Kristen Pettit at HarperCollins has acquired North American rights, in a six-figure, three-book deal, to a middle-grade novel by Lisa Papademetriou, A Tale of Highly Unusual Magic. It's a fable set in a realistic world, and it follows an American girl and a Pakistani girl who separately discover a magic book that, when they write in it, connects them to the story of the book's creation. A 2015 release is scheduled; Rosemary Stimola at Stimola Literary Studio brokered the deal.
Nancy Siscoe at Knopf and Amy Black at Doubleday Canada have bought Catherine Egan's Julia Vanishes and two more books in a fantasy thriller series. It stars a fierce 16-year-old thief and spy struggling to survive in a world infused with more magic, malice, and mayhem than she ever imagined. Publication is slated for spring 2016; Steve Malk at Writers House held the auction for world English rights.
Jessica MacLeish at HarperCollins bought world English rights to Lindsey Klingele's debut YA novel, The Marked Girl. Klingele is a writers' assistant on the ABC Family show Twisted. The story, set in a medieval, Game of Thrones-esque world, centers on a group of royal teens who are dropped in modern-day Los Angeles. There, they befriend a street-smart girl who is torn about helping them find their way home, since she's fallen for the charming bad-boy prince of the group. Reiko Davis at Miriam Altshuler Literary Agency did the three-book deal.
Sylvie Frank at S&S's Paula Wiseman Books has bought world rights to The Summer Nick Taught His Cats to Read by Curtis Manley, illustrated by Kate Berube, a picture book about a boy who undertakes an ambitious summer project, and his two whiskered pupils who have some very different ideas of their own. Publication is slated for fall 2016. Ammi-Joan Paquette at Erin Murphy Literary Agency represented the author and Lori Kilkelly at Rodeen Literary Management represented the illustrator.
Liz Bicknell at Candlewick Press has acquired The New Small Person, a picture book by Lauren Child. In Child's take on the arrival of a new sibling story, only child Elmore Green had a room all to himself, but then one day, everything changed. It's scheduled for publication in February 2015. The book is unagented; rights were purchased from Puffin U.K., and include U.S. and non-exclusive open market, English-language, and audio.
Christian Trimmer at Simon & Schuster has acquired The Night Gardener, a debut picture book by brothers Eric Fan and Terry Fan. The story, which follows a boy, a mysterious gardener, and the awakening of a creative spirit, is scheduled for spring 2016 publication. Kirsten Hall at Catbird Productions negotiated the deal for world rights.
Caroline Abbey at Random House has bought picture book author Stacy McAnulty's debut chapter book series, The Dino Files, in which a nine-year-old dino expert has adventures at the Dinosaur Education Center of Wyoming, run by his paleontologist grandparents. Lori Kilkelly at Rodeen Literary Management did the deal for world rights.
