Emily Easton at Crown has acquired a line of kid-friendly math books by actress and author Danica McKellar. The series will focus on basic concepts for toddlers through third graders. Publication will begin in spring 2017; Laura Nolan at Kuhn Projects brokered the eight-book deal for world rights.
Andrew Karre at Dutton has bought A Line in the Dark by Malinda Lo. The YA novel is a murder mystery about the shifting boundary between young and adult and the half-seen spaces where friendship slides into love, where love twists into jealousy, and where life crosses over to death. Publication is scheduled for 2018; Laura J. Langlie negotiated the deal for North American rights deal.
Ben Rosenthal at HarperCollins's Katherine Tegen imprint has won at auction activist Sandra Uwiringiyimana's memoir War Child, written with journalist Abigail Pesta, about Sandra's childhood escape from a massacre at a refugee camp in Africa, her journey to a new life in America as a teenager, and her quest to make peace with her past through art. Publication is slated for spring 2017; Jessica Regel at Foundry Literary + Media brokered the deal for North American rights.
Nicole Ellul at Simon Pulse has acquired two young adult novels by Jenn Bennett. Alex, Approximately is an edgy teen update of You've Got Mail, in which a reserved girl can't stand the boy at her summer tourist-trap job, while unaware that she's falling for his anonymous online persona. Publication is planned for spring 2017 and will be followed by an untitled novel in spring 2018. Laura Bradford at Bradford Literary Agency negotiated the deal for North American rights. British rights went to Jane Griffiths at Simon & Schuster U.K., with the book set to be published simultaneously with the U.S. edition.
Liesa Abrams at Simon Pulse has bought Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed, about three misfit girls who come together to avenge the rape of a girl none of them knew. In the process, they change the misogynist culture at their high school and start a movement that will transform the lives of everyone around them. Publication for Nowhere Girls is scheduled for fall 2017; Amy Tipton brokered the two-book deal for North American rights.
Alyson Heller at S&S/Aladdin has acquired How to Be Funny by debut author Lauren Allbright. It follows the adventures of a boy who doesn't know how to make friends and decides to use his middle-school science project to learn. Publication is slated for 2017; Emily Keyes at Fuse Literary did the deal for world rights.
Traci Todd at Abrams has bought the first two picture books both written and illustrated by boygirlparty artist Susie Ghahremani. Inspired by her bestselling “cat pile” clothing line,Stack the Cats is a playful introduction to early math concepts using cats. The second picture book features other popular characters from boygirlparty apparel, stationery and gifts. Publication is set for spring 2017 and spring 2018; Stefanie Von Borstel of Full Circle Literary negotiated the deal for world rights.
Rotem Moscovich at Disney-Hyperion has acquired Thomas Paine and the Dangerous Word by Sarah Jane Marsh, the first picture-book biography of Thomas Paine, a bankrupt corset-maker from England who surprised the world in 1776 with his pamphlet “Common Sense” – a wake-up call that inspired 13 American colonies to declare independence against the mightiest empire in the world. Edwin Fotheringham is set to illustrate. Publication is expected in fall/winter 2017; Caryn Wiseman at Andrea Brown Literary Agency represented the author, and Pat Hackett represented the illustrator in the deal for world rights.
Karen Greenberg at Knopf has preempted Vesper Stamper's first YA novel, The Orange Tree, plus a second untitled novel. The illustrated novel is about two teenage Holocaust survivors who find themselves in a displaced persons camp in the aftermath of WWII. Publication is scheduled for spring 2018; Lori Kilkelly at Rodeen Literary Management negotiated the deal for world English rights.
Jennifer Ung at Simon Pulse has acquired two new novels by Trish Doller. The first, In a Perfect World, features an American girl who moves with her family to Cairo, and experiences culture shock and forbidden love when she falls for a Muslim boy. It's slated for publication in summer 2017, and will be followed by an untitled YA novel in summer 2018. Kate Testerman of KT Literary did the deal for North American rights; Dana Spector of Paradigm has film rights.
Maggie Lehrman at Abrams/Amulet has bought Marianna Baer's The Inconceivable Life of Quinn, about the 16-year-old daughter of a high-profile politician in Brooklyn, who struggles to uncover the mystery of how she – a virgin – could be pregnant, in this novel of family secrets and media scandal-mongering. The book is scheduled for spring 2017; Sara Crowe at Harvey Klinger brokered the deal for world English rights.
Alix Reid at Carolrhoda has acquired two picture books by David Zeltser. Stinker is the story of a smelly dog who finds the perfect owner when he escapes the pound, and The Universe Ate My Homework centers on Abby's unusual excuse for missing homework: a black hole. Publication is set for spring 2017 and spring 2018; Catherine Drayton at InkWell Management negotiated the deal for world rights.
Ibrahim Ahmad at Akashic Books has bought the debut picture book by Israeli musician Oren Lavie (l.), The Bear Who Wasn't There, about a bear that goes on a quest in the forest. Wolf Erlbruch will illustrate. Publication is planned for fall 2016; Katelyn Detweiler at Jill Grinberg Literary Management acquired world English-language rights from German publisher Verlag Antje Kunstmann.
