In Brief: May 17

Author Don Tate (shown here, signing for a fan) and illustrator R. Gregory Christie appeared at the High Museum in Atlanta on May 13 for a book signing and discussion of their new book, It Jes’ Happened: When Bill Traylor Started to Draw. The event coincided with a new exhibit of artwork by Traylor’s artwork, who began his life as a slave on a plantation in Alabama, and later became a sharecropper after emancipation. He began drawing at the age of 85 while living on the streets of Montgomery, and in the last years of his life produced more than 1,200 drawings.

On May 16, Barnes and Noble on New York City’s Upper East Side hosted a panel of five YA authors published by Little, Brown, who discussed their new works as well as their writing process. Pictured (from l.): Cat Patrick (Revived), Jennifer E. Smith (The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight), Jen Calonita (Belles), Alecia Whitaker (The Queen of Kentucky), and Kody Keplinger (A Midsummer’s Nightmare).

The title of Stephanie Strohm’s debut novel is Pilgrims Don’t Wear Pink, but apparently she’s a big fan of the color: at a May 8 launch at the Fairfield University Bookstore in Fairfield, Conn., Stephanie’s family and friends all wore rosy hues – including author N.A. Nelson (Bringing the Boy Home), seen here in a pink scarf. The bookstore served pink cupcakes and pink lemonade.

The Lady Jane’s Salon romance reading series in New York City was the setting for a May 7 launch party for Alethea Kontis, debut author ofthe fairy-tale mashup Enchanted. During the party, Kontis performed a scene from the novel with Katherine Kellgren, narrator of the audiobook and a multiple Odyssey winner. Pictured: Kontis and author Myke Cole (Shadow Ops); the two will both present at the Nebula Awards in a few weeks.

The Barnes and Noble in Centennial, Colo., threw a premiere party for teen librarian and young adult author Terri Clark’sparanormal romance Hollyweird on May 5. Clark’s reading, Q&A, and signing was attended by, among others, kids from her library’s Teen Advisory Board and Bottom of the Inkwell creative writing club, many of whose names make cameos in the book. Pictured (from l.): teen Katie Garrett with Clark.

Bestselling author Doreen Cronin, shown here with her two daughters, went on a week-long, four-city tour for M.O.M. (Mom Operating Manual), timed to Mother’s Day. She visited schools and stores in Philadelphia, Nashville, Fort Lauderdale and Miami, talking to kids about how to “take care” of their mom. Prior to her tour, Doreen stopped by Giggle, a baby supplies store, on New York City’s Upper West Side, for storytime.