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 WATER CURE by Sophie Mackintosh US: Doubleday Canada: Hamish Hamilton Canada UK: Hamish Hamilton U.K. WARLIGHT by Michael Ondaatje US: Knopf Canada: McClelland & Stewart UK: Jonathan Cape (Earlier this month, Mr. Ondaatje’s THE ENGLISH PATIENT was awarded the Man Booker Golden Prize, honoring the best work of fiction from the last five decades of the Man Booker Prize, as chosen by five judges, and then voted on by the public.) WASHINGTON BLACK by Esi Edugyan U.S.: Knopf NORMAL PEOPLE by Sally Rooney U.S.: Hogarth (4/16/19) Canada: Knopf Canada (4/16/19) THE LONG TAKE by Robin Robertson U.S. Knopf (1/22/19) FROM A LOW AND QUIET SEA by Donal Ryan U.S.: Penguin Books UK: Doubleday Ireland EVERYTHING UNDER by Daisy Johnson UK: Jonathan Cape THE OVERSTORY by Richard Powers UK: William Heinemann THE MARS ROOM by Rachel Kushner UK: Jonathan Cape SNAP by Belinda Bauer UK: Bantam Press View the complete 2018 Man Booker Prize longlist here. The shortlist for this year’s Man Booker Prize will be announced on September 20, and the winner revealed on October 16. We warmly congratulate our semi-finalists, their editors and publishers.

“Inspiring a culture of reading in communities is central to who we are and what we do as Penguin Random House,” said Claire von Schilling, EVP, Director, Corporate Communications, Penguin Random House. “This special initiative on the Grand Central Reads mobile platform is a wonderful opportunity for us to come together with Save the Children and our home-town New Yorkers to give back and make a positive difference in the lives of others through books.” “Save the Children is committed to ensuring every last child gets the opportunity to learn,” said Carolyn Miles, President & CEO, Save the Children. “We know the significant impact reading can have on a child’s life, and are grateful for Penguin Random House’s support and the Grand Central Reads partnership in helping us give more children the best chance for success.” Grand Central Reads features a platform created by Penguin Random House that offers users free access to extensive excerpts from a wide range of its book content, including thrillers, nonfiction, classics and cookbooks, via free wi-fi, inside Grand Central Terminal, on terminal platforms, and in the Park Avenue Tunnel. The program highlights the works of New York authors and stories featuring the Big Apple, Grand Central Terminal, and eventful train rides. Among the featured titles are:

• A PLACE FOR US by Fatima Farheen Mirza
• BROWN GIRL DREAMING by Jacqueline Woodson
• JACK REACHER: GONE TOMORROW by Lee Child
• TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN by John Green
• SAVING CENTRAL PARK by Elizabeth Barlow Rogers

  For more information about the GCR program, please visit grandcentralreads.com.

“It was an absolute joy to march with PRH’s LGBTQ Network! There was a tremendous amount of support from both members of the Network and from parade spectators. LGBTQ inclusion in the publishing industry was definitely showcased by our participation.” –Matt Romano, DK “This was my first time walking in Pride, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. But seeing so many people celebrating themselves freely and confidently—and celebrating each other—made me feel empowered and proud to be who I am.” –Jennifer Huang, Riverhead “It was such an honor to be able to participate in Pride as a member of PRH's LGBTQ Network. It was not only incredibly heartwarming to witness the strength of New York's thriving and compassionate LGBTQ community by marching alongside the hundreds and thousands of Pride's fellow marchers and attendees, but it also reminded me of how incredibly proud, honored, and thankful I am to be welcomed and accepted as a member of the PRH family.” –Tiff Ferentini, Kodansha Comics “It was exhilarating walking in the parade with the PRH LGBT Network, knowing I was surrounded by the most supportive, wonderful colleagues—and knowing that our company has been equally supportive at every turn.” –Max Felderman, PPG Sales The Penguin Random House LGBTQ Network was conceived to provide: a supportive environment to all employees who share the common idea of nurturing workplace diversity; a forum for professional and social opportunities; a community among the LGBTQ individuals at Penguin Random House; and an increased awareness of LGBTQ authors and books within the community.  

Here Chris Jackson, Vice President, Publisher, Editor in Chief, One World, reveals how he first came in contact with Dr. Mona, the process of working with her to develop her story and experiences into book form, and ultimately publishing WHAT THE EYES DON’T SEE: “I met Mona Hanna-Attisha at the Ridenhour Prize ceremony at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, back in 2016. I was there to present an award to one of my authors, Jill Leovy, author of GHETTOSIDE: A True Story of Murder in America; Dr. Mona was there to receive the Ridenhour Truthteller Prize for her work in Flint, Michigan, where she was a key whistleblower in that city’s devastating water crisis. Dr. Mona delivered a few remarks that day that moved me then and have stuck with me ever since. Mona spoke about whistleblowing being a 'choiceless choice' – that having seen what she saw, she had no choice but to risk her professional reputation and the wrath of her own state government to tell the truth she’d uncovered: that the state was poisoning its own children. She also generously dedicated most of her short talk to shining the spotlight on other heroes in Flint – activists, mothers, reporters, scientists – creating a portrait not of a singular, heroic savior, but of a community that came together to save itself. I approached her after her talk – wading through a crowd of other admirers – and asked her if she’d ever thought about writing a book. She took my card and six months later her proposal landed in my in-box. “Working with Dr. Mona has been its own process of discovery. At our first meeting back in Washington, all I knew about her was she was a pediatrician and a whistleblower. But in some ways, Dr. Mona had been preparing for her role in the crisis for her entire life. She was the child of Iraqi immigrants who came to this country fleeing a tyrannical dictator who poisoned his own people and by the time the crisis in Flint hit, she was an established pediatrician, researcher, and educator who had oriented her practice toward social justice. The book as we initially conceived it, wove these strands together – the immigrant story, the story of her incredible work before and after the crisis at the Hurley Pediatric Center, and, of course, the thrilling core narrative: the crisis and the bold detective work and outspoken advocacy that forced the whole country to pay attention. But the sum of the book had to be more than those three pieces. “A great book always needs to elevate its story with a theme that gives it deeper meaning – in other words, Dr. Mona and I had to figure out what the bigger story was that she was trying to tell. We didn’t just want a riveting, thrilling story of rule-breaking citizen activism; and we didn’t just want to provide much-needed information about lead and water. We realized that we wanted readers to be changed by the book – to see in the incredibly important story of Flint an even bigger story. Flint wasn’t just an anomalous event or even a tragedy. It was a deliberate government-abetted crime that reflected a twisted set of values. And we wanted the book to show how a different set of values–fighting for justice, respecting science, caring for the most vulnerable, especially children, and choosing truth over personal security or careerism—might point us toward a different way, with different outcomes. Dr. Mona and others have used the crisis as an opening for incredible, creative work in Flint, where they are building models for how communities can recover from histories of policy-driven violence and deprivation. We wanted the book to be a creative model in its way, too. “Our goal was to get all of this into the book and I think Mona succeeded. The book is a thriller about a crisis – ‘Grishamesque’ is how O Magazine described it—but more than that, it’s a book about the most urgent and timely challenges we’re facing right now as a society. It’s about how we must care for each other better. How we must tell the truth, even in the face of awful repercussions. And it’s about how we – as citizens – don’t have to wait for our politicians to get their acts together. We can fight for change where we stand, right now, because the stakes are too high to wait. “Dr. Mona will be appearing all over the media and traveling the country over the next weeks and months talking about her book and these deeper ideas. And just as Flint discovered in the water crisis, I think the country at large will find that our present crisis has met its ideal advocate: the daughter of immigrants, a driven scientist and caregiver, a passionate defender of children, and a powerful, fearless truthteller.” See and hear Dr. Mona talk about WHAT THE EYES DON’T SEE in conversation with Chelsea Clinton tonight at Barnes & Noble Union Square in NYC beginning at 7:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.