Further to Little, Brown Children’s report on overall sales for the debut of Stephenie Meyer’s MIDNIGHT SUN, NPD Bookscan tracked sales of almost 525,000 hardcovers in the first week on sale. That’s well ahead of the opening week hardcover sales recorded back in May for Suzanne Collins’ much-anticipated Hunger Games prequel THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES. However, though not widely reported, Collins’ book still ranks as the year’s No. 1 print release on Bookscan’s charts. In hardcover fiction, Delia Owen’s WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING is next, followed by Jeanine Cummins’ AMERICAN DIRT.
In new releases, Delacorte will publish civil rights activist Ruby Bridges‘ middle-grade book THIS IS YOUR TIME on November 20. Her first book in over twenty years, it releases just a few days prior to the sixtieth anniversary of her becoming the first Black student to attend the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans.