Joy Peskin at Viking Children’s Books has bought world rights to Beside Me, a YA novel by Isabel Gillies, author of the bestselling memoir Happens Every Day. Set in the high society of New York City’s art world and the hip downtown music scene, Beside Me tells of the soaring highs of first love and crushing lows of first heartbreak. Publication is scheduled for summer 2013. Bill Clegg at William Morris Entertainment brokered the deal. Peskin said she acquired the book after reading Happens Every Day. "Even though it’s a memoir about divorce, written for adults," she said, "for some reason I thought, This author could write an awesome young adult novel. I guess it's because Happens Every Day was really a love story—the love she felt for her husband, and the heartbreak she experienced when he left her for another woman. There was a purity to Isabel’s view of love, and I thought that would translate well to a love story about teenagers." Peskin said she e-mailed Gillies to ask if she had ever thought about writing for teens. "She wrote right back! The very same day. And she said that she was in the midst of finishing her second memoir but the next thing on her to-do list was to write a YA novel. So she and I and her agent met for lunch and she pitched the idea to me."
Kate Sullivan at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers has acquired Rags & Bones, a YA anthology of short stories edited by Melissa Marr and Tim Pratt. The collection retells classic tales that have inspired the all-star lineup of contributors, including Neil Gaiman, Lev Grossman, Kelley Armstrong, and Carrie Ryan. Publication is scheduled for fall 2013; Merrilee Heifetz at Writers House did the deal for world rights.
