Slider has Arrived

September has arrived, along with a boxful of Sliders, so it’s time to get obnoxious with the self-promotion thing.

The official launch date of my new middle grade novel is September 12, a date shared with Melanie Heuiser Hill’s fabulous MG novel, Giant Pumpkin Suite. Melanie and I are celebrating with a two-author dual-release at The Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul. 6:30 p.m.

But you don’t have to wait that long! On September 10^th, at 2:00 p.m., I’m having a Slider “pre-launch” (I guess that’s a thing now) at Wild Rumpus in Minneapolis, featuring a slider eating contest. I am reading up on the Heimlich maneuver.

Slider is about eating contests…sort of. I mean, really it’s about other things, but there are mass quantities of edibles consumed in the course of the story. In a sense it’s a sports book, if you can buy the concept of eating competitions as a sport.

The book has been getting amazing reviews. Here’s one by Briana Shemroske, for Booklist:

Slider (starred review)

Hautman, Pete (Author) Sep 2017. 288 p. Candlewick, hardcover,  $16.99. (9780763690700).

Jack-of-all-genres Hautman turns to the mouthwatering, madcap world of competitive eating. Narrator David admires the greats: Joey Chestnut, who can down 70 dogs in 10 minutes; Takeru Kobayashi, a Guinness Record-holding lightweight; and his personal favorite, Jooky Garofalo—who legendarily lost a Nathan’s Famous championship by one single half dog. David can’t believe when Jooky’s unfinished dog appears on auction site BuyBuy.com. And he’s floored when his bid for the “piece of history” wins. Unfortunately, one mistyped decimal point means BuyBuy just charged $2,000—not $20—to his mother’s credit card. David may be able to inhale a single pizza in under five minutes, but to win the Super Pigorino Bowl’s $5,000 grand prize—and repay his mom—he’ll have to train like never before. More than a story of stomach-shattering determination, this is also an unflinching exploration of David’s bond with little brother Mal, who, though their mother forbids the label, has been diagnosed with autism. With crystalline prose, delectable detail, rip-roaring humor, and larger-than-life characters, Hautman gracefully examines what it means to be a friend, a family member, and, through it all, a kid trying to do the right thing. Readers will race to devour it, but like Papa Pigorino’s colossal BLD pizzas, this infectious tale is a thing to be savored. — Briana Shemroske

If you can’t make it to the launch or the pre-launch, do not despair. I’ll be visiting a couple of Barnes & Noble stores on September 23^rd to help celebrate B-Fest, their nationwide event devoted to young adult literature. Details to come.