Susan Rich at Little, Brown has acquired, in a pre-empt, two books in a new middle-grade series by Esta Spalding, to be illustrated by Sydney Smith. The first volume, Look Out for the Fitzgerald-Trouts, features a band of loosely related self-reliant siblings who live alone in their car on a tropical island, populated with terrible grown-ups. The book will be published simultaneously in Canada by Tara Walker at Tundra/Penguin Random House in spring 2016. Jackie Kaiser of Westwood Creative represented the author, and Emily van Beek of Folio Jr./Folio Literary Management represented Smith in the deal for world rights excluding Canada.

Mallory Loehr and Caroline Abbey at Random House have bought a new middle-grade series from Patricia Wrede. The first volume, The Dark Lord's Daughter, follows a girl who discovers she has inherited a dysfunctional, depressed magical kingdom. Publication is slated for 2017; Ginger Clark at Curtis Brown negotiated the two-book deal for North American rights.

Alison Weiss at Sky Pony has acquired dotwav, a YA sci-fi thriller by Mike A. Lancaster, and a second untitled novel. In the novel, a young female hacker joins forces with a member of a secret teen government agency to uncover a sound embedded in music that's being used to control fans. Publication is scheduled for fall 2016; Allison Hellegers at Rights People brokered the two-book deal on behalf of Becky Bagnell at Lindsay Literary for North American rights.

Aubrey Poole at Sourcebooks has bought The Assassin Game by Kirsty McKay. At Cate's isolated boarding school, Killer is more than a game – it's an elite secret society. But what happens when the Game becomes real and it seems that she's the next target? Publication is set for August 2016; Allison Hellegers at Rights People negotiated the deal on behalf of Chicken House's Elinor Bagenal and Barry Cunningham for North American rights.

Sally Doherty at Henry Holt has acquired Douglas Rees's Edna, The Very First Chicken, a picture book in which the very first chicken faces off against a hungry tyrannosaurus rex. Publication is scheduled for spring 2017; Sara Sciuto of Fuse Literary brokered the deal for world rights.

Alessandra Balzer at Balzer + Bray has bought Love, Triangle, a debut picture book by Marcie Colleen about best friends Circle and Square, and the Triangle that comes between them, with Bob Shea to illustrate. Publication is set for spring 2017; Susan Hawk at The Bent Agency represented the author and Steven Malk represented the illustrator in the deal for world rights.

Joy Peskin of Farrar, Straus & Giroux has acquired May I Have a Word?, a picture book about a battle of magnet letters on a refrigerator door, written by Caron Levis, with Andy Rash set to illustrate. Publication is scheduled for spring 2017. Emily Mitchell of Wernick & Pratt Agency represented the author and Marietta B. Zacker of Nancy Gallt Literary Agency represented the illustrator in the deal for world English rights.

Emilia Rhodes at HarperTeen has acquired Colleen Oakes's YA trilogy, Queen of Hearts. Set in Wonderland before Alice has arrived, this fantasy re-imagining tells the origin story of classic literature's most-feared villain, the Queen of Hearts. The first two books in the series were originally published by SparkPress. Prisoner of Hearts, book one in the trilogy, is slated for summer 2016; Jennifer Unter at the Unter Agency brokered the deal for world English rights.

Diane Landolf at Random House has bought two standalone middle-grade novels by Michelle Schusterman. The first, tentatively titledMaudeville, was previously under contract with Egmont USA. It's about a girl who longs to sing and, after flubbing a big audition due to stage fright, comes upon an old theater run by a glamorous but sinister grand-dame of show business. Publication is scheduled for spring 2017; a second standalone novel will follow a year later. Sarah Davies of the Greenhouse Literary Agency did the deal for North American rights.

Melissa Miller at HarperCollins imprint Katherine Tegen Books has acquired the Hibiscus Daughter duology by debut author Lana Popovic. The YA contemporary fantasy series, pitched as The Night Circus meets the The Tiger's Wife, is about two sisters, one cursed to be Death's courtesan and one forced to pass the curse on to the next generation, who must find a way to save each other. Publication for the first book is planned for 2017, with the second to follow in 2018;; Taylor Haggerty at Waxman Leavell negotiated the deal for world rights.

Tamar Brazis of Abrams has bought Useless by M.J. Beaufrand, a YA novel set on an island in Puget Sound, in which a teenage girl and her four brothers search for a missing child, but uncover disquieting truths about themselves and their community along the way. Publication is scheduled for fall 2016; Steven Chudney at the Chudney Agency brokered the deal for world English rights.

Jenne Abramowitz at Scholastic has acquired Cecilia Galante's The World from Up Here, a middle-grade novel following a 12-year-old girl who, in the wake of a family event, must confront her fears while moving to an aunt's house with her autistic brother and their dog. Publication is set for summer 2016; Stacey Glick of Dystel & Goderich negotiated the deal for North American rights.

Georgia McBride of Month9Books has bought a middle-grade debut from Jennifer Gooch Hummer, called Deleting Tenley Tylwyth. In the story, a 13-year-old girl who can create weather patterns must protect humans from an evil and vindictive Mother Nature. Publication is slated for 2017; Jennifer Unter at the Unter Agency did the deal for world English rights.