Pamela Garfinkel at Little, Brown has acquired at auction The Dragonsitter by Josh Lacey, illustrated by Garry Parsons. It's a chapter book series told entirely via emails, about a boy responsible for watching over his uncle's unruly pet dragons, and the trouble they find themselves in, starting in spring 2016. Sarah Pakenham at Andersen Press U.K. did the six-book deal for U.S. and Canadian rights.
Emily Meehan at Hyperion has acquired a YA novel called Holding Smoke by Elle Cosimano, author of Nearly Gone. Pitched as The Shawshank Redemption meets If I Stay, the story tells of a boy serving time for a murder he didn't commit and who, after a near-death experience, finds himself able to separate his soul from his body and travel in a quest to find the real killer and clear his name. Publication is scheduled for spring 2016; Sarah Davies at Greenhouse Literary Agency did the two-book deal for world English rights.
Regina Griffin at Egmont has bought Meg Kassel's Black Bird of the Gallows, a debut novel about a teenage girl who discovers the new boy next door is a harbinger of death, and who must find a way to survive in a town destined for destruction. Publication is planned for early 2016. Sara Crowe at Harvey Klinger negotiated the deal for world rights.
