Alison Weiss at Egmont USA has acquired two YA novels by Kirsten Hubbard, author of Like Mandarin, Wanderlove, and the forthcoming Watch the Sky. The first, Cloudforest, is a speculative thriller in which a teen overcoming a traumatic incident joins her mother at a healing center in a Latin American rain forest, only to discover a dangerous ability that will transform her life whether she wants it to or not. Publication is tentatively scheduled for spring 2016, with the sequel, Red Rocks, tentatively scheduled for spring 2017. Lauren Pearson brokered the deal on behalf of Michelle Andelman at Regal Literary for world English rights.
Kristin Daly Rens at HarperCollins imprint Balzer + Bray has bought U.S. Commonwealth rights toMachine and the Wild, a debut YA novel by Michelle Modesto. This genre mash-up follows Westie, the adopted daughter of a local inventor, as she pursues her family's killers through a gold-rush era California riddled with fantastical creatures, dark magic, and cannibals. Publication is set for winter 2016; John M. Cusick of Greenhouse Literary brokered the deal.
Karen Wojtyla at Margaret K. McElderry Books has acquired K.A. Holt's Red Moon Rising, pitched as Firefly meets Little House on the Prairie. In the novel, a feisty 13-year-old becomes an unwitting pawn in the standoff between her struggling colony and the enclave of aliens who may be something quite different than they seem. The book is slated for early 2016 publication. Ammi-Joan Paquette at Erin Murphy Literary Agency did the deal for North American rights.
David Linker at HarperCollins Children's Books has acquired the first four books in Nate Ball's series Let's Investigate with Nate. The picture-book series follows an illustrated Nate as he explores the answers to kids' commonly asked scientific questions. The first book is planned for winter 2017. Linda Loewenthal of David Black Agency brokered the deal for world rights.
Georgia McBride at Month9Books has acquired a two-book fantasy series from Jennifer Jenkins, co-founder of Teen Author Boot Camp. The series focuses on 17-year-old Zo, who after the murder of her parents by a warring clan, volunteers to infiltrate the clan, but soon discovers they are not at all what she expected. She finds herself falling in love with an enemy soldier and accepting the friendship of a boy who saves her life. Nameless, book one in the series, is set to publish in fall 2015. Amy Jameson of A+B Works brokered the deal for world English, audio, and film/TV rights.
Nancy Inteli at HarperCollins has bought world rights to two original works by debut author/illustrator Ashley Crowley. Officer Panda, scheduled for fall 2015 publication, presents a detective looking to solve a mystery within the pages of his own book. The second book in the deal is currently untitled. Kirsten Hall at Catbird Productions did the deal.
Christian Trimmer at Simon & Schuster has bought a picture book called Are We There, Yeti? by debut author-illustrator Ashlyn Anstee. In the story, bus driver Yeti takes a group of schoolchildren on a field trip to a surprise destination; it will pub in summer 2015, and an untitled sequel will follow. Kelly Sonnack at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency sold world rights at auction.
Harriet Ziefert at Blue Apple Books has bought world rights to Be Quiet, Little Bird! by Kirsten Hall (l.), illustrated by debut artist Sabina Gibson. The book, scheduled for publication in March 2015, stars a little bird with a lot to say. The project was unagented.
Martha Mihalick at Greenwillow has bought North American rights to a trilogy called the Key to the Catalyst by Kent Davis, an actor, playwright, and game designer. The series marks Davis's fiction debut; he has also written six tabletop gaming books. Einstein said the series is set in an era called the Chemistral Age, when magically augmented alchemy and chemistry have thrust an alternate version of 18th-century colonial America forward into industrialization. The heroine, 13-year-old Aruba “Ruby” Teach, is a smuggler's daughter and “picklock prodigy,” and in book one, A Riddle in Ruby, she and her servant, Cram, must “navigate a world filled with cobalt gearbeasts, alchemical automatons, and devilish secret societies.” It is slated for fall 2015; Susanna Einstein at the Einstein Thompson Agency represented Davis.
Natashya Wilson at Harlequin Teen has bought a new series by bestselling author Gena Showalter in a six-figure, two-book deal. The currently untitled series, is, according to Harlequin, about a “dangerous rivalry for souls and star-crossed love” that is “set in a world where real life begins after death.” Showalter has written numerous series, including Lords of the Underworld and Alien Huntress. Deirdre Knight at the Knight Agency did the deal for world rights.
Kristin Daly Rens at HarperCollins imprint Balzer + Bray has bought, in a six-figure deal, two books in a YA fantasy series by Rosamund Hodge, author of Cruel Beauty. The new series, pitched as "Romeo and Juliet meets Sabriel," re-imagines Shakespeare's story of feuding families and doomed lovers in a city threatened by necromancers and protected by "the Juliet," a girl born in every generation with powerful magic. Publication will start in spring 2016; Hannah Bowman of Liza Dawson Associates negotiated for North American rights.
Carol Burrell at Abrams/Amulet has acquired at auction world English publishing rights to Chris Schweizer's The Creeps and the Night of the Frankenfrogs, a new full-color graphic novel series, in a two-book deal. The series follows four unpopular middle-schoolers from Pumpkins County who seem to revel in the creepiness of their town, earning them their nickname, "The Creeps. " In book one, The Creeps investigate the disappearance of dissection-lab frogs – which subsequently turn up as resurrected, pieced-together, murderous monsters. Charlie Olsen of InkWell Management brokered the deal.
Sara Sargent at Simon Pulse has acquired Last Year's Mistake and an untitled YA novel by debut author Gina Ciocca. In the first book, Kelsey is given the chance to start over: move to a new city, shed her old reputation, begin afresh. But a year later, the boy she desperately wanted to forget – the one who'd confessed his love for her – shows up and changes everything. Publication is scheduled for summer 2015; John Cusick at the Greenhouse Literary Agency did the deal for world rights.
Wendy Loggia at Delacorte Press has bought Look Both Ways by Alison Cherry (Red and For Real), for publication in 2016. A girl apprentices at a summer theater festival hoping she's finally found a place to belong, only to learn that neither talent nor love is as straightforward as she thinks. Holly Root at Waxman Leavell Literary Agency brokered the deal for world English rights.
Lauri Hornik and Kate Harrison at Dial have acquired world rights to Mama's Kisses by Kate McMullan (l.), author of the I Stink series, to be illustrated by Tao Nyeu (Squid and Octopus), for publication in spring 2016. In the book, four rainforest babies play a trick on their mothers, but the mothers have some pretty good tricks of their own. Holly McGhee at Pippin Properties represented both author and illustrator.
Kevin Lewis at Disney-Hyperion has bought world rights to Bob, Not Bob, a picture book text co-written by Liz Garton Scanlon (All the World) and Audrey Vernick (Brothers at Bat), about a boy who is not feeling well and whose stuffy nose means when he tries to call Mom, he gets Bob – the family dog. Publication is tentatively scheduled for spring 2016. Erin Murphy at Erin Murphy Literary represented both authors.
Katherine Harrison at Knopf has acquired Beard in a Box, written and illustrated by Bill Cotter (Don't Push the Button). A boy admires his father's beard and dreams of growing his own, so when he sees an ad for a product that promises instant beard growth at any age, he must have it – but infomercials can be deceiving. The picture book will be published in fall 2015, in time for "No Shave November." Brianne Johnson of Writers House brokered the deal for world rights.
Nancy Siscoe at Knopf has bought world rights to Liz Wong's Quackers and a second, as-yet-untitled picture book. In the first book, scheduled for publication in fall 2015, a cat who thinks he's a duck winds up with two happy families. Alexandra Penfold at Upstart Crow Literary was the agent.
