Virginia Duncan at Greenwillow has acquired two novels by Alexandra Duncan. In Blight, an action-adventure stand-alone, AgraStar security team member Tempest Torres desperately searches for a cure to a destructive disease killing every living thing it touches. The second novel, Ember Days, is a dark historical fantasy about wizards in Jazz Age Charleston, S.C. Publication will start in winter 2017; Kate Testerman of KT Literary negotiated the deal for North American rights.
Melanie Nolan at Knopf has acquired Satellite, a YA novel by Printz Medalist Nick Lake, about a trio of teens born and raised on a space station who are preparing to make their first trip to Earth, unaware of the irreversible consequences that the journey will set into motion. Publication is scheduled for summer 2017; Caradoc King at AP Watt/United Agents brokered the deal for North American rights.
Liz Tingue at Razorbill has bought A Million Junes by Emily Henry, a speculative YA romance. In the story, the daughter and son of two long-feuding families fall in love while trying to uncover the truth about a curse that has plagued their bloodlines for generations, with the help of the strange magic that haunts the homes and forests of Five Fingers, Mich. Publication is slated for spring 2017; Lana Popovic of Chalberg & Sussman did the deal for world rights.
Krista Marino at Delacorte has won at auction Tara Goedjen's YA debut Red Red Ribbons. A gothic mystery set on the Gulf Coast of Alabama, the novel follows 16-year-old Mae Cole's quest to uncover who is responsible for her sister's mysterious death, and the terrifying turn it takes as she starts to dig up long-buried secrets about her family's dark past. Publication is planned for 2017; Catherine Drayton at InkWell Management negotiated the two-book deal for North American rights.
Jennifer Ung at Simon Pulse has acquired Dawn Ius's third novel, Lizzie, based on the Lizzie Borden ax murders. The contemporary YA novel features Lizzie, who works for her tyrannical parents at the family's bed and breakfast. When a new maid arrives, Lizzie falls in love – but when her parents try to tear the girls apart, it sparks Lizzie's descent into madness. Publication is set for spring 2018; Mandy Hubbard at Emerald City Literary Agency brokered the deal for North American rights.
Emily Seife at Scholastic has bought Lydia Sharp's debut YA novel, Whenever I'm with You, about a teenager who risks her life and her heart to save her boyfriend when she discovers he's taking a dangerous trek through the wilds of Alaska alone. Publication is scheduled for 2017; Laura Bradford at Bradford Literary Agency negotiated the deal for world rights.
Lauren Bisom at Henry Holt has acquired a four-book middle-grade series by debut authors Brad McLelland (l.) and Louis Sylvester. The first book, The Lost Causes, traverses cursed forests, underground mazes, ghost towns, and graveyards, in which the dead are rising, a villainous desperado is terrorizing the countryside, and it's up to 13-year-old Keech Blackwood and a group of orphan riders to foil his schemes. Publication is slated for fall 2017; Brooks Sherman at the Bent Agency brokered the deal for world English rights.
Tiffany Liao at Razorbill has bought a middle grade fantasy series, Peasprout Chen by Henry Lien, about a girl determined to take top ranking at Pearl Academy where she will study Wu Liu, a form that blends figure skating with martial arts. The first book, Peasprout Chen, Future Legend of Skate and Sword, pubs in fall 2017; Tina Wexler at ICM Partners sold world English rights in a two-book deal.
Kaylan Adair at Candlewick has acquired Jennifer Jacobson's The Dollar Kids, a middle grade novel in which a boy, reeling from the shooting death of his best friend, moves with his family to a fictionalized town based on real communities throughout the U.S. in which qualifying families can purchase a home for only one dollar. Publication is set for spring 2018; Alyssa Eisner Henkin at Trident Media Group did the deal for world rights.
Christy Ottaviano at Henry Holt/Christy Ottaviano Books has boughtFar Sight, Deep Time, a middle grade time-travel adventure across the Scottish Highlands by Lynne Jonell. Publication is planned for 2017; Stephen Barbara at Inkwell Management negotiated the deal for world rights.
Stacey Barney at Putnam has acquired world rights to Frank and Miss Fancy by Irene Latham, to be illustrated by John Holyfield. Inspired by true events and set in 1913 Alabama, a retired circus elephant is purchased by the city of Birmingham, where an African-American boy is determined to meet her up close in spite of segregation laws. It is scheduled for spring 2018; Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio represented the author, and the illustrator was unagented.
Andrea Welch at S&S/Beach Lane Books has bought world rights to Angela DiTerlizzi's (l.) Just Add Glitter, a picture book about how there's no such thing as too much bling. Or is there? Samantha Cotterill will illustrate. Publication is planned for fall 2018; the Gotham Group represented the author, and Kirsten Hall at Catbird Productions represented the artist.
Alvina Ling at Little, Brown has acquired world rights to Useni Eugene Perkins's (l.) Hey Black Child, a picture book based on the text of a rediscovered poem that promotes the self-esteem and celebration of African-American children, to be illustrated by Bryan Collier. Publication is slated for summer 2017; the author was unagented, and Marcia Wernick at Wernick & Pratt Agency represented the illustrator.
Erica Finkel at Abrams has bought two picture books from Thyra Heder, beginning with Alfie, the story of a pet turtle told twice in a row, from two perspectives. Publication is scheduled for fall 2017, with the second book to follow in fall 2019; Stephen Barr at Writers House brokered the deal for world rights.
Grace Kendall at FSG has acquired at auction Kevin Cornell's Lucy Fell Down the Mountain, a picture book that tells the story of a tiny girl's eventful fall down a big mountain. Publication is set for fall 2017; Steven Malk at Writers House did the two-book deal for world rights.
Phoebe Yeh at Crown has preempted Emily Butler's Freya and Zoos, about a penguin with a dream of having one real adventure, who meets a belligerent stowaway mouse in a hydrogen balloon owned by Swedish explorers who are intent on flying to the North Pole. Publication is slated for 2018; Steven Chudney from the Chudney Agency negotiated the two-book deal for world English rights.
Erin Black at Scholastic Press has acquired Dan Poblocki's Shadow House trilogy, in which five kids are called to a spooky house where they find they're trapped, unless they can uncover the house's history and weaknesses and escape – or risk being driven out of their minds. Publication is slated for fall 2016; Barry Goldblatt at Barry Goldblatt Literary negotiated the three-book deal for world rights.
Alessandra Balzer at HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray has bought Katie Cotugno's Fireworks and an untitled novel in a two-book deal. Set against the backdrop of the 90's boy- and girl-band craze, the novel follows two best friends who head to Orlando in the hopes of becoming the next big thing. But will their friendship survive intense competition, the distractions of new romance and the pressures of fame? Publication is scheduled for winter 2017; Sara Shandler and Joelle Hobeika at Alloy Entertainment brokered the deal for world English rights.
Karen Wojtyla at S&S/McElderry has pre-empted Peternelle Van Arsdale's debut novel The Beast Is an Animal, as well as a second title. Beast is an eerie tale of far-flung villages, dark woods, and creatures that hunt in the night, through which the heroine, Alys, must find her way. The author was previously an executive editor at HarperCollins. Publication is set for spring 2017; Rebecca Sherman at Writers House negotiated the two-book deal for world rights.
Jen Klonsky at HarperTeen has won, at auction, Dare Mighty Things, a duology by Heather Kaczynski, pitched as Contact meets The Selection. Instead of competing for a prince/kingdom, a brilliant Indian-American girl competes to win the last astronaut slot for an experimental mission into space. Publication is planned for 2017; Kristin Nelson at Nelson Literary Agency did the six-figure deal for North American rights.
Kieran Viola at Hyperion has acquired Lost Causes by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, a YA novel about survival in which a family, whose business is training search and rescue dogs, is tasked with finding a missing child in a 750,000-acre national park. Publication is slated for fall 2017; Elizabeth Harding at Curtis Brown brokered the deal for North American rights.
Susan Dobinick at Farrar, Straus and Giroux has bought Tanaz Bhathena's Qala Academy. The YA novel, a debut, unravels the rumors and realities that led up to the moment when a Parsi-Hindu girl and a Parsi boy are caught together in a fatal car accident in Saudi Arabia. Publication is set for fall 2017; Eleanor Jackson at Dunow Carlson & Lerner negotiated the deal for world rights excluding Canada.
Emilia Rhodes at HarperTeen has preempted debut YA novel Little Wrecks by Meredith Miller. The novel tells the story of three teenage girls living on Long Island in 1979, and explores themes of sexual violence and mental health. Publication is scheduled for summer 2017; Allison Hellegers at Rights People did the two-book deal for North American rights on behalf of Danielle Zigner at LBA Books in the U.K. Translation rights are being handled by ILA, and film and television rights are being handled by the Artists Partnership.
Christy Ottaviano at Henry Holt's Christy Ottaviano Books has acquiredWinterhouse by Ben Guterson, a middle grade magical realism series set in a lavish and mysterious hotel, in a six-figure pre-empt. The first book is planned for 2018; Rena Rossner at the Deborah Harris Agency brokered the three-book deal for world rights.
Tara Walker at Tundra has bought Chihiro Takeuchi's Can You Find My Robot's Arm, a picture book about a robot in search of his missing arm, in a paper-cut journey through home, garden, library, aquarium and the big city. Publication is slated for spring 2017; Daniel Lazar at Writers House did the deal for North American rights on behalf of Alexandra Yatomi-Clarke at Berbay Books.
Anne Schwartz at Random House/Schwartz & Wade Books has acquired world rights to Susan McElroy Montanari's Hip Hop Lollipop, to be illustrated by Brian Pinkney, a rhyming picture book about a girl who won't stop dancing before bedtime. Publication is set for summer 2018; Erzsi Deak at Hen&ink represented the author, and Rebecca Sherman at Writers House represented the illustrator.
Andrea Welch at S&S/Beach Lane has bought world rights to Fur, Feather, Fin: All of Us Are Kin, a picture book by Diane Lang (l.), celebrating the interconnectedness of creatures throughout the animal kingdom. Stephanie Laberis will illustrate. Publication is planned for spring 2018; Anne Moore Armstrong at Bright USA represented the illustrator and the author was self-represented.
Kate O'Sullivan at HMH has acquired Great Big Things by Kate Hoefler, illustrated by Noah Klocek, in which the quiet heroism of one mouse on an arduous journey to bring another mouse the smallest of gifts serves as a reminder that it's not our size but what we're doing in this world that makes us small or big. Publication is scheduled for fall 2017. The author was unagented; Klocek was represented by LeighAnna MacFadden of LAM Creative in the deal.
Karen Greenberg at Knopf has bought world rights for My First Day at Mermaid School, a picture book by JoAnne Stewart Wetzel (l.), illustrated by Julianna Swaney, about a mermaid's first day in her under-the-sea classroom. It's set for summer 2018; Sara Sciuto at Fuse Literary represented the author and Anne Armstrong at the Bright Agency represented the illustrator.
