already reveal this book’s cover (you can find the post HERE). But that was more than four months ago, and at that point, while the cover was done, the interior had yet to be finalized. Now that’s finally, officially done though (and possibly even being printed as you read this), I can say that this installment of the Nat the Cat series is without a doubt my favorite yet. I think it most fully captures Nat the Cat’s and Pat the Rat’s personalities and their (continually developing) relationship. I also think the book most perfectly hits the combo/balance of humor and heart that I strive to achieve in all my books. And I’m not just tooting my own horn here, either — a big part of Nat the Cat Finds a Map was actually thought up by my oldest daughter, Isla. It’s why the book is dedicated to her. For helping me find the most elegant solution to a problem I couldn’t work out myself, she definitely deserves it!

Next up, in March, I have a very special Middle Grade novel coming out — Roohi and Nate Are Not on the Same Page. Looking at this cover, you might notice something unusual about it: it’s not just my name down on there on the bottom! That’s because I co-wrote and co-illustrated this book with Supriya Kelkar! Supriya and I debuted together way back in 2017, and have been good friends ever since. And when, one day, my agent offhandedly asked whether I’d ever be into co-authoring a book with another creator, Supriya was the person who immediately popped to mind. We’d never worked together like this before, but it came naturally, and went wonderfully, resulting in a book that we couldn’t be more excited to share with our readers, both young and old. It’s a book about friendship, about the power of stories, about being true to yourself, and about the importance of school libraries and their librarians. Early next year, Supriya and I will make some announcements about virtual visit opportunities with the two of us. If that’s something that sounds interesting to you, watch this space (as well as my social media feeds), to make sure to see that info when we share it.

A couple months after Roohi and Nate releases, at the beginning of May, I’ve got a whole slew of fun stuff coming your way. On the first Tuesday of the month (May 5th), I’ve got three books you can get your hands on: my sixth Nat the Cat early reader, Nat the Cat Sets a Trap; a bind-up collection of the first five Nat the Cat early readers, Nat the Cat Five Books in One!; and the first installment of a new series of early graphic novels, The Super Roomies: Lake of Slime.

The latter is part of a brand-new line of books coming out from Simon & Schuster’s Simon Spotlight imprint. These books, called “Star Chapter Books,” are all, in fact, early graphic novels — 112 pages, split up into six to eight chapters, with one to four comic panels on each page. Simon Spotlight is the home of the super successful Ready-to-Read lines of books, and these Star Chapter Books are intended to serve as a sort of next step for young readers who have worked their way through books in that program. But the most important thing I can tell you about ALL of the Star Chapter Books (there will be several others releasing right along with my first one) is that they are FUN. Spotlight’s editors and art directors gave us creators the green light to be as silly and wild as we wanted, and we went for it.

The Super Roomies are superheroes who also happen to be roommates — and not very good ones. In each book, the crew are called upon by their city’s mayor to stop one or another bad guy from committing some sort of reprehensible act, but their roommate-related troubles are always threatening to get in the way of them actually accomplishing their mission. For instance, in Lake of Slime, the deranged Dr. Slimepeople has plans to drain Big City Lake of all its water and replace every last drop with slime, thus making it impossible for the city’s citizens to go swimming. (Like I said: reprehensible.) It’s up to the Super Roomies to figure out just how Dr. Slimepeople is going to do all this draining/replacing and stop him before he can. Which they have plenty of time to do — if, that is, they can stop squabbling about who finished their apartment’s milk and then put the empty carton back in the fridge and stay focused… Below is a sneak peek at some spreads of the book’s interior.

One week after all of that — on May 12th — my fourth book of the month hits shelves: another bind-up, this one of my first-ever series of books, EngiNerds. When I learned that my publisher wanted to rerelease these books in this form, I was beyond delighted. The EngiNerds series is comprised of three Middle Grade novels, all of them just under 200 pages and featuring fun, funny, fast-paced storytelling. For all kinds of reasons, books at this length and with such so-called “high-interest” content are needed now more than ever, and I am so excited that this bind-up will introduce a new generation of readers to the EngiNerds and their epic showdowns with a fleet of bottomlessly hungry, aggressively flatulent robots.

After the EngiNerds 3-in-1, I’ve got a bit of a break, though things ramp back up at the end of the summer and for the end of the year. None of the covers of the remaining books I’ve got coming out have been revealed yet. So, since I can’t show you much, I’ll just tell you about them.

— In August, you’ll be able to get your hands on the second installment of the Super Roomies series, which is called Paint the Town Pink.

— In October, the third book in my Scare School Diaries series, The Un-Hauntable House, comes out.

— In November, I’ve got a second series of Star Chapter Books early graphic novels launching, this one featuring Nat the Cat and Pat the Rat. The first book in this series is called Nat the Cat and the Mysterious Thing.

— And finally, in December, it’s not another book, but a box of them — a boxed set, to be specific, of all my Nat the Cat early readers.

Whew! That’s it for 2026. Looking ahead at it all like this, I’m feeling incredibly grateful that I get to do this work, and also incredibly excited to share all these books with my readers. If YOU are one of those readers: THANK YOU. It’s because of your support that all of this has been and continues to be possible. As always, if you want signed/personalized copies of any of the books mentioned above (or ANY of my already-released books), you can order/preorder them from my wonderful local independent bookstore, the Silver Unicorn. Click HERE to do so.

Again: THANKS!!!

~ Jarrett

COVER REVEAL: Nat the Cat Finds a Map — Plus: New Book News!

~ Jarrett Lerner ~ Leave a comment

In case you missed it, last weekend I revealed the cover of my next (and fifth) Nat the Cat early reader, Nat the Cat Finds a Map. So, without further ado, here it is:

Of all the Nat books, this new one is my personal favorite. I think it does the best job of capturing Nat and Pat’s personalities while also simultaneously taking their relationship to a bit of a new place.

And speaking of venturing to new places, Nat and Pat are bound for a super exciting one: graphic novel chapter books! In 2027, shortly after the sixth Nat the Cat early reader releases, the first two books in this brand-new series will publish. And if you’re disappointed you’ll have to wait that long to see Nat and Pat in comic book panels, next year, I’ve got another graphic novel chapter book series launching. This one is about a new cast of character, the Super Roomies, and I’ll be sharing a bunch more about them soon. In the meantime, though, you can check out the announcement about their graphic novel chapter book series, as well as Nat and Pat’s, below.

All of these graphic novel chapter books are 112 pages, with each page broken up into at least one but no more than four panels. They perfectly fill a hole currently out there in the marketplace, and are thoughtfully designed and carefully crafted to, first of all, be a total blast, and second of all, to help young readers continue to grow. In terms of Nat and Pat, you’ll also get to see THEM grow. Especially Nat, who in each of these books is pushed to emotional places readers have yet to see him in.

In OTHER book news, I recently announced something else: that my Scare School Diaries series of highly illustrated chapter books has been extended, too! Book 3, The Un-Hauntable House, will be out next fall, with the fourth book in the series coming early on in 2027. Here’s the announcement for THAT:

But back to Nat and Pat! Nat the Cat Finds a Map will be out first thing next year, on January 13th (the day after my birthday!), but you can preorder it right now wherever books are sold. As always, if you preorder it from my astoundingly awesome local independent bookstore, the Silver Unicorn, I will sign, doodle-in, and (if you want) personalize your copies. You can do that by clicking HERE.

Okay, I better get back to work. I’ve got a lot of books to finish…

~ Jarrett

MY MAD SCIENTIST MOM: SAVED BY THE SMELL pub day!

~ Jarrett Lerner ~ 2 Comments

Today, my 21st book hits shelves! The book: Saved by the Smell, the first installment of my brand-new My Mad Scientist Mom series of illustrated chapter books.

I have posted here about the book before–extensively, actually, about both the real-life models that the boy and mom characters are based on as well as the creation of the book’s cover (click HERE to check out that blog post)–so for now, I will simply remind what the book is all about. Below is my publisher’s blurb about the book:

A boy gets buried in dirty laundry and pulled into time travel shenanigans after his mom’s latest experiment in this first book in the My Mad Scientist Mom chapter book series from acclaimed author-illustrator Jarrett Lerner.

Ari’s life is filled with school, video games, and his pet turtle, Fred: pretty run-of-the mill stuff. But not anywhere near run-of-the-mill is Ari’s mom, who’s a mad scientist. That’s right, a MAD scientist. Sure, she strives to make people’s lives better with her inventions, especially at home. But all of Mom’s inventions seem to go just the slightest bit off kilter. And when she devises a time portal to help deal with the massive mounds of dirty laundry that have taken over their house, she creates a MUCH bigger problem than just stinky clothes, and it’s up to Ari to get them out of a prehistoric mess.

Starting today, you can find Saved by the Smell anywhere books are sold. As always, if you order from my local independent bookstore, the Silver Unicorn, I will sign, doodle-in, and personalize (if you wish) every and as many copies as you want. (That’s true for ALL of my books, at any time!) Click HERE to order Saved by the Smell (and, if you want, PREorder No More Mr. Mice Guy, the second installment of the My Mad Scientist Mom series) from the Silver Unicorn.

I am wildly excited to see what my readers make of this book and its cast of characters. I’m also hoping it inspires readers to come up with plenty of their own mad science-y stories of their own. If YOU or a young person in your life end up checking out Saved by the Smell, I’d love to hear what you think of it! Leave a comment below, send me a message at my public email account (you can find the address on the CONTACT page of this website), or go find me on social media and message me there. As always, THANK YOU for the support. And happy reading!

~ Jarrett

NAT THE CAT HAS A HAT pub day!

~ Jarrett Lerner ~ 2 Comments

Today, my newest book, Nat the Cat Has a Hat, officially hits shelves!

Nat the Cat Has a Hat is the fourth installment of my Nat the Cat early reader series, joining Nat the Cat Takes a Nap, Nat the Cat Takes a Bath, and Nat the Cat Has a Snack.

I try to make every one of my Nat the Cat books fun and funny–that is definitely the most important thing. But in each book, I also attempt to explore some emotional terrain that my young readers might also find themselves facing. In Nat the Cat Takes a Nap, Nat struggles with exhaustion and the annoyance and anger that often stem from it. In Nat the Cat Takes a Bath, Nat confronts fear and shame. In Nat the Cat Has a Snack, Nat deals with selfishness and, at least at first, has a tough time with sharing. And in this newest book, Nat the Cat Has a Hat, Nat has to grapple with jealousy and pride.

The release of Nat the Cat Has a Hat is special for another reason, too–it’s my 20th published book! This fact somehow feels both obvious and also impossible for me to wrap my head around. I’ve worked long and hard, and so a part of me thinks, Yeah, that was about 20 books‘ worth of work. But another part of me thinks back to before I’d sold my first book, to the days (and there were LOTS of them) where I’d think, If I could just publish one book–ONE book–in my whole entire lifetime, I’d be happy. For a long time, it was all I wanted. And I try to remind myself of that as much as I can. It helps me take a step back, take a deep breath, and feel a bit of pride about what I’ve done (something I am notoriously quite bad at…). At the same time, it also reminds me that there is absolutely no way I could’ve gotten here without my family, my friends, and also everyone–likely including YOU–who has ever supported me and my work in any way. So, if that’s you: THANK YOU. Books are nothing without readers, and whether you are one of my readers or someone keeping tabs on my career in order to connect my books to the right readers (or both!), you have been instrumental in making these 20 books a reality, and also in bringing about the next 20. You have quite literally helped make my dreams come true. I appreciate it enormously, and will never stop.

~ Jarrett

FOREST FRIGHTS pub day!

~ Jarrett Lerner ~ 3 Comments

Today, Forest Frights–the second book in my Scare School Diaries series–finally hits shelves!

Like Welcome to Scare School–the first book in the Scare School Diaries series–Forest Frights is the diary of young ghost Bash, now in his second session at Scare School. And in this session, Bash has to contend with something truly terrifying: a group project! Bash survives the ordeal (spoiler alert!), and in the end has several opportunities to be brave, discovering that everyone is scared of something, and that the most important thing is making sure your fears don’t keep you from doing the things that you want and need to do.

Here’s my publisher’s official description of the book:

Bash the ghost learns to work with trouble-loving vampires in this second book in the sweet and spooky chapter book series by acclaimed author Jarrett Lerner.

At the start of his second session at Scare School, the world’s premiere institution for elementary scare instruction, Bash is feeling a bit more confident and excited about his classes starting up again. But when Vlad and Vicky, the mischievous vampires, join his group project, Bash starts worrying if this mean-spirited duo are going to take a bite out of his good grade!

Just a few weeks ago, Forest Frights got written up by Kirkus Reviews. They called the book “A warmly reassuring tale for those who prefer their scares on the lighter side,” which is basically exactly what I was going for. (If you want, you can read the full review HERE.)

Kirkus’s positive review followed a string of good news for Welcome to Scare School. The book was a featured fall title for Literati book club, appearing at the company’s book fairs across the country. Up north, in Canada, the book was named one of the Best Books of 2024 by Indigo (Canada’s largest bookseller). The book also received love and praise from bookstores and readers as far away as Australia! In addition to all this, I got some news about the book that I am actually not allowed to share yet–but I can tell you that, because of it, Welcome to Scare School will end up in the hands of even more young readers than it would have otherwise. (Keep an eye on my social media feeds to hear the secret news, which I’ll be sharing there as soon as I’m allowed to.)

I think kids who loved Welcome to Scare School will love this second installment of the series just as much, and I’m glad that those who have yet to discover the first book will be able to dive right into Forest Frights should they want even more of Bash and his friends. If you know some of these kids, make sure you let them know about the SCARE SCHOOL DIARIES page of this website, where you can find all sorts of FREE Scare School-related activities. And as always, if you want signed, doodled-in, and personalized copies of Welcome to Scare School and/or Forest Frights, order from my local independent bookstore, the Silver Unicorn. (Click HERE to do that!)

~ Jarrett

WELCOME TO SCARE SCHOOL pub day!

~ Jarrett Lerner ~ 3 Comments

Today’s the day! My newest book — and newest series — is officially here. Meaning I can, at long last, say to all my readers… WELCOME TO SCARE SCHOOL!

That, of course, is the title of this first book in my new Scare School Diaries series.

I started playing around with the Scare School concept over four years ago. It took me a long time to figure out just how to present the story. If you’ve taken a look at the interior of the book (either via my social media accounts, or on any online book retailer site that offers a preview of the first handful of pages of the book), you’ll know that it’s a “hybrid” — a blend of text, illustrations, and comics. There aren’t many books out there in such a format, but for me, it is the most natural way of creating and sharing stories. If a part of the story is most powerfully, excitingly, and/or humorously told using words, I use words, and if a part of the story is most powerfully, excitingly, and/or humorously told using pictures (illustrations or comics), I use pictures. I think this sort or storytelling resonates particularly well with today’s kids, too, who are often (probably most often) consuming media that contains/blends both words and images. It also makes for a super absorbing reading experience, as kids, turning the pages, never know what they’re going to see on the next spread. I’m grateful to my editor and publisher for consistently letting me (and even encouraging me to!) create outside of the traditional kids’ books boxes.

Anyway, all of this is to say that this day has been a long time coming. It’s a bit surreal for me that it’s finally here. And now that it is, the thing that I am of course most excited about is finding out what you (and especially your young readers!) think of the book. If you want to learn more about Welcome to Scare School, check out the booktalk I recorded for the book below (you can also find this video at the Scare School Diaries page of this website and on my YouTube page). And if those readers of yours enjoy the book, don’t miss all the FREE Scare School Diaries activities I made (you can download those at the same Scare School Diaries page of this website). Also, a reminder that the NEXT Scare School Diaries book, Forest Frights, will be out on November 5th of THIS YEAR, and is already available for preorder everywhere books are sold. As with all my books, if you order the book from my local independent bookstore, the Silver Unicorn, yours will be signed, doodled-in, and personalized (if you want). You can do that HERE.

Lastly, for my local friends and fans: I’ll be launching Welcome to Scare School THIS weekend at the Silver Unicorn, along with my pal (and absolutely marvelous Middle Grade author) Betsy Uhrig. She’s got a spooky book out today, too. The fun starts at 3:00 pm on Saturday afternoon. And I mean fun — the Silver Unicorn will be turning their store into a HAUNTED HOUSE! Costumes are encouraged for this “Halloween in July” celebration. If you’re around and available, I hope to see you there!

~ Jarrett

A COVER REVEAL and a ONE-MONTH COUNTDOWN!

~ Jarrett Lerner ~ 1 Comment

Happy April 7th?

What am I celebrating?

In just one month, on May 7th, TWO big books of mine are coming out: (1) my next Nat the Cat early reader, Nat the Cat Has a Snack, and (2) the paperback edition of A Work in Progress.

Nat the Cat Has a Snack — the third book starring Nat and his rat pal, Pat — is about SHARING. Both the beauty of it . . . and the difficulty of it. My hope is that kids get a kick out of watching Nat discover that things are almost always better when we share with friends, and also learn that we can share both good things with friends (like snacks!) and also bad things (like hard-to-solve problems!).

If you read this blog and/or follow me, I surely don’t need to tell you what A Work in Progress is about. But I definitely do need to tell you that the paperback edition of the book — which, again, you can get your hands on in just ONE MONTH — is not only more lightweight and portable than the hardcover, it’s also cheaper. (Hooray!) I hope the lower price leads to the book reaching the hands of many, many more kids. And hey — if you plan to get a copy of the book, you can do it now and enter the book’s paperback preorder giveaway, which’ll give you a chance to win a whole class set of the books! Find more info about that in the image caption below.

To enter the A Work in Progress paperback preorder giveaway: Preorder the paperback edition of the book and send proof of preorder to AWIPpreorder@gmail.com. You will be entered to win an additional 20 extra copies! Multiple preorders and/or preorders from independent bookstores are counted as multiple entries.

And now, last but certainly not least, as promised . . . a COVER REVEAL!

Yes, the first volume of my newest series, Scare School Diaries, is not even out yet (it will be on July 16th), but we are already promoting the second volume, because — excitingly! — it comes out just three and a half months after the first. It’s not unusual for kids to have to wait a whole year, and sometimes even longer, for a subsequent installment of a book series to publish. But, along with my amazing team at Aladdin/Simon & Schuster, I am always aiming to grow readers and keep kids happy, so we’ve worked hard to keep the books coming.

Forest Frights is about one of the scariest things kids will encounter during their educational careers: the dreaded GROUP PROJECT. Here’s my publisher’s official writeup for the book:

At the start of his second session at Scare School, the world’s premiere institution for elementary scare instruction, Bash is feeling a bit more confident and excited about his classes starting up again. But when Vlad and Vicky, the mischievous vampires, join his group project, Bash starts worrying if this mean-spirited duo are going to take a bite out of his good grade!

You can preorder Forest Frights — along with, of course, the first book in the Scare School Diaries series, Welcome to Scare School — anywhere books are sold. As always, if you order and/or preorder any of my books from my local indie, the Silver Unicorn, I can sign, personalize, and doodle in your copies. Click HERE to do that. And THANKS!

~ Jarrett

Nat the “NOTABLE” Cat!

~ Jarrett Lerner ~ 1 Comment

I had a pretty busy end of January and start of February, and so it’s taken me a while to get around to sharing this news — but I am delighted to share that Nat the Cat Takes a Nap has been named an ALSC/ALA Notable Book!

If you’re not super familiar with the world of children’s literature, this news might leave you with a few questions. Like, What’s the ALSC? And what about the ALA? And what does it mean when they say a book is “notable”?

Well, the ALSC is the Association for Library Service to Children, and the ALA is the American Library Association, and at the end of every calendar year, various committees formed by these groups meet up to discuss all the children’s books that have been published over the course of the previous dozen months. From this mountain of titles, a small number are chosen and given that above-mentioned designation of “notable” — which, according to the ALSC/ALA, means:

Worthy of note or notice, important, distinguished, outstanding. As applied to children’s books, notable should be thought to include books of especially commendable quality, books that exhibit venturesome creativity, and books of fiction, information, poetry and pictures for all age levels (birth through age 14) that reflect and encourage children’s interests in exemplary ways.

Pretty nice, right?!

I was beyond delighted to get this news, and want to once again thank the ALSC and ALA — and, specifically, the Notable Books committee — for this honor. Below is a graphic my publisher posted, celebrating all of their books that were named notable. Nat the Cat and Pat the Rat are keeping some truly excellent company!

Want to see the full list of ALSC/ALA Notable Books? Click HERE!

~ Jarrett

Happy New Year — And A Whole Bunch of Updates!

~ Jarrett Lerner ~ Leave a comment

Happy new year!

I managed to spend the last week or so of 2023 away from my computer and drawing tablet. It was lovely, and much needed — but I’m excited to be back. Especially because I’ve got a whole bunch of exciting updates to share.

First up, some Nat the Cat news!

My curmudgeonly feline friend has been popping up in some exciting places, like on Betsy Bird’s absolutely spectacular Fuse 8 blog. If you don’t know Betsy and her work, you ought to change that immediately. I’ve been a fan of Betsy’s work since before I had a book published. Over the years, I have learned about SO many amazing books from her — books I most likely would’ve otherwise missed. Also, Betsy’s writing — whether on her blog or in her books — is simply wonderful. Her voice is so strong, her sentences such a delight to read. Take a peek at her blog and you’ll quickly get what I mean.

Anyway, one of the coolest (and most impressive) things Betsy does on her blog is her annual “31 Days, 31 Lists” marathon of, well, lists. Every year, for each day of December, Betsy posts a list — a round up of what she considers the best kids’ books published in a variety of categories. I look forward to these lists every year, and usually read them with a pad and pen so I can write down all the titles I missed and want to check out. So you can imagine how excited I was when I spotted none other than Nat on one of Betsy’s lists. Specifically, Nat the Cat Takes a Nap and Nat the Cat Takes a Bath appeared on Betsy’s 2023 Easy Books and Early Chapter Books list.

Before I tell you what Betsy said about Nat’s books, I first want to share with you a bit from Betsy’s introduction to the post. She begins by asking a question: “Is the most difficult kind of book to write for children a picture book, a poetry book for kids, an easy book, or an early chapter book?” After ruling out picture book and poetry, she finally comes to a conclusion: it’s a tie between so-called easy books and early chapter books. Why? First of all, “A truly great easy book must use literally the simplest of words to convey a title so interesting that it makes a child want to know how to read.” And early chapter books? Each one has “the additional obligation of transitioning children from those easy books into long chapter books. If it fails, it sets the kid back.”

I have long felt this way about these deceptively “easy” books — and only felt it more so after I began publishing both kinds. It’s why I typically use the term “early reader” as opposed to “easy books.” They are extremely challenging to make, and not at all easy for the emerging readers who are their target audience. The only people they are easy for, in fact, are already-fluent readers (like the adults who are putting the books into the hands of the kids who need them). Probably because they’ve read these kinds of books by the hundred, if not thousand, all the librarians and educators I’ve met understand just how hard these books are to make. And any grownup who doesn’t get it should sit down and try their hand at making one themselves. The difficulties will pretty much immediately become apparent.

It was so nice to read Betsy’s take on all this — and then I scrolled down and got a look at Nat, followed by a bunch of very kind words from Betsy. Here’s her write-up in full:

Oo! A new easy book character to read relentlessly for years! And read I shall! Here we have Nat, a semi-rectangular feline with triangle ears. In Takes a Bath, with the requisite number of flies buzzing about his ears, Nat is slated to take a bath… and he don’t wanna. So how do you get a whole book out of that? As it turns out, the delay tactics of children with limited vocabularies transfer perfectly over to cats who feel the same way. Meanwhile, in Takes a Nap, Nat is trying to sleep but the book’s narrator is keeping him from his forty winks with funny results.  I thought the text in both books nicely appropriate for kids first wrapping their heads around slightly longer words like “because” and “bubbles” and “scared”. Now with Nat and the Rat named Pat’s dialogue balloons, coupled with the simpler narration, it would be possible to have a child reading aloud the narrator’s part, alongside a better reader doing Nat’s. Particularly since Nat gets all the good emotional moments (I was particularly fond of him going “And… and… and…”)

Just a couple days after finding Nat the Cat on Betsy’s blog, I received some news about another one of my books — A Work in Progress. The book was among those selected for the 2024 edition of ProjectLIT.

To quote the people behind the project: “Born out of one classroom in Nashville, TN, in 2016, our grassroots literacy movement now includes more than 2,000 schools (or “chapters”) across all 50 states, all committed to increasing book access and promoting a love of reading, and all led by incredible students, teachers, and librarians.” In the seven years since its inception, ProjectLIT has made the kid lit world dramatically better in all kinds of ways. The best way to learn more about ProjectLIT and to see the amazing things it does, follow @projectlitcomm on Instagram and elsewhere. You can also search the hashtag, follow some of the individual chapter accounts, or look for interviews with ProjectLIT founder Jared Amato.

Not long after all this, just before the end of the year, I got some more good news: I learned that Nat the Cat Takes a Nap had been given a 2023 Nerdy Book Award. If you’re not familiar with the Nerdy Book Club and the crew of brilliant, big-hearted people behind it, it’s another thing you must change. They have influenced and inspired me for years, and if you think I’m good at what I do, it’s in large part because of all of what I’ve learned from people like Donalyn Miller, Pernille Ripp, Colby Sharp, Travis Jonker, John Schu, and many of the other nerds making up the initial core of the “club.” So to find out that a book of mine had been selected by them as one of the best of the year — it was a special honor.

The day after Nat got his award, another batch of Nerdy Book Awards were announced — these ones for poetry and novels in verse.

And guess what showed up on there?

A Work in Progress also showed up on Colby Sharp’s personal blog on his round up on Amazing 2023 Books.

All of this made for a fantastic end to 2023, and the first week of 2024 has been pretty great, too. On the first day of the year, Nat popped up yet again — this time as a finalist for a Cybils Award. The Cybils are a unique and wonderful award, and rather than try to describe them myself, I’ll quote them directly:

At its heart, the Cybils Awards is a group of readers passionate about seeking out and recognizing books that portray diversity, inclusion, and appropriate representation for children and teens. To accomplish that goal, the Cybils Awards works to recognize books written for children and young adults that combine both the highest literary merit and popular appeal.

As one of the two original founders put it, between the brussels sprouts of literary merit and the gummy bears of popularity contests, we are the organic chicken nuggets–both yummy and nutritious!

If you didn’t know about the Cybils Awards before, surely you can now imagine how honored I am for Nat the Cat Takes a Nap to have received one. Even more awesome, Nat is in some absolutely amazing company — some of my favorite books of the year!

The last bit of news to report is that I was in a newspaper — specifically, the Boston Globe. I was interviewed by parenting columnist Kara Baskin about my background, my work, and the importance of making books that reflect the full and true spectrum of boys’ emotional lives. It was an enormous thrill to see myself and my work and words in print like it was. My kids, meanwhile, were mostly just excited that there was a picture of Taylor Swift right below my interview. You can check out the piece in the Globe‘s January 5th print edition, or online HERE.

All in all, I had quite an incredible end of 2023 and beginning of 2024. I don’t take any of these special shouts-outs for granted, and am humbled by every single one. The biggest thing I take away from it all is that the people behind these honors and awards, all of whom I know to be most focused on the kids that these books are all for, believe I’m doing some good work. And the biggest thing that does for me is make me eager to keep working — to make more of the kinds of books that kids both want and need. I plan to do exactly this year and beyond.

THANK YOU to all of the above-mentioned individuals and groups for reading my books, and for considering — and ultimately choosing them — for all of this awesome recognition. And THANK YOU to you if you’ve made it through this long (and pretty braggy, I know…) blog post, and for any and all of the support you gave me and my work in 2023.

In addition to the links embedded above, you can find all the posts mentioned above listed on my Press page. Once again: Happy new year!

~ Jarrett

MORE Best of 2023 News!

~ Jarrett Lerner ~ 2 Comments

A few weeks ago, I hopped on here to talk about how the end of the year meant the arrival of all sorts of Best Of lists — and I shared that the audiobook edition of A Work in Progress had popped up on none other than Audible’s Best of 2023. (Click HERE to check out that post.)

Well, in the time since I’ve written that, lots more lists have appeared, and I’m super delighted and wildly honored to let you know that my books have popped up on even more of them!

First up, New York Public Library’s (yep — the one with the famous lions out front) Best Books of 2023 list, on which A Work in Progress appeared:

And now, another wonderful city’s equally wondering public library — Chicago Public Library’s 2023 Best of the Best list, on which A Work in Progress was included:

Leaving behind the public libraries and heading into schools, Nat the Cat — and his second book, Nat the Cat Takes a Nap — showed up on School Library Journal’s Best Books list:

And last but definitely not least, I made a pair of appearances on another list — one that I look forward to every single year. The list is compiled by author-illustrator-librarian Travis Jonker, and published on his brilliant 100 Scope Notes blog. (You really should subscribe to it, if you don’t already.) The list, Travis’s annual “Year in Miscellanea,” is a collection of amusing, exciting, and fun things that have happened in the kid lit world throughout the calendar year. As soon as Travis posts the list, I open it up and read it, because it’s never not a delight. So imagine my surprise when I saw my name on there — twice. Best of all, my appearances on the list have nothing to do with anything I’ve done. Except, I suppose, celebrate some of the amazing creations of my fans. Here — take a look. First, at these fabulous cookies:

And now, feast your eyes on this incredible work of art:

Yes, those are Rubik’s Cubes. Dozens and dozens of them. (I’m pretty sure they told me how many, but I can’t remember. If you want, you can zoom in and count.)

Amazing. All of it. I am humbled and very, very happy.

I want to once again thank all the librarians, both public and school, for considering my books and ultimately honoring them in this way. It means that they will reach — and, hopefully, positively impact — even more readers than they would otherwise. And that, at the end of the day, is all I’m really after.

~ Jarrett