We were extremely pleased to learn that Ellen Forney and Sherman Alexie won a National Book Award for young people's literature for The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, written by Alexie and illustrated by Forney. Hearty congratulations!

You can congratulate Ellen in person tonight at Richard Hugo House, or, if you're patient and/or cheap, at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on February 9th at the opening of her exhibit "Lust," celebrating the release of her new book Lust: Kinky Online Personal Ads from Seattle's The Stranger. More details TBA.

Publishers Weekly has named Jason's I Killed Adolf Hitler to their Best Books of 2007 list. They say:

"Hard-boiled hit men, a time machine and a quest to save the world add up to a story about the permanence of love in this darkly humorous tale."

Also on the list: Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, illustrated by our pal Ellen Forney, who is called out for her "witty cartoons."

Congratulations to all!

We are pleased to point out that Amazon.com has ranked The Complete Peanuts 1963-1966 Box Set at #3 on their list of Best Books of 2007 - Top 10 Editors Picks: Graphic Novels.

I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't suggest that you buy it directly from us. Amazon has us beat on price but they can't match the love.

The Before Columbus Foundation has announced that Jimbo's Inferno by Gary Panter (and published by Fantagraphics) has been selected as a winner of the twenty-eighth annual AMERICAN BOOK AWARDS for 2007. Congratulations, Gary!

The American Book Awards were created to provide recognition for outstanding literary achievement from the entire spectrum of America's diverse literary community. The purpose of the awards is to recognize literary excellence without limitations or restrictions.

This is the second Fantagraphics book to garner an ABA -- Joe Sacco's Palestine was a recipient in 1996, and the award at that time very much helped solidfy Palestine's place in the pantheon of great graphic novels. Here's hoping Panter's has a similar effect, I can't think of a more deserving artist.