Publishers Weekly – August 05, 2019

12 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ AUGUST 5, 2019

Head of the Class

Charmed, I’m Sure

‘Yes’ Vote

The #8 book in the country is We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T.

Higgins, a back-to-school picture book that our starred review praised for its

“sassy dialogue, flawless comic pacing, and faith in the ability of children to

learn and grow.” It pubbed in June 2018 and was selling an average of 1,000–

2,000 print copies per week. Then, on July 15, it appeared on a Today list of

“the 20 best kids’ books to calm back-to-school jitters,” and a week later, it

was the subject of a national kindergarten story time promotion with B&N.

Baltimore journalist turned crime fiction

author Laura Lippman has set her nearly

two dozen novels in and around Charm

City. Her latest, Lady in the Lake, takes

place in the 1960s and “captures the era’s

zeitgeist,” our starred

review said, “while

painting a striking

portrait of

unapologetic female

ambition.” It debuts

at #15 in hardcover

fiction with plenty

of support from

the area’s

current

residents.

Ask Again, Yes, Mary Beth

Keane’s “thoughtful, compassion-

ate latest,” as our review called

it, pubbed at the end of May

and returns to our hardcover

fiction list at #14 with its best

TOP 10 OVERALL

1 One Good Deed David Baldacci Grand Central 46,

2 Where the Crawdads Sing Delia Owens Putnam 43,

3 The Nickel Boys Colson Whitehead Doubleday 23,

4 The New Girl Daniel Silva Harper 23,

5 Educated Tara Westover Random House 20,

6 Star Wars: Thrawn: Treason Timothy Zahn Del Rey 19,

7 The Reckoning John Grisham Dell 15,

8 We Don’t Eat Our Classmates Ryan T. Higgins Disney-Hyperion 15,

9 Before We Were Yours Lisa Wingate Ballantine 14,

10 Under Currents Nora Roberts St. Martin’s 13,

RANK TITLE AUTHOR IMPRINT UNITS

INFORMATION SUPPLIED BY NPD BOOKSCAN. COPYRIGHT © 2019 THE NPD GROUP. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

BY CAROLYN JURIS

Behind the Bestsellers JULY 21–27, 2019

NEW & NOTABLE

ONE GOOD DEED

David Baldacci

#1 Hardcover Fiction, #1 overall

With his latest chart topper, Baldacci

introduces WWII veteran Aloysius

Archer, out on parole in 1949 after

doing time for a crime he didn’t

commit.

STAR WARS:

THRAWN: TREASON

Timothy Zahn

#5 Hardcover Fiction, #6 overall

First-week print unit sales for

Zahn’s third novel starring Grand

Admiral Thrawn, a popular Star

Wars Legends character, topped those of

the first two entries.

ALL PRINT UNIT SALES PER NPD BOOKSCAN EXCEPT WHERE NOTED

weekly print unit sales to date.

Why the jump? On the July

25 episode of The Tonight Show,

Jimmy Fallon announced that

viewers had chosen the title as

the show’s summer reading pick.

Recent Weekly Print Unit Sales for We Don’t Eat Our Classmates

WEEK

ENDED: JUNE 22 JUNE 29

JULY 15

JULY 6 JUNE 13 JULY 20

JULY 23

JULY 27

38 % (^) OF SALES WERE
IN BOOKSCAN’S SOUTH
ATLANTIC DIVISION, WHICH
INCLUDES BALTIMORE.