Donna Bray of HarperCollins imprint Balzer + Bray has acquired at auction the middle-grade novel Pax by Clementine author Sara Pennypacker. It's the story of a boy, the fox he rescued, and their struggles to return to each other in the face of war. Publication is scheduled for winter 2016; Steven Malk at Writers House negotiated the deal for world English rights.
Aimee Friedman at Scholastic Press has bought a YA thriller by Prisoner B-3087 author Alan Gratz, called Code of Honor. It tells of a Persian-American high school senior who goes on the run from the Department of Homeland Security to prove that his older brother – an Army Ranger captured by al-Qaeda in Afghanistan – isn't a terrorist. Publication is set for fall 2015. Barry Goldblatt of Barry Goldblatt Literary LLC was the agent.
Sara Sargent at Simon Pulse has acquired, at auction, a YA novel called The Odds of Lightning by Jocelyn Davies (A Beautiful Dark). In the story, the lives of four teens intersect by chance during a freak thunderstorm in New York City. When they are struck by lightning, they embark on an epic all-nighter to follow their dreams, fall in love, reconcile the past, and ultimately realize they were brought together to help each other break free of everyone else's expectations – including their own. Publication is scheduled for summer 2016; Jessica Regel at Foundry Literary + Media did the deal for North American rights.
Wendy Lamb at Random House has acquired, at auction, a debut middle-grade novel in verse, The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary, and an untitled middle-grade novel by poet and educator Laura Shovan. When fifth graders learn that their school will be torn down and replaced by a supermarket, they take their teacher's 1960s political teachings to heart and fight to save it. Publication is slated for spring 2016. Stephen Barbara of Foundry Literary + Media brokered the deal for North American rights.
Sarah Landis at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has acquired Cathy Lo's YA debut novel,This Is How It Ends. For Jessie, high school always felt like something she had to survive, until Annie came along. Told through the girls’ alternating points of view, the story tells what can happen when friends choose assumptions and fear over each other. Publication is scheduled for spring 2016; Mackenzie Brady at New Leaf Literary sold world English rights.
Diane Landolf at Random House has bought world rights in a preempt to Susan Maupin Schmid's One Hundred Dresses, a fantasy about 100 magical dresses in a castle built by dragons, aimed at fans of Gail Carson Levine and Jessica Day George. It's scheduled for spring 2016 publication; Sara Crowe at Harvey Klinger did the three-book deal.
Virginia Duncan at Greenwillow has acquired two picture books by Too Purpley! author Jean Reidy; the stories feature Specs, a not-so-clear-sighted young owl who explores the world with his friends. Book one is scheduled to release in summer 2016; Erin Murphy at Erin Murphy Literary did the deal for world rights.
For Lerner Publishing Group's Graphic Universe imprint, Carol Hinz and Andrew Karre acquired the Cici series by husband-and-wife team Tyler Page and Cori Doerrfeld. This three-book series features a 10-year-old girl who wakes up one day to find that she's grown fairy wings. Publication for book one is scheduled for spring 2016; the authors represented themselves in the deal for world rights.
Andrew Karre at Carolrhoda Lab has acquired U.S. rights to Carnegie Medal winner The Bunker Diary by Kevin Brooks. The YA novel, a “grim and gripping” hostage story, continues Brooks's career-long exploration of the darker corners of human nature. Publication is scheduled for spring 2015; Zosia Knopp of Penguin U.K. brokered the deal.
Leila Sales at Viking Children's Books has acquired a YA duology called Immaculate by Katelyn Detweiler, an agent at Jill Grinberg Literary. In the first book, 17-year-old Mina finds herself pregnant and claims to be a virgin. Some brand her a slut and some brand her a heretic, but others believe that her unborn child might be the second coming of the Messiah. The first book pubs in summer 2015; Jill Grinberg sold world English rights.
Elizabeth Tingue at Razorbill has bought A Book of Spirits and Thieves, the first novel in a high-fantasy series by Michelle Rowen (Vampire Academy: The Ultimate Guide) writing as Morgan Rhodes. This series is a spinoff of the author's Falling Kingdoms books; in the launch title, two sisters discover that a mysterious, unreadable book delivered to their father's antique bookshop provides a portal to a faraway world, and a secret society will stop at nothing to retrieve it. Publication is slated for May 2015; Jim McCarthy at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management negotiated the three-book deal for world rights.
Alvina Ling and Nikki Garcia at Little, Brown have bought a chapter book series by Monica Brown starring Lola Levine, a bi-racial, bi-cultural second grader who has a love for writing and soccer, in a preempt. The series begins with two books, Lola Levine Is Not Mean! and Lola Levine, Drama Queen, which will be published in spring 2016. Stefanie Von Borstel at Full Circle Literary did the four-book deal for world rights.
Elizabeth Bewley at HMH Books for Young Readers preempted North American rights for This Raging Light, a debut novel by Estelle Laure. The novel follows a teenager and her younger sister as they try to deal with their mother's sudden disappearance; things become further complicated when older sister Lucille falls for her best friend's brother. Fall 2015 is the projected pub date; Emily van Beek at Folio Junior/Folio Literary Management brokered the mid-six-figure, two-book deal.
Christian Trimmer at Simon & Schuster has bought world English rights to After Life, a contemporary novel by Stacey Kade, in a pre-empt. It's the story of the teenage son of a mega-church pastor who survives a car accident that kills his twin, leaving him with questions and doubts, and the mysterious girl who turns out to be only one of his brother's secrets. Publication is scheduled for spring 2016; Suzie Townsend at New Leaf Literary & Media was the agent.
Emily Feinberg at Roaring Brook Press has signed up Arthur Taylor's artwork for Shawn Loved Sharks, a debut picture book by Curtis Manley. The book features a shark-obsessed boy who is so excited about predator day at school, but the creature he is assigned is not exactly the one he'd hoped for. Publication is scheduled for spring 2016; Tricia Lawrence at Erin Murphy Literary Agency represented the artist; the deal for the author was previously announced.
Blackstone Audio has acquired Patricia Rushford's Jennie McGrady series, in which 16-year-old determined detective Jenny McGrady, with the help of her retired FBI grandmother and her best friend (and crush) Ryan, try to uncover the truth of her father's disappearance five years ago. Publication is scheduled to begin in June 2014; Kathleen Ortiz at New Leaf Literary & Media did the 15-book deal for world English rights.
