The winners of this year's Pannell Award, sponsored by the Women's National Book Association in honor of Lucile Micheels Pannell and given to a general bookstore and children's-only bookstore that "excel at inspiring the interest of young people in books and reading," are:
General bookstore: Green Toad Bookstore in Oneonta, N.Y., which the judges praised for "reaching out to young people with special needs and their 'substance mixed with a little flash.' "
General bookstore honorable mention went to Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, Wash.
Children's specialty store category: Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, Ga., which was cited for its "wide range summer camp concept."
The awards will be presented at BEA's Children's Book and Author Breakfast on Wednesday, May 26, at the Javits Center in New York City. Each winner will receive a check for $1,000 and a framed piece of original art. This year's art was contributed by David Diaz and Gianna Marino. Penguin Young Readers Group is again underwriting the award.
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What's so funny about Ian McEwan? Even his most devoted fans may be a bit surprised to learn that the novelist's latest effort, Solar, is one of the finalists for this year's Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic fiction.
McEwan has said, "I hate comic novels; it's like being wrestled to the ground and being tickled, being forced to laugh." But the Independent noted he "did concede that the book had extended comic stretches." 
Other books on the shortlist are One Day by David Nicholls, Diamond Star Halo by Tiffany Murray, Skippy Dies by Paul Murray and From Aberystwyth with Love by Malcolm Pryce.
"The winner will be announced at the Guardian Hay festival, and will receive a jereboam of champagne, a set of the Everyman Wodehouse as well as getting a locally raised Gloucestershire Old Spot pig named after the winning book," the Guardian wrote.