Girl who loved Tom Gordon

[Jonas]

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

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Stephen King to Publish Pop-Up Book With Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing


Book to Be Based on King Favorite: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
NEW YORK, Jan. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Little Simon(R), an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, announced today plans to publish the first-ever pop-up book by worldwide best-selling author Stephen King. The pop-up book will be an abridgement of King's 1999 bestseller The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. The author will work in close collaboration with a soon-to-be selected illustrator and paper engineer.

The agreement, which is additional to King's other publishing activities with Simon & Schuster, was negotiated by Robin Corey, Executive Vice President and Publisher for Novelty & Media Tie-ins at Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing and Arthur Greene, Esq., on behalf of Stephen King. Since 1997, Scribner, Pocket Books, and Simon & Schuster Audio have published many original works of fiction and nonfiction by Stephen King as part of a groundbreaking co-publishing agreement with Stephen King.

"As a longtime Stephen King fan and also a pop-up publisher and enthusiast, this collaboration is a dream come true," said Robin Corey. "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is the ideal Stephen King story to adapt to a pop-up format, which will capture the suspense, motion, emotion, inner turmoil, and humor of Steve's work. Everyone at Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing is very excited to work with Stephen King and to publish this groundbreaking pop-up book and I am personally thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Stephen King in my role as the book's editor."

"I am delighted to be able to expand my readership while continuing to publish in new and different formats," said Stephen King. "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is a modern-day Hansel and Gretel, a book kids have loved through the ages. And I'll try not to scare them . . . well, not too much."

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon follows 9-year-old Trisha McFarland on an odyssey of terror through the wilderness of the Appalachian Trail after she has wandered off from her bickering older brother and recently divorced mother during a "moderate-to-difficult" Saturday afternoon six-mile hike. For solace she tunes her Walkman radio to broadcasts of Boston Red Sox games and the gritty performances of her hero, number 36, relief pitcher Tom Gordon. And when her radio's reception begins to fade, Trisha imagines that Tom Gordon is with her - her key to surviving an enemy known only by the slaughtered animals and mangled trees in its wake. It is a fairy tale grimmer than Grimm, but aglow with a girl's indomitable spirit. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is a 2002 nominee for the Washington State Evergreen Young Adult Book Award (King County Library System); was named a Young Adult Library Association (YALSA) Best Book for Young Adults (2000); and was a 1999 nominee for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement (given by the Horror Writer's Association).

Stephen King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947. He has published over 40 books and is considered one of the world's most successful writers. He and his wife, Tabitha, are regular contributors to a number of charities including many libraries and have been honored locally for their philanthropic activities.

Little Simon(R) specializes in the most innovative novelty books for children, including pop-ups, lift-the-flap books, board books, sticker books, and holiday books, among other specialty formats. Among its award-winning and best-selling titles are Robert Sabuda's #1 New York Times bestsellers, The Night Before Christmas and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz pop-ups; the Bugs in a Box (R) pop-up series by David A. Carter, including the #1 New York Times best-selling Easter Bugs; as well as pop-ups by renowned award-winners Marjorie Priceman, Chuck Murphy, and Kees Moerbeek. Also, Little Simon proudly publishes New York Times bestsellers Yay, You! and Consider Love by Sandra Boynton and Charles Schulz's best-selling Peanuts(R) books.

Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, one of the leading children's book publishers in the world, is comprised of the following imprints: Aladdin Paperbacks, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, Little Simon(R), Margaret K. McElderry Books, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Simon Pulse, and Simon Spotlight(R). While maintaining an extensive award-winning backlist, the division continues to publish acclaimed and best-selling books for children of all ages -- including such high-profile characters as Eloise(TM), Raggedy Ann & Andy(TM), Olivia(TM), Henry & Mudge(R), The Hardy Boys(R), Nancy Drew(R), Buffy the Vampire Slayer(TM), and Shiloh. Simon Spotlight, an imprint wholly devoted to media tie-ins, has become one of the fastest growing imprints in the children'book industry, with best-selling series based on Nickelodeon'(R)

Rugrats(R), Blue'Clues(R), Dora the Explorer(TM), The Wild Thornberrys(R), Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius(TM), SpongeBob SquarePants(R), and Little Bill(R); HIT Entertainment'Bob the Builder(TM), Charles M. Schulz'Peanuts(R), and Jim Henson'(R) Bear in the Big Blue House(TM) properties. For more information about Simon & Schuster Children'Publishing, visit our website at http://www.simonsayskids.com/.

Simon & Schuster, part of the entertainment operation of Viacom Inc., is a global leader in the field of general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for consumers of all ages, across all printed, electronic and multi-media formats. Its divisions include the Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, Simon & Schuster New Media, Simon & Schuster Online, Simon & Schuster U.K., and Simon & Schuster Australia. For more information, visit our website at http://www.simonsays.com/