Books & Authors
PRH Semi-Finalists:
WHERE REASONS END by Yiyun Li (Random House)
WE CAST A SHADOW by Maurice Carlos Ruffin (One World/Random House)
ON EARTH WE'RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS by Ocean Vuong (Penguin Press)
PRHPS Client Semi-Finalist:
THE NIGHT SWIMMERS by Peter Rock (Soho Press)
To view the complete 2020 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction longlist, click here.
Congratulations and good luck to our authors, their editors and publishers.
Urofsky presents a history of affirmative action from its beginning with the Civil Rights Act of 1866 to the first use of the term in 1935 with the enactment of the National Labor Relations Act (the Wagner Act) to 1961 and John F. Kennedy’s Executive Order 10925, mandating that federal contractors take “affirmative action” to ensure that there be no discrimination by “race, creed, color, or national origin” down to today’s American society.
In this important, ambitious, far-reaching book, readers will come to fully understand the societal impact of affirmative action: how and why it has helped, and inflamed, people of all walks of life; how it has evolved; and how, and why, it is still needed.
Melvin Urofsky is a professor emeritus of history at Virginia Commonwealth University and was the chair of its history department. He is the editor (with David W. Levy) of the five-volume collection of Louis Brandeis’s letters, as well as the author of The Affirmative Action Puzzle, Dissent and the Supreme Court, and Louis D. Brandeis. He lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
YOU NEVER FORGET YOUR FIRST: A BIOGRAPHY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON by Alexis Coe
With irresistible style and warm humor, You Never Forget Your First combines rigorous research and lively storytelling that will have readers—including those who thought presidential biographies were just for dads—inhaling every page.
GRANT by Ron Chernow
Pulitzer Prize winner Ron Chernow returns with a sweeping and dramatic portrait of one of our most compelling generals and presidents, Ulysses S. Grant. The definitive biography, Grant is a grand synthesis of painstaking research and literary brilliance that makes sense of all sides of Grant's life, explaining how this simple Midwesterner could at once be so ordinary and so extraordinary.
CONVERSATIONS WITH JFK: A FICTIONAL DIALOGUE BASED ON BIOGRAPHICAL FACTS by Michael O'Brien, Foreword by Gore Vidal
Imagined by one of the world’s foremost JFK scholars, this fictionalized conversation presents the essential biography of America’s most glamorous and mythologized president. The book is divided into two parts: a biographical essay that provides a concise overview of JFK’s life, achievements, scandals and controversies; and a Q&A dialogue based on rigorous research and incorporating JFK’s actual spoken or written words whenever possible, along with rigorously researched biographical interpretations of his various views and positions.
DESTINY OF THE REPUBLIC: A TALE OF MADNESS, MEDICINE AND THE MURDER OF A PRESIDENT by Candice Millard
Though he was a reluctant president, the legacy of James Garfield extended far beyond his lifetime, and Destiny of the Republic revisits his meteoric rise within the military and government with meticulous research and intimate focus. Garfield was a passionate advocate of freed slaves, a reformer at odds with Republican power brokers and machine politics, a devoted father, and a spellbinding speech-giver. Four months after taking office he was shot twice by an unhinged office-seeker, Charles Guiteau, and a nation already recently fractured by war shattered, leaving the wounded president at the center of a bitter, behind-the-scenes struggle for power.
IN THE PRESIDENT'S SECRET SERVICE: BEHIND THE SCENES WITH AGENTS IN THE LINE OF FIRE AND THE PRESIDENTS THEY PROTECT by Ronald Kessler
Secret Service agents, acting as human surveillance cameras, observe everything that goes on behind the scenes during the presidency. Kessler reveals what they have seen, providing startling, previously untold stories about presidents from Barack Obama and George W. Bush back to John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, as well as about their families, Cabinet officers, and White House aides. Only Secret Service agents know the real story, and Ronald Kessler is the only journalist who has won their trust.
FROM THE CORNER OF THE OVAL: A MEMOIR by Beck Dorey-Stein
The New York Times bestselling, compulsively readable, behind-the-scenes memoir that takes readers inside the Obama White House, through the eyes of a young staffer learning the ropes, falling in love, and finding her place in the world.
MR. PRESIDENT: HOW AND WHY THE FOUNDERS CREATED A CHIEF EXECUTIVE by Ray Raphael
The dramatic and penetrating story of the political maneuverings and personalities behind the creation of the office of the president, with ramifications that continue to this day.
THOMAS JEFFERSON: THE ART OF POWER by Jon Meacham
Jon Meacham brings to life the complete man, from birth to his last days—through the Revolutionary War and his years as President. We see the Founding Father who steered the states to nationhood, wrote the Declaration of Independence, and, as a master politician President, doubled the size of America through the Louisiana Purchase. With a powerful narrrative, Meacham guides us through the life and extraordinary times of a man often admired but, before now, never truly understood in all his complexity.
THE RISE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT by Edmund Morris
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE AND THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD • Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time. This classic biography is the story of seven men—a naturalist, a writer, a lover, a hunter, a ranchman, a soldier, and a politician—who merged at age forty-two to become the youngest President in history.
THE PATH TO POWER: THE YEARS OF LYNDON JOHNSON by Robert A. Caro
The Path to Power, Book One, reveals in extraordinary detail the genesis of the almost superhuman drive, energy, and urge to power that set LBJ apart. Chronicling the startling early emergence of Johnson’s political genius, it follows him from his Texas boyhood through the years of the Depression in the Texas hill Country to the triumph of his congressional debut in New Deal Washington, to his heartbreaking defeat in his first race for the Senate, and his attainment, nonetheless, of the national power for which he hungered.
FOR YOUNGER READERS
WHAT IS THE PRESIDENT'S JOB?
Find out what the president does as you learn about the executive branch of government and see what a day in the life of the commander in chief is really like.
THOMAS JEFFERSON: LIFE< LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF EVERYTHING by Maira Kalman
Renowned artist Maira Kalman sheds light on the fascinating life and interests of the Renaissance man who was our third president.
I AM KIND: A LITTLE BOOK ABOUT ABRAHAM LINCOLN by Brad Meltzer and Christopher Eliopoulos
This friendly, fun biography series focuses on the traits that made our heroes great—the traits that kids can aspire to in order to live heroically themselves. The short text focuses on drawing inspiration from these iconic heroes, and includes an interactive element and factual tidbits that young kids will be able to connect with. This volume tells the story of Abraham Lincoln, America’s sixteenth president.
For more on these and related titles visit: PRESIDENTS DAY
There’s a Book for That! is brought to you by Penguin Random House’s Sales department. Please follow our Tumblr by clicking here—and share this link with your accounts: theresabookforthat.tumblr.com. Thank you!
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In accepting his Oscar, Cherry said, “HAIR LOVE was done because we wanted to see more representation in animation; we wanted to normalize black hair … This award is dedicated to Kobe Bryant. May we all have a second act as great as his was.” The late Los Angeles Lakers legend was the first African American and only other former professional athlete to win a Best Animated Short Film Oscar, which Bryant received in 2018 for Dear Basketball.
HAIR LOVE was directed by Cherry and produced by Karen Rupert Toliver. The film’s team of animators included Everett Downing Jr. (Up, WALL-E) and Bruce W. Smith (The Proud 
Family), Peter Ramsey (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) and Frank Abney (Toy Story 4).
Our congratulations to Mr. Cherry, our colleagues at Kokila and Penguin Young Readers, and everyone involved with the creation of HAIR LOVE.
THE TESTAMENTS by Margaret Atwood
U.S.: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday
Canada: McClelland & Stewart
UK: Chatto & Windus
QUICHOTTE by Salman Rushdie
U.S.: Random House
Canada: Knopf Canada
UK: Jonathan Cape
GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER by Bernardine Evaristo
UK: Hamish Hamilton
10 MINUTES 38 SECONDS IN THIS STRANGE WORLD by Elif Shafak
UK: Viking UK
Click here for the complete 2019 Booker Prize short list.
Hearty congratulations to Mr. Rushdie and Ms. Atwood as well as Ms. Evaristo and Ms. Shafak, and their publishing teams across our companies.
On to the awards dinner in London on Monday, October 14.
SALT & STRAW ICE CREAM COOKBOOK by Tyler Malek, JJ Goode
Salt & Straw is the ice cream brainchild of two cousins, Tyler and Kim Malek, who had a vision but no recipes. They turned to their friends for advice: chefs, chocolatiers, brewers, and food experts of all kinds, and what came out is a super-simple base that takes five minutes to make, and an ice cream company that sees new flavors and inspiration everywhere they look. This book reveals what they’ve learned, how to tap your own creativity and how to invent flavors of your own, based on whatever you see around you. Because ice cream isn’t just a thing you eat, it’s a way to live.
THE PERFECT SCOOP, REVISED AND UPDATED: 200 RECIPES FOR ICE CREAMS, SORBETS, GELATOS, GRANITAS, AND SWEET ACCOMPANIMENTS: A COOKBOOK by David Lebovitz
A revised and updated edition of the best-selling ice cream book, featuring a dozen new recipes, a fresh design, and all-new photography. This comprehensive collection of homemade ice creams, sorbets, gelatos, granitas, and accompaniments from New York Times best-selling cookbook author and blogger David Lebovitz emphasizes classic and sophisticated flavors alongside a bountiful helping of personality and proven technique.
MEXICAN ICE CREAM: BELOVED RECIPES AND STORIES: A COOKBOOK by Fany Gerson
A collection of 60+ flavor-packed recipes for ice creams and frozen treats rooted in Mexico's rich and revered ice cream traditions. Oaxacan-style Lime Sorbet, Avocado-Chocolate Ice Cream, and Rice-Almond Ice Cream with Cinnamon. All recipes are created with the home cook in mind. Mexican Ice Cream features vibrant location photography and captures the authentic Mexican heladerias that Fany Gerson has been visiting for decades.
HELLO, MY NAME IS ICE CREAM: THE ART AND SCIENCE OF THE SCOOP by Dana Cree
With more than 100 recipes for ice cream flavors and revolutionary mix-ins from a James Beard-nominated pastry chef, Hello, My Name Is Ice Cream explains not only how to make amazing ice cream, but also the science behind the recipes so you can understand ice cream like a pro.
N'ICE CREAM: 80+ RECIPES FOR HEALTHY HOMEMADE VEGAN ICE CREAMS by Virpi Mikkonen, Tuulia Talvio
Just in time to beat the summer heat, Award-winning Finnish author Virpi and coauthor Tuulia show that making your own ice cream can be easy and good for you at the same time. N'ice Cream offers 80 decadent and healthy ice cream recipes made from all-natural, wholesome vegan ingredients like fruits, berries, and plant-based milks and nuts--as the authors say, "no weird stuff." These recipes can be made with or without an ice cream maker, and include foolproof instant ice creams that can be savored right away.
SWEET CREAM AND SUGAR CONES: 90 RECIPES FOR MAKING YOUR OWN ICE CREAM AND FROZEN TREATS FROM BI-RITE CREAMERY: A COOKBOOK by Kris Hoogerhyde, Anne Walker, Dabney Gough
San Francisco’s Bi-Rite Creamery is as well known for its small-batch, handcrafted, show-stopping, inventive ice cream as it is for the long line that snakes around the block. Guests young and old flock to the destination ice cream shop, craving a toasty banana split, a jewel-toned ice pop, a scoop of cooling sorbet, a mouthwatering ice cream sandwich, or one of the best ice cream cakes around. Now you can make your own with this irresistible guide to making 90 intensely flavorful handmade ice creams including the smash hits Salted Caramel and Balsamic Strawberry, plus other favorites.
THE CIAO BELLA BOOK OF GELATO AND SORBETTO: BOLD, FRESH FLAVORS TO MAKE AT HOME by F. W. Pearce, Danilo Zecchin
When you think of the most delicious and fresh gelato and sorbetto in America, you are craving Ciao Bella. The premier gelato and sorbetto maker in the country may be known for using the world’s finest ingredients—Sicilian lemons, Valrhona chocolate, Louisiana pralines—but you don’t need to travel the globe to experience the bold flavors yourself. All you need is a handful of simple, fresh ingredients; a standard ice cream machine; and your imagination.
For more on these and other great books for young readers visit the collection: Ice Cream
There’s a Book for That! is brought to you by Penguin Random House’s Sales department. Please follow our Tumblr by clicking here—and share this link with your accounts: theresabookforthat.tumblr.com. Thank you! Did you see something on the news or read about something on your commute? Perhaps you noticed something trending on Twitter? Did you think: “There’s a book for that!”? Then please, send it our way at theresabookforthat@penguinrandomhouse.com
Our Longlisted Books for the 2020 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
February 18, 2020
The PEN/Faulkner Foundation has announced its 10-title longlist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, which includes three books published by Penguin Random House imprints and one book published by a Penguin Random House Publisher Services publisher client. The five finalists will be announced in March. The winner will be named in April and presented with a $15,000 prize at the 40th Annual PEN/Faulkner Award ceremony on Monday, May 4, in Washington, DC.
PRH Semi-Finalists:
WHERE REASONS END by Yiyun Li (Random House)
WE CAST A SHADOW by Maurice Carlos Ruffin (One World/Random House)
ON EARTH WE'RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS by Ocean Vuong (Penguin Press)
PRHPS Client Semi-Finalist:
THE NIGHT SWIMMERS by Peter Rock (Soho Press)
To view the complete 2020 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction longlist, click here.
Congratulations and good luck to our authors, their editors and publishers. Featured Author Event: Melvin I. Urofsky (Washington, D.C.)
February 14, 2020
Colleagues who will be in the vicinity of our nation’s capital this weekend take note: author Melvin I. Urofsky is discussing his new Knopf book, THE AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PUZZLE, on Saturday, February 15, at Politics & Prose Bookstore (5015 Connecticut Ave. NW) in Washington, D.C. This free event begins at 6:00 p.m.
Urofsky presents a history of affirmative action from its beginning with the Civil Rights Act of 1866 to the first use of the term in 1935 with the enactment of the National Labor Relations Act (the Wagner Act) to 1961 and John F. Kennedy’s Executive Order 10925, mandating that federal contractors take “affirmative action” to ensure that there be no discrimination by “race, creed, color, or national origin” down to today’s American society.
In this important, ambitious, far-reaching book, readers will come to fully understand the societal impact of affirmative action: how and why it has helped, and inflamed, people of all walks of life; how it has evolved; and how, and why, it is still needed.
Melvin Urofsky is a professor emeritus of history at Virginia Commonwealth University and was the chair of its history department. He is the editor (with David W. Levy) of the five-volume collection of Louis Brandeis’s letters, as well as the author of The Affirmative Action Puzzle, Dissent and the Supreme Court, and Louis D. Brandeis. He lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Featured Author Event: Simone St. James (Manhattan)
February 14, 2020
All Penguin Random House employees are invited to hear Simone St. James discuss her new Berkley thriller, THE SUN DOWN MOTEL , in conversation with fellow Berkley author Rachel Harrison. Abby Endler, creator of Crime by the Book, will be the moderator. The event takes place on Wednesday, February 19 at Barnes & Noble Upper West Side (2289 Broadway) from 7:00 to 9:00 pm and includes a book signing with the authors.
In her chilling new novel, St. James takes readers alongside protagonist Carly Kirk as she attempts to solve the mysteries of her family's past. Something hasn’t been right at the Sun Down Motel for a long time, and Carly is about to find out why.
Upstate New York, 1982. Viv Delaney wants to move to New York City, and to help pay for it she takes a job as the night clerk at the Sun Down Motel in Fell, New York. But something isn’t right at the motel, something haunting and scary.
Upstate New York, 2017. Carly Kirk has never been able to let go of the story of her aunt Viv, who mysteriously disappeared from the Sun Down before she was born. She decides to move to Fell and visit the motel, where she quickly learns that nothing has changed since 1982. And she soon finds herself ensnared in the same mysteries that claimed her aunt.
Simone St. James is the USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of The Broken Girls, Lost Among the Living, and The Haunting of Maddy Clare. She wrote her first ghost story, about a haunted library, when she was in high school, and spent twenty years behind the scenes in the television business before leaving to write full-time
Upstate New York, 1982. Viv Delaney wants to move to New York City, and to help pay for it she takes a job as the night clerk at the Sun Down Motel in Fell, New York. But something isn’t right at the motel, something haunting and scary.
Upstate New York, 2017. Carly Kirk has never been able to let go of the story of her aunt Viv, who mysteriously disappeared from the Sun Down before she was born. She decides to move to Fell and visit the motel, where she quickly learns that nothing has changed since 1982. And she soon finds herself ensnared in the same mysteries that claimed her aunt.
Simone St. James is the USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of The Broken Girls, Lost Among the Living, and The Haunting of Maddy Clare. She wrote her first ghost story, about a haunted library, when she was in high school, and spent twenty years behind the scenes in the television business before leaving to write full-time Friday Reads: Presidents' Day
February 14, 2020
On Monday, February 17, we honor Presidents’ Day. Established in 1885, it is still officially called “Washington’s Birthday” by the federal government. As we reflect on American Presidents, past and present, the 2020 Presidential primary season is in full gear. We are of the opinion that your holiday weekend reading would be well-served by the following distinctive and notable collection of presidential literature.
YOU NEVER FORGET YOUR FIRST: A BIOGRAPHY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON by Alexis Coe
With irresistible style and warm humor, You Never Forget Your First combines rigorous research and lively storytelling that will have readers—including those who thought presidential biographies were just for dads—inhaling every page.
GRANT by Ron Chernow
Pulitzer Prize winner Ron Chernow returns with a sweeping and dramatic portrait of one of our most compelling generals and presidents, Ulysses S. Grant. The definitive biography, Grant is a grand synthesis of painstaking research and literary brilliance that makes sense of all sides of Grant's life, explaining how this simple Midwesterner could at once be so ordinary and so extraordinary.
CONVERSATIONS WITH JFK: A FICTIONAL DIALOGUE BASED ON BIOGRAPHICAL FACTS by Michael O'Brien, Foreword by Gore Vidal
Imagined by one of the world’s foremost JFK scholars, this fictionalized conversation presents the essential biography of America’s most glamorous and mythologized president. The book is divided into two parts: a biographical essay that provides a concise overview of JFK’s life, achievements, scandals and controversies; and a Q&A dialogue based on rigorous research and incorporating JFK’s actual spoken or written words whenever possible, along with rigorously researched biographical interpretations of his various views and positions.
DESTINY OF THE REPUBLIC: A TALE OF MADNESS, MEDICINE AND THE MURDER OF A PRESIDENT by Candice Millard
Though he was a reluctant president, the legacy of James Garfield extended far beyond his lifetime, and Destiny of the Republic revisits his meteoric rise within the military and government with meticulous research and intimate focus. Garfield was a passionate advocate of freed slaves, a reformer at odds with Republican power brokers and machine politics, a devoted father, and a spellbinding speech-giver. Four months after taking office he was shot twice by an unhinged office-seeker, Charles Guiteau, and a nation already recently fractured by war shattered, leaving the wounded president at the center of a bitter, behind-the-scenes struggle for power.
IN THE PRESIDENT'S SECRET SERVICE: BEHIND THE SCENES WITH AGENTS IN THE LINE OF FIRE AND THE PRESIDENTS THEY PROTECT by Ronald Kessler
Secret Service agents, acting as human surveillance cameras, observe everything that goes on behind the scenes during the presidency. Kessler reveals what they have seen, providing startling, previously untold stories about presidents from Barack Obama and George W. Bush back to John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, as well as about their families, Cabinet officers, and White House aides. Only Secret Service agents know the real story, and Ronald Kessler is the only journalist who has won their trust.
FROM THE CORNER OF THE OVAL: A MEMOIR by Beck Dorey-Stein
The New York Times bestselling, compulsively readable, behind-the-scenes memoir that takes readers inside the Obama White House, through the eyes of a young staffer learning the ropes, falling in love, and finding her place in the world.
MR. PRESIDENT: HOW AND WHY THE FOUNDERS CREATED A CHIEF EXECUTIVE by Ray Raphael
The dramatic and penetrating story of the political maneuverings and personalities behind the creation of the office of the president, with ramifications that continue to this day.
THOMAS JEFFERSON: THE ART OF POWER by Jon Meacham
Jon Meacham brings to life the complete man, from birth to his last days—through the Revolutionary War and his years as President. We see the Founding Father who steered the states to nationhood, wrote the Declaration of Independence, and, as a master politician President, doubled the size of America through the Louisiana Purchase. With a powerful narrrative, Meacham guides us through the life and extraordinary times of a man often admired but, before now, never truly understood in all his complexity.
THE RISE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT by Edmund Morris
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE AND THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD • Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time. This classic biography is the story of seven men—a naturalist, a writer, a lover, a hunter, a ranchman, a soldier, and a politician—who merged at age forty-two to become the youngest President in history.
THE PATH TO POWER: THE YEARS OF LYNDON JOHNSON by Robert A. Caro
The Path to Power, Book One, reveals in extraordinary detail the genesis of the almost superhuman drive, energy, and urge to power that set LBJ apart. Chronicling the startling early emergence of Johnson’s political genius, it follows him from his Texas boyhood through the years of the Depression in the Texas hill Country to the triumph of his congressional debut in New Deal Washington, to his heartbreaking defeat in his first race for the Senate, and his attainment, nonetheless, of the national power for which he hungered.
FOR YOUNGER READERS
WHAT IS THE PRESIDENT'S JOB?
Find out what the president does as you learn about the executive branch of government and see what a day in the life of the commander in chief is really like.
THOMAS JEFFERSON: LIFE< LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF EVERYTHING by Maira Kalman
Renowned artist Maira Kalman sheds light on the fascinating life and interests of the Renaissance man who was our third president.
I AM KIND: A LITTLE BOOK ABOUT ABRAHAM LINCOLN by Brad Meltzer and Christopher Eliopoulos
This friendly, fun biography series focuses on the traits that made our heroes great—the traits that kids can aspire to in order to live heroically themselves. The short text focuses on drawing inspiration from these iconic heroes, and includes an interactive element and factual tidbits that young kids will be able to connect with. This volume tells the story of Abraham Lincoln, America’s sixteenth president.
For more on these and related titles visit: PRESIDENTS DAY
There’s a Book for That! is brought to you by Penguin Random House’s Sales department. Please follow our Tumblr by clicking here—and share this link with your accounts: theresabookforthat.tumblr.com. Thank you!
A Grand Tradition Continues: Our 11 NAACP Image Finalists
February 10, 2020
The yearly, nationally televised NAACP Image Awards are considered by many to be our country’s preeminent recognition celebrating the accomplishments of people of color in the popular arts. We are particularly proud of the numerous Penguin Random House authors who are past “Image” finalists and winners, among them: Michelle Obama, Barack Obama, Maya Angelou, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Jacqueline Woodson, Marlon James, Terry McMillan, Walter Mosley, Bryan Stevenson, Daymond John, and Eric Jerome Dickey. In this year’s competition, we carry that tradition of excellence forward with our 11 finalists for “Outstanding Literary Works.”
Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction
THE WATER DANCER by Ta-Nehisi Coates (One World)
RED AT THE BONE by Jacqueline Woodson (Riverhead)
Outstanding Literary Work – Nonfiction
STONY THE ROAD: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (Penguin Press)
THE SOURCE OF SELF-REGARD: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations by Toni Morrison (Alfred A. Knopf)
Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author
[caption id="attachment_151782" align="alignright" width="105"]
Kiley Reid[/caption]
THE FARM by Joanne Ramos (Random House)
SUCH A FUN AGE by Kiley Reid (G. P. Putnam’s Sons)
AMERICAN SPY by Lauren Wilkinson (Random House)
Outstanding Literary Work – Biography/Autobiography
FINDING MY VOICE: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward by Valerie Jarrett (Viking)
THE BEAUTIFUL ONES by Prince (Spiegel & Grau/Random House)
MORE THAN ENOUGH: Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say) by Elaine Welteroth (Viking)
Outstanding Literary Work – Children
HAIR LOVE by Matthew A. Cherry, illustrated by Vashti Harrison (Kokila)
Additionally, two Penguin Random House Publisher Services client publisher titles were recognized with nominations: BREATHE: A Letter to My Sons by Imani Perry (Beacon Press), in Nonfiction, and A PLACE TO LAND: Martin King, Jr. and a Speech That Inspired a Nation by Barry Wittenstein, illustrated by Jerry Pickney (Neil Porter Books /Holiday House) in the Children category.
NAACP Image Awards are also bestowed in the categories of music, television, and film. In the latter, JUST MERCY, based on Bryan Stevenson’s Spiegel & Grau/Random House #1 bestseller, is nominated for Outstanding Motion Picture, and has four nominations in the acting categories. TONI MORRISON: The Pieces I Am and TRUE JUSTICE: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality are nominated for Outstanding Documentary (Film). Random House author Trevor Noah earned a “Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series” nomination for The Daily Show with Trevor Noah – “Steve King's Comments Meet Trevor Noah: Racism Detective” (Comedy Central).
This year’s winners will be revealed in the two-hour live telecast of the ceremony on February 22 on BET Networks.
To view the complete list of NAACP Image Awards nominees, click here.
Congratulations and best of luck to our finalist authors and their publishers.
Outstanding Literary Work – Nonfiction
STONY THE ROAD: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (Penguin Press)
THE SOURCE OF SELF-REGARD: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations by Toni Morrison (Alfred A. Knopf)
Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author
[caption id="attachment_151782" align="alignright" width="105"] Kiley Reid[/caption]
THE FARM by Joanne Ramos (Random House)
SUCH A FUN AGE by Kiley Reid (G. P. Putnam’s Sons)
AMERICAN SPY by Lauren Wilkinson (Random House)
Outstanding Literary Work – Biography/Autobiography
FINDING MY VOICE: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward by Valerie Jarrett (Viking)
THE BEAUTIFUL ONES by Prince (Spiegel & Grau/Random House)
MORE THAN ENOUGH: Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say) by Elaine Welteroth (Viking)
Outstanding Literary Work – Children
HAIR LOVE by Matthew A. Cherry, illustrated by Vashti Harrison (Kokila)
Additionally, two Penguin Random House Publisher Services client publisher titles were recognized with nominations: BREATHE: A Letter to My Sons by Imani Perry (Beacon Press), in Nonfiction, and A PLACE TO LAND: Martin King, Jr. and a Speech That Inspired a Nation by Barry Wittenstein, illustrated by Jerry Pickney (Neil Porter Books /Holiday House) in the Children category.
NAACP Image Awards are also bestowed in the categories of music, television, and film. In the latter, JUST MERCY, based on Bryan Stevenson’s Spiegel & Grau/Random House #1 bestseller, is nominated for Outstanding Motion Picture, and has four nominations in the acting categories. TONI MORRISON: The Pieces I Am and TRUE JUSTICE: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality are nominated for Outstanding Documentary (Film). Random House author Trevor Noah earned a “Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series” nomination for The Daily Show with Trevor Noah – “Steve King's Comments Meet Trevor Noah: Racism Detective” (Comedy Central).
This year’s winners will be revealed in the two-hour live telecast of the ceremony on February 22 on BET Networks.
To view the complete list of NAACP Image Awards nominees, click here.
Congratulations and best of luck to our finalist authors and their publishers.
HAIR LOVE Wins Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film
February 10, 2020
HAIR LOVE, Matthew A. Cherry’s bestselling children’s book for Kokila that was conceived as an animated short film, won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film at last night’s 92nd annual Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. A tender and empowering ode to loving your natural hair, and a celebration of daddies and daughters everywhere – HAIR LOVE was transformed into a bestselling children’s book, written by Cherry, a former NFL wide receiver, and illustrated by Vashti Harrison, published in May 2019 by Penguin Young Readers’ Kokila Books imprint.
In accepting his Oscar, Cherry said, “HAIR LOVE was done because we wanted to see more representation in animation; we wanted to normalize black hair … This award is dedicated to Kobe Bryant. May we all have a second act as great as his was.” The late Los Angeles Lakers legend was the first African American and only other former professional athlete to win a Best Animated Short Film Oscar, which Bryant received in 2018 for Dear Basketball.
HAIR LOVE was directed by Cherry and produced by Karen Rupert Toliver. The film’s team of animators included Everett Downing Jr. (Up, WALL-E) and Bruce W. Smith (The Proud 
Family), Peter Ramsey (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) and Frank Abney (Toy Story 4).
Our congratulations to Mr. Cherry, our colleagues at Kokila and Penguin Young Readers, and everyone involved with the creation of HAIR LOVE. Atwood, Rushdie Booker Prize 2019 Finalists
September 3, 2019
We celebrate the respective publications today and September 10 of Salman Rushdie’s QUICHOTTE and THE TESTAMENTS by Margaret Atwood with the happy news that both novels make the shortlist for the 2019 Booker Prize. In all, 4 fiction works from our U.S., Canada, and U.K. imprints have been selected as finalists by the London-based judges for this coveted English-language fiction annual award.
THE TESTAMENTS by Margaret Atwood
U.S.: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday
Canada: McClelland & Stewart
UK: Chatto & Windus
QUICHOTTE by Salman Rushdie
U.S.: Random House
Canada: Knopf Canada
UK: Jonathan Cape
GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER by Bernardine Evaristo
UK: Hamish Hamilton
10 MINUTES 38 SECONDS IN THIS STRANGE WORLD by Elif Shafak
UK: Viking UK
Click here for the complete 2019 Booker Prize short list.
Hearty congratulations to Mr. Rushdie and Ms. Atwood as well as Ms. Evaristo and Ms. Shafak, and their publishing teams across our companies.
On to the awards dinner in London on Monday, October 14. Friday Reads: Ice Cream!
July 19, 2019
Make that a double scoop… July is National Ice Cream Month! Is there a more favorite summer treat? We think not! Artisanal ice cream is all the rage, but the round-the-block lines are daunting. Skip the line this weekend! With the books we are serving up, now you can wow friends and family with homemade ice cream, gelato, sorbets and the like. What’s more, you’ll learn about flavors to savor, as well as the business, science and culture of ice cream.
SALT & STRAW ICE CREAM COOKBOOK by Tyler Malek, JJ Goode
Salt & Straw is the ice cream brainchild of two cousins, Tyler and Kim Malek, who had a vision but no recipes. They turned to their friends for advice: chefs, chocolatiers, brewers, and food experts of all kinds, and what came out is a super-simple base that takes five minutes to make, and an ice cream company that sees new flavors and inspiration everywhere they look. This book reveals what they’ve learned, how to tap your own creativity and how to invent flavors of your own, based on whatever you see around you. Because ice cream isn’t just a thing you eat, it’s a way to live.
THE PERFECT SCOOP, REVISED AND UPDATED: 200 RECIPES FOR ICE CREAMS, SORBETS, GELATOS, GRANITAS, AND SWEET ACCOMPANIMENTS: A COOKBOOK by David Lebovitz
A revised and updated edition of the best-selling ice cream book, featuring a dozen new recipes, a fresh design, and all-new photography. This comprehensive collection of homemade ice creams, sorbets, gelatos, granitas, and accompaniments from New York Times best-selling cookbook author and blogger David Lebovitz emphasizes classic and sophisticated flavors alongside a bountiful helping of personality and proven technique.
MEXICAN ICE CREAM: BELOVED RECIPES AND STORIES: A COOKBOOK by Fany Gerson
A collection of 60+ flavor-packed recipes for ice creams and frozen treats rooted in Mexico's rich and revered ice cream traditions. Oaxacan-style Lime Sorbet, Avocado-Chocolate Ice Cream, and Rice-Almond Ice Cream with Cinnamon. All recipes are created with the home cook in mind. Mexican Ice Cream features vibrant location photography and captures the authentic Mexican heladerias that Fany Gerson has been visiting for decades.
HELLO, MY NAME IS ICE CREAM: THE ART AND SCIENCE OF THE SCOOP by Dana Cree
With more than 100 recipes for ice cream flavors and revolutionary mix-ins from a James Beard-nominated pastry chef, Hello, My Name Is Ice Cream explains not only how to make amazing ice cream, but also the science behind the recipes so you can understand ice cream like a pro.
N'ICE CREAM: 80+ RECIPES FOR HEALTHY HOMEMADE VEGAN ICE CREAMS by Virpi Mikkonen, Tuulia Talvio
Just in time to beat the summer heat, Award-winning Finnish author Virpi and coauthor Tuulia show that making your own ice cream can be easy and good for you at the same time. N'ice Cream offers 80 decadent and healthy ice cream recipes made from all-natural, wholesome vegan ingredients like fruits, berries, and plant-based milks and nuts--as the authors say, "no weird stuff." These recipes can be made with or without an ice cream maker, and include foolproof instant ice creams that can be savored right away.
SWEET CREAM AND SUGAR CONES: 90 RECIPES FOR MAKING YOUR OWN ICE CREAM AND FROZEN TREATS FROM BI-RITE CREAMERY: A COOKBOOK by Kris Hoogerhyde, Anne Walker, Dabney Gough
San Francisco’s Bi-Rite Creamery is as well known for its small-batch, handcrafted, show-stopping, inventive ice cream as it is for the long line that snakes around the block. Guests young and old flock to the destination ice cream shop, craving a toasty banana split, a jewel-toned ice pop, a scoop of cooling sorbet, a mouthwatering ice cream sandwich, or one of the best ice cream cakes around. Now you can make your own with this irresistible guide to making 90 intensely flavorful handmade ice creams including the smash hits Salted Caramel and Balsamic Strawberry, plus other favorites.
THE CIAO BELLA BOOK OF GELATO AND SORBETTO: BOLD, FRESH FLAVORS TO MAKE AT HOME by F. W. Pearce, Danilo Zecchin
When you think of the most delicious and fresh gelato and sorbetto in America, you are craving Ciao Bella. The premier gelato and sorbetto maker in the country may be known for using the world’s finest ingredients—Sicilian lemons, Valrhona chocolate, Louisiana pralines—but you don’t need to travel the globe to experience the bold flavors yourself. All you need is a handful of simple, fresh ingredients; a standard ice cream machine; and your imagination.
For more on these and other great books for young readers visit the collection: Ice Cream
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RHCB’s Random House Graphic Imprint Announces Inaugural Publishing List
July 18, 2019
Random House Graphic (RHG), a new imprint dedicated to publishing graphic novels for kids and teens of every age and interest, fiction and nonfiction, will launch its first list in Spring 2020, it was announced by Gina Gagliano, Publishing Director, Random House Graphic. The list includes four titles of varied genres that span from young chapter books to YA, reflecting the rapidly growing popularity of the format among young readers. This inaugural list announcement was made in coordination with the launch of the Random House Graphic website, now live at rhkidsgraphic.com.
Random House Graphic believes in the importance and power of comics storytelling, and the central place of visual literature in our world and culture today. The imprint’s mission is to transform the childhood reading experience by making high-quality graphic novels accessible to every type of reader. The imprint is made up of a team of experts in the format, led by Director Gina Gagliano, who came to Random House from First Second Books, and includes Senior Editor Whitney Leopard, previously an Editor at BOOM! Studios, and Designer Patrick Crotty, Co-Founder of Peow. RHG also will have a dedicated Marketing and PR Manager, Nicole Valdez, joining the team in August.
The imprint’s debut list includes two middle-grade graphic novels, THE RUNAWAY PRINCESS by Johan Troïanowski and ASTER AND THE ACCIDENTAL MAGIC by Thom Pico and Karensac; the young adult graphic novel WITCHLIGHT by Jessi Zabarsky; and the chapter book graphic novel BUG BOYS by Laura Knetzger. Following the publication of these first four titles, Random House Graphic will publish a contemporary middle-grade by Lucy Knisley, the critically acclaimed, award-winning New York Times bestselling comic creator of Relish and Kid Gloves. Inspired by Knisley’s own childhood, STEPPING STONES follows a young girl forced to move with her mom from the city to a farm in the country, where she eventually gets a new stepfather and stepsisters. Publication is scheduled for May 2020.
“Random House Graphic is dedicated to publishing the best in kids and YA graphic novels,” explains Gagliano. “It’s an incredibly exciting time for the graphic novel medium—with more readers coming to these stories, and new groundbreaking books being published, the category is expanding by leaps and bounds. We can’t wait to share our contributions to it with readers, booksellers, comic book sellers, educators, librarians, and everyone who loves books and comics.”
THE RUNAWAY PRINCESS (on sale January 21, 2020) follows a young princess who finds her castle intolerably boring and runs away to find adventure, make friends, and learn more about the fantastical world around her.
BUG BOYS (on sale February 11, 2020) is a chapter book that follows two young bugs as they learn about friendship and the science of the world around them.
ASTER AND THE ACCIDENTAL MAGIC (on sale March 3, 2020) is an action-packed middle-grade adventure about a girl whose parents move their family to the middle of nowhere. Aster’s new home seems far from exciting, until she figures out that the countryside might have some magic in it.
WITCHLIGHT (on sale April 14, 2020) is a queer YA fantasy romance, filled with friendship, family, falling in love, and dealing with the hardest bits of your past along the way.
Additional titles to be published by Random House Graphic in 2020 include Kerry and the Knight of the Forest by Andi Watson, Witches of Brooklyn by Sophie Escabasse, Séance Tea Party by Reimena Yee, Crabapple Trouble by Kaeti Vandorn, Donut Feed the Squirrels by Mika Song, The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen, and Suncatcher by Jose Pimienta.
The RH Graphic program expands on the current list of acclaimed graphic novels published by Random House Children’s Books, including series like Babymouse by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm; 5 Worlds by Mark Siegel and Alexis Siegel and illustrated by Xanthe Bouma, Matt Rockefeller, and Boya Sun; and Hilo by Judd Winick, as well as stand-alone titles including The Cardboard Kingdom by Chad Sell.
RH Graphic is an imprint of Random House Children’s Books (rhcbooks.com), the world’s largest English-language children’s trade book publisher. Creating books for toddlers through young adult readers, in all formats from board books to activity books to picture books, novels, and nonfiction, the imprints of Random House Children’s Books bring together award-winning authors and illustrators, world-famous franchise characters, and bring together award-winning authors and illustrators, world-famous franchise characters, and multimillion-copy series.
Visit Random House Graphic online at @RHKidsGraphic | rhkidsgraphic.com
THE RUNAWAY PRINCESS (on sale January 21, 2020) follows a young princess who finds her castle intolerably boring and runs away to find adventure, make friends, and learn more about the fantastical world around her.
BUG BOYS (on sale February 11, 2020) is a chapter book that follows two young bugs as they learn about friendship and the science of the world around them.
ASTER AND THE ACCIDENTAL MAGIC (on sale March 3, 2020) is an action-packed middle-grade adventure about a girl whose parents move their family to the middle of nowhere. Aster’s new home seems far from exciting, until she figures out that the countryside might have some magic in it.
WITCHLIGHT (on sale April 14, 2020) is a queer YA fantasy romance, filled with friendship, family, falling in love, and dealing with the hardest bits of your past along the way.
Additional titles to be published by Random House Graphic in 2020 include Kerry and the Knight of the Forest by Andi Watson, Witches of Brooklyn by Sophie Escabasse, Séance Tea Party by Reimena Yee, Crabapple Trouble by Kaeti Vandorn, Donut Feed the Squirrels by Mika Song, The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen, and Suncatcher by Jose Pimienta.
The RH Graphic program expands on the current list of acclaimed graphic novels published by Random House Children’s Books, including series like Babymouse by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm; 5 Worlds by Mark Siegel and Alexis Siegel and illustrated by Xanthe Bouma, Matt Rockefeller, and Boya Sun; and Hilo by Judd Winick, as well as stand-alone titles including The Cardboard Kingdom by Chad Sell.
RH Graphic is an imprint of Random House Children’s Books (rhcbooks.com), the world’s largest English-language children’s trade book publisher. Creating books for toddlers through young adult readers, in all formats from board books to activity books to picture books, novels, and nonfiction, the imprints of Random House Children’s Books bring together award-winning authors and illustrators, world-famous franchise characters, and bring together award-winning authors and illustrators, world-famous franchise characters, and multimillion-copy series.
Visit Random House Graphic online at @RHKidsGraphic | rhkidsgraphic.com Four of Our Books Win 2018 Goodreads Choice Awards
December 4, 2018
Winners of the 2018 Goodreads Choice Awards have been announced and feature 4 books published by Penguin Random House imprints in the Fiction, Romance, Memoir & Autobiography, and Food & Cookbooks categories. Heralded as the only major book prizes determined by readers, the Goodreads Choice Awards are a true reflection of public opinion. Congratulations to all of our award-winning authors as well as their editors and publishers.
Here are our Goodreads Choice Awards 2018 winners, in the following categories:
Fiction:
Memoir & Autobiography:
To view the complete list of 2018 Goodreads Choice Awards winners, click here.
- STILL ME by Jojo Moyes (Penguin Books)
- THE KISS QUOTIENT by Helen Hoang (Berkley)
Memoir & Autobiography:
- EDUCATED: A Memoir by Tara Westover (Random House)
- CRAVINGS: Hungry for More by Chrissy Teigen and Adeena Sussman (Clarkson Potter)
To view the complete list of 2018 Goodreads Choice Awards winners, click here.