Andrew Karre and Carol Hinz at Lerner have acquired Sachiko by Caren B. Stelson. The book, intended for middle graders, tells the true story of Sachiko Yasui's life as a hibakusha, a survivor of the 1945 nuclear bombing in Nagasaki. Six-year-old Sachiko was only half a mile from the explosion, and though she survived, the blast and its fallout killed most of her family either instantly or over the course of the next few years. Publication is slated for fall 2016; Rubin Pfeffer of Rubin Pfeffer Content did the deal for world rights.
Kat Brzozowski at Thomas Dunne Books has bought a debut YA novel by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn called Firsts, in which a 17-year-old girl gives classmates the chance to get their awkward fumblings over with. All she asks in return is that they give their girlfriends the perfect first time she never had, but what was meant to be temporary gets out of control. Publication is scheduled for 2016; Kathleen Rushall at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency brokered the deal for world English rights.
Jody Corbett at Scholastic has acquired Class Dismissed, a middle-grade novel by Allan Woodrow. When their fifth grade teacher quits and the students of classroom 507 are the only ones who know, they assume it will be one big holiday. But they soon learn that life without a teacher isn't easy, and keeping the secret is more work than they imagined. Publication is set for fall 2015; Joanna Volpe at New Leaf Literary & Media negotiated the deal for world rights.
Jordan Hamessley at Egmont bought Bryce Moore's The Memory Thief, a middle-grade novel; Moore is the author of the YA fantasy novel Vodnik. In his new book, 11-year-old Benji ducks into a tent at the county fair called the Memory Emporium; soon, a lot of people in town are acting like someone has stolen their minds. Fall 2016 is the projected publication date; Eddie Schneider of JABberwocky Literary Agency did the deal for world English rights.
Shannon Delany at Leap Books took world rights to Patrice Lyle's middle-grade novel, Poison Ivy: The Case of the Washed Up Warlock. The book follows a teen P.I. and witch who must use her spunk and her spells to solve multiple mysteries. The projected publication date is fall 2015; the author was unagented.
Jill Davis at Katherine Tegen Books has signed author-illustrator Kevan Atteberry (Tickle Monster) for a standalone picture book, I Love You More Than the Smell of Swamp Gas, which will feature monster characters in a “macho mushy” approach to the classic parent-child love poem. It is tentatively scheduled for summer 2017; Erin Murphy at Erin Murphy Literary Agency negotiated the deal for world English rights.
Jenna Pocius of Little Bee Books has acquired Mama, LOOK! , a picture book conceived by Patricia J. Murphy and Caldecott Medalist David Diaz, about curious baby creatures and their mothers discovering the world around them. Publication is scheduled for spring 2017; Rubin Pfeffer of Rubin Pfeffer Content negotiated the deal for world rights.
Mary Kate Castellani at Bloomsbury has signed Chris Robertson to illustrate the picture book Giraffes Ruin Everything by Heidi Schulz. The picture book details the frustrations and embarrassments that ensue when a giraffe comes to visit. Publication is set for spring 2016; Brooks Sherman at The Bent Agency represented the author and Anne Moore Armstrong of The Bright Agency represented the illustrator, in the deal for world rights.
Neal Porter at Roaring Brook's Neal Porter Books has acquired, in a six-house auction, a picture book debut by New Yorker and Guardian cartoonist Liam Francis Walsh. Fish, a wordless picture book, tells of a boy and his dog, whose fishing trip on a seemingly calm lake becomes an epic ride through the alphabet beneath the surface of the water. Publication is planned for fall 2016; Daniel Lazar at Writers House sold world rights.
Jill Santopolo at Philomel has bought world rights to C. Alexander London's Wild Ones, an action-adventure fantasy series for middle-graders. The books will feature an animal world inspired by Brian Jacques's Redwall series; as a child, London wrote Jacques a fan letter telling him that he wanted to be a writer; Jacques wrote back encouraging him to keep reading and to keep believing in the power of stories. In London's series, the Wild Ones are pitted against the People's Pets in a battle for survival. The first book is scheduled for September 2015; Robert Guinsler at Sterling Lord Literistic brokered the three-book deal.
Alison Weiss at Egmont has acquired two contemporary YA books from Kasie West, author of Pivot Point and The Distance Between Us. In The Sun, the Moon, and the Truth, a post from a fake celebrity social media account sets a single-minded swimmer on a hunt to find out the person's true identity. Publication is slated for spring 2016, with the second novel to follow a year later. Michelle Wolfson of Wolfson Literary negotiated the deal for North American rights.
Lisa Cheng at Running Press has bought Tessa Elwood's YA novel Hunger, Heart, Fuel, Nation, pitches as a romantic Game of Thrones in space. In the novel, a girl takes her sister's place in an arranged political marriage between two intergalactic royal houses. The stakes are raised when the heroine finds she may be the illegitimate daughter of her family's sworn enemy. It's scheduled for fall 2015; Victoria Marini at Gelfman Schneider sold world rights in a two-book deal.
Emily Easton at Crown has acquired world English rights to Darcy Wood's debut YA romance,Summer of Supernova. It's the story of zodiac-obsessed teen Wilamena Carlisle, who when she discovers a planetary alignment that won't repeat for a decade, is forced to tackle her greatest astrological fear: The Fifth House – Relationships and Love. Publication is set for spring 2016; Catherine Drayton at InkWell Management made the deal.
Wendy Loggia at Delacorte has bought a YA novel by Charlotte Huang called Going Geek. In the story, a girl is forced to stand up for who she really is – if she even knows – when her friends dump her and she is forced to hang out with the fringe crowd at school. It's scheduled for publication in 2016; Adriann Ranta at Wolf Literary Services sold North American rights.
Alyson Heller at S&S/Aladdin has acquired a middle-grade novel, Might Fly Away, from debut author Tracy Edward Wymer. Eddie, a young bird watcher, is desperate to win the 7th Grade Science Symposium by proving the Golden Eagle his father claimed to have seen really does live near his town. But with his father having recently died, his teacher a skeptical rival birder, and the school bully as his project partner, Eddie may have one too many roadblocks to overcome. Publication is planned for spring 2016; John Rudolph at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management brokered the deal for world rights.
Christy Ottaviano of Henry Holt's Christy Ottaviano Books has bought world rights to Barbara Herkert's (l.) A Boy, A Mouse, and a Spider: The Story of E.B. White, which highlights White's transition from a small and sickly child with a love of animals and words to an accomplished writer and farm owner who shared his awe of the world with his readers; Lauren Castillo will illustrate. Publication is scheduled for spring 2017; Karen Grencik at Red Fox Literary represented the author and Paul Rodeen at Rodeen Literary Management represented the illustrator.
Reka Simonsen at Atheneum has acquired world rights to Coretta Scott King Award Honor author Carole Boston Weatherford's You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen. It's a middle-grade history in verse, illustrated by Jeffery Boston Weatherford, her son. Set within the segregated army of World War II, the story follows pioneering African-American pilots from training in Tuskegee, Ala., to combat on the front lines in Europe, documenting their triumphs in the skies and over the color barrier. It's slated for summer 2016; Rubin Pfeffer at Rubin Pfeffer Content represented both the author and illustrator.
Sonali Fry of Little Bee Books has bought world rights to Look! Birds! and Look! Flowers!, two rhyming nonfiction manuscripts written by Stephanie Calmenson (l.), to be illustrated by Puy Pinillos. Both titles will be published in spring 2016; Susan Cohen of Writers House represented the author, and Mark Mills of Plum Pudding Illustration represented the illustrator.
Joanna Cardenas at Viking has acquired two picture book texts from Julie Falatko, author of the forthcoming Snappsy the Alligator (Did Not Ask to Be in This Book). In the first, tentatively titled Bunny's New Friends, a group of misfits is annoyed when a bunny infiltrates their meeting of Underrepresented Animals in Picture Books. In the second book, Help Wanted: One Rooster, a cow is having trouble finding a suitable replacement rooster. The first book is scheduled for 2017; Danielle Smith at Red Fox Literary negotiated the deal for world rights.
