Justin Chanda at Simon & Schuster has bought Home Team, a new series for middle-graders by Mike Lupica, in a four-book deal. Each Home Team novel will tell the story of one of four friends living in a fictional town called Walton, a diverse group of sports-loving kids who each face adversities but won't back down. The series begins in spring 2015 with The Only Game; Lupica is the author of several books for young readers that have sold a combined four million copies, including QB 1, Heat, Travel Team, and Million-Dollar Throw. Esther Newberg of ICM negotiated the deal for world rights.
Beverly Horowitz at Delacorte Press will publish a YA adaptation of Laura Hillenbrand's adult bestseller Unbroken. Hillenbrand will write the adaptation, to be called Unbroken: An Olympian's Journey from Airman to Castaway to Captive; it will be published on Veterans Day, November 11, 2014, with a first printing of 200,000 copies. Unbroken tells the story of Olympic runner Louie Zamperini's odyssey during WWII, and the courage, cunning, and fortitude he found to endure and overcome. Since its original publication by Random House in 2010,Unbroken has sold close to four million copies; a film based on the book, directed by Angelina Jolie, is set for release on Christmas Day 2014.
Stephen Barbara at Foundry Literary + Media has sold two YA novels and a middle-grade fantasy by This Song Will Save Your Life author and Viking Children's editor Leila Sales, in two separate deals. Joy Peskin at Farrar, Straus & Giroux took North American rights to Tonight the Streets Are Ours, a YA novel about a teen girl living in the suburbs who becomes obsessed with a blogger in New York City, and sets out to track him down in real life. Publication is scheduled for fall 2015. Peskin also acquired an untitled second YA title. In addition, Tamra Tuller at Chronicle has acquired North American rights to Once Was a Time, Sales's middle-grade debut featuring two best friends who are wrenched apart when one time-travels away from their home in war-ravaged 1940s England. Publication is tentatively set for spring 2016.
Joy Peskin at FSG also acquired North American rights in a pre-empt to Shut-In, a debut YA novel by Marisa Reichardt, as well as a second YA contemporary. In the aftermath of a deadly high school shooting, 17-year-old Morgan is an agoraphobic trapped in the apartment she shares with her mother and brother; when surfer boy Evan moves in next door, she has to face the life she's been missing. Publication is set for winter 2016 and winter 2018; Kate Testerman at KT Literary brokered the deal.
Christian Trimmer at Simon & Schuster has bought a first YA novel by Teddy Steinkellner, author of Trash Can Days, tentatively titled Seniors. Described as Robert Altman's Short Cuts for teens, it follows a group of high school seniors as they navigate life-changing decisions, moving around in time and perspective to show the different potential outcomes of their choices. It's slated for summer 2016; Alex Glass at Trident Media Group was the agent.
Emellia Zamani at Scholastic U.S. and Anne Shone at Scholastic Canada have jointly acquired an untitled middle-grade novel by Mahtab Narsimhan. The story follows 13-year-old Dylan, a budding photographer and rabid Lord of the Rings fan who is invited to attend a wedding in Mumbai with his best friend, and jumps at the opportunity to embark on an exciting journey. The projected pub date is spring 2016; Molly Jaffa at Folio Jr./Folio Literary Management brokered the deal for North American rights.
Kristin Ostby at Simon & Schuster has acquired, in a preempt, a middle-grade mystery-comedy by debut author Sarah Lariviere. In the tentatively titled The Bad Kid, set in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, 11-year-old Claudeline LeBernadin hopes to take over the "family business" previously run by her mobster grandfather, who has recently passed away, while trying to uncover a local scam artist and salvage her friendship with her BFF. A summer 2016 publication is planned; Susan Hawk at the Bent Agency brokered the deal for world English rights.
Jordan Hamessley of Egmont USA has bought North American rights to I Am Drums, a debut novel by Mike Grosso. The middle-grade novel was pitched as "an anthem for band kids everywhere," and tells of 12-year-old Samantha, whose dreams of playing the drums run up against the hard reality of school budget cuts, leading her to improvise. It's scheduled for fall 2015; Eddie Schneider of JABberwocky Literary Agency negotiated the deal.
Katherine Harrison at Knopf has acquired Pink Is for Blobfish by Jess Keating in a pre-empt. This nonfiction picture book, first in a series about unusual animals, introduces kids to weird and wonderful pink creatures throughout the animal kingdom. It will be published in 2016; Kathleen Rushall of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency brokered the two-book deal for world rights.
Elise Howard at Algonquin has bought Radioactive: How Two Brilliant Women Unwittingly Helped to Create the Atomic Bomb by Winifred Conkling. Aimed at younger teens, the book will tell the story of physicists Irene Curie and Lise Meitner, who learned to hate war after volunteering as X-ray technicians during WW1, only to have their life's work used to create the world's most destructive weapon during WW2. Publication is scheduled for spring 2016; Sarah Davies at the Greenhouse Literary Agency did the deal for world rights.
