For my May 2023 giveaway, I’m celebrating two big happenings in the life of Worser, the acclaimed middle-grade novel by My Favorite Author in the Whole Wide World, a.k.a. my wife, Jennifer Ziegler.

First off, this month marks the publication of the paperback edition of Worser (Holiday House), complete with new additions to the cover such as starred reviews by Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Shelf Awareness and “A New York Times Best Book of the Year.”

(Newbery Honoree Kathi Appelt’s quote, “Quite simply, a work of genius,” is still there — because it’s still true.)

Secondly, Worser has made the short list in the Young Readers category of the Reading the West Book Awards, sponsored by the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association! Congratulations to Jennifer and to all the nominees, which you can cast your votes for here.

Subscribers to my monthly Bartography Express newsletter (folks can sign up here) are eligible for one of those four personalized copies of the new paperback edition of Worser.

If you’re a Bartography Express subscriber with a U.S. mailing address and you’d like to be one of the four winners of signed and personalized copies of Worser, by the end of May 2023 either say so in the comments below or email me directly, and you’ll officially be in the running.

And once you’ve gotten into the running, go vote!