Elizabeth Bennett at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has acquired an as-yet untitled memoir by Paralympic swimmer Jessica Long. The scrapbook-style YA memoir will include personal anecdotes, photos, letters, and memorabilia that recount Jessica’s childhood, her return to Siberia to meet her birth family, and her rise to the top of the Paralympic swimming world. Worldwide publication is scheduled for spring 2018; Sandra Bishop at Transatlantic negotiated the deal for world rights.
Anne Hoppe at Clarion has preempted world rights to Jessie Hilb's debut Calculus of Change, a contemporary YA about unrequited love, grief, and self-acceptance. Caught in the throes of a passionate attraction to the serially unavailable Tate and mourning her dead mother, Aden tries to hold her family together while exploring her heritage and her memories, in a story pitched as Eleanor & Park meetsmanicpixiedreamgirl. Publication is slated for early 2018; Renee Nyen of KT Literary brokered the deal.
Catherine Onder at Bloomsbury has bought Sarah Tolcser's debut fantasy, Song of the Current, set along the waterways of a magical world where 17-year-old Caroline Oresteia dreams of fulfilling her destiny as a captain on the river. But when her father is arrested and the river god remains silent, Caro takes her fate into her own hands to smuggle a dangerous cargo. Publication is planned for 2017; Susan Hawk negotiated the deal for world English rights.
Christian Trimmer at Simon & Schuster has won at auction the first three books in the middle grade Worldquake Sequence by Scarlett Thomas. In book one, Dragon's Green, 11-year-old Effie Truelove discovers that her grandfather Griffin is a powerful wizard, and that his library of books provides a gateway to another world. It is set for publication in summer 2017; books two and three will follow in subsequent summers. Canongate, the U.K. publisher, brokered the deal for North American rights.
Caitlyn Dlouhy at Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books has acquired at auction the first middle grade novel by National Book Award finalist Beth Kephart, Wild Blues, plus an additional standalone novel. Wild Blues, set in the Adirondacks, tells the story of LizBeth and Matias, an El Salvadoran boy, whose lives will be endangered by a maximum security prison break. Publication is slated for 2018, with the second novel following in 2019; Danielle Smith at Red Fox Literary negotiated the deal for world English rights.
Allison Wortche at Knopf won at auction debut author Melissa Sarno's Next to Nothing, the story of a 12-year-old girl who has been living in a homeless shelter with her mother and sister, longing for permanence while finding comfort in the trees of New York City. Publication is scheduled for summer 2018; Rebecca Stead at the Book Group did the two-book deal for world rights.
Maria Modugno at Random House has bought On the Spot! Countless Funny Stories by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Lea Redmond, illustrated by Sanne te Loo. The book allows readers to transform an ordinary story into silly ones with stickers or found objects with this book that isn't just for reading, but playing. Publication is planned for summer 2017; Amy Rennert of the Amy Rennert Agency brokered world English rights for the text and world rights for the art.
Maria Modugno also acquired Don't Blink! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by David Roberts. The premise of their picture book: you don't have to go to sleep as long as you don't blink. Publication is set for spring 2018; Amy Rennert of the Amy Rennert Agency negotiated U.S., Canada, and open market rights for the text; Christine Isteed of Art Partners sold world rights for the art.
Mary-Kate Gaudet at Little, Brown bought Liz Climo's picture book Rory the Dinosaur Needs a Christmas Tree, in which a young dino searches for the perfect tree with a little help from his father. Publication is slated for fall 2017; Kathleen Ortiz of New Leaf Literary & Media negotiated the two-book deal for world English rights.
Tracy Mack at Scholastic Press has acquired Truck Full of Ducks, a picture book by author-illustrator Ross Burach, in which a delivery man tries to figure out who ordered his truck full of ducks, but everyone he meets is waiting for a different type of truck. It's scheduled for 2018; Lara Perkins at Andrea Brown Literary Agency brokered world rights.
Reka Simonsen at Atheneum has bought Carole Boston Weatherford's How Sweet the Sound: The Story of Amazing Grace, to be illustrated by Frank Morrison, a picture book about the history and legacy of the hymn “Amazing Grace.” Publication is slated for summer 2018; Rubin Pfeffer of Rubin Pfeffer Content represented the author and Lori Nowicki at Painted Words represented the artist in the deal for world rights.
Kelsey Skea at Amazon/Two Lions has acquired the latest collaboration by Anna Kang and Chris Weyant, the Geisel-winning team behind You Are (Not) Small. Their new book is the untitled story of an eraser who finds herself at the center of a desktop drama. Publication is scheduled for fall 2018; Holly McGhee at Pippin Properties did the deal for North American rights.
Sarah Barley at Flatiron Books has preempted Melissa Bashardoust's Girls Made of Snow and Glass. The YA novel, which the publisher called a “feminist reimagining of the Snow White fairy tale,” follows both of the central female characters from the original story: the princess and her stepmother. The book is scheduled for fall 2017. Meredith Kaffel Simonoff at DeFiore and Company represented the author; Kerry Nordling at Macmillan is handling U.K. and translation rights.
Annie Berger at Sourcebooks has bought Monstrous, MarcyKate Connolly's new duology, which begins with Shadow Weaver, featuring 12-year-old Emmeline who can manipulate shadows and whose only friend is her own shadow – a gift that keeps her isolated from the rest of the world. When her parents plan to send her away to be cured, her shadow promises to help, but it will cost her – for her shadow craves a life of its own. Publication is slated for winter 2018; Suzie Townsend at New Leaf Literary & Media negotiated the deal for world English rights.
Namrata Tripathi at Dial has won at auction, in a six-figure deal, Sherine Hamdy (l.) and Myra El Mir's black-and-white YA crossover graphic novel, Jabs, about a Muslim-American girl growing up and grappling with her identity – and whether or not to wear hijab. Publication is set for fall 2018; Anjali Singh at Ayesha Pande Literary brokered the deal for world rights.
Daniel Ehrenhaft at Soho Teen has acquired world English rights for debut author Samira Ahmed's Swimming Lessons, in which a small-town Muslim teenager struggles with parental expectations and forbidden romance, then finds herself a victim of a hate crime after a nearby terrorist attack ignites an outbreak of Islamophobia. Publication is planned for spring 2018; Eric Smith at P.S. Literary did the deal; the Taryn Fagerness Agency is overseeing foreign rights.
Nicole Frail at Sky Pony Press has bought world rights to a YA novel by Amy Spalding, author of Kissing Ted Callahan (And Other Guys). The book, The Summer of Jordi Perez (And the Best Burger in L.A.), is a lesbian romantic comedy in which a plus-size fashion blogger and her fellow summer intern attempt to keep business and pleasure separate when they fall for each other and find themselves on opposite sides of a debate about representation of self in art and reality. Publication is scheduled for spring 2018; Kate Testerman of KT Literary negotiated the deal.
Liz Szabla at Feiwel and Friends has preempted Melissa Ostrom's historical YA novel, Genesee, about a 16-year-old girl who leaves her family homestead disguised as a boy. It is slated for spring 2018; Rebecca Stead at the Book Group brokered the deal for world English rights.
Krista Marino at Delacorte has acquired author-composer Russell Ginns's Samantha Spinner and the Super Secret Plans, first in a new series about a girl whose uncle disappears leaving a billion dollars to her older sister, the Yankees to her younger brother, and all she gets is a rusty red umbrella that is quite possibly the most valuable inheritance of all. Publication is planned for spring 2018; Kevin O'Connor at O'Connor Literary Agency negotiated the two-book deal for world rights.
Cheryl Klein at Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine Books has bought Front Desk, a middle-grade novel from debut author Kelly Yang. Based on the author's life, the story follows Mia, the daughter of recent Chinese immigrants; as she helps her parents manage the Caliheim Motel, Mia must keep many secrets from her classmates and the motel's mean owner – including the truth about the fellow immigrants her father's hiding. Publication is set for 2018; Alexander Slater at Trident Media Group brokered the deal for North American rights.
Alyson Heller at S&S/Aladdin M!X has acquired Allison Gutknecht's middle grade novel Spring Break Mistake, about a tween who is forced to use her photography skills to track down a missing classmate during a class trip in New York City. Heller also bought a second middle grade novel about friends who become rivals in a singing competition, calledSing Like Nobody's Listening. Publication is scheduled for March 2017 and fall 2017; Charlie Olsen at Inkwell Management did the two-book deal for North American rights.
Anna Bloom at Scholastic has bought, in an exclusive submission, Flora Ahn's Pugling Rivalry, an illustrated chapter book depiction of the fictional life of the author-illustrator's pugs Sunny and Rosy, based on her popular pug blog Bah Humpug. Publication is slated for spring 2018, with the second book to follow in fall; Melissa Edwards at the Aaron Priest Agency negotiated the two-book deal for world rights.
Taylor Norman at Chronicle has acquired Alison Farrell's debut picture book, Cycle City, in which Etta the Elephant visits her Aunt Ellen in a special city where everyone rides an astonishing array of bicycles. Publication is planned for spring 2018; Elena Giovinazzo at Pippin Properties brokered the deal for world rights.
Michael Joosten at Random House has preempted world rights to Rob Sanders's (l.) Stonewall. The picture book will tell the story of the Stonewall Inn and its role in the gay civil rights movement; Jamey Christoph will illustrate. Publication is set for spring 2019; Ruben Pfeffer of Ruben Pfeffer Content represented the author, and Patricia Lindgren of Lindgren & Smith represented the artist.
Paula Wiseman at S&S/Paula Wiseman Books has bought world rights to Judy Sierra's The Great Dictionary Caper, illustrated by Eric Comstock. When boredom befalls the words in Noah Webster's Dictionary anything can – and does – happen. Publication is scheduled for fall 2017. Lori Nowicki at Painted Words represented the illustrator; the author represented herself.
Andrea Welch at S&S/Beach Lane has acquired world rights to Hayley Barrett's (l.) What Miss Mitchell Saw, a picture book biography of Maria Mitchell, the first female professional astronomer. Diana Sudyka will illustrate, and the book is slated for spring 2019. Ammi-Joan Paquette at Erin Murphy Literary Agency represented the author, and the illustrator was represented by Andrea Morrison at Writers House.
Joanna Cardenas at Viking has bought world rights to My Pillow Keeps Moving by Laura Gehl, in which a seemingly innocent stray dog, through a series of charades, wins a cantankerous old man's heart. It will be illustrated by Geisel-winning artist Christopher Weyant. Publication is planned for 2018; Erzsi Deak at Hen & Ink represented the author and Holly McGhee at Pippin Properties represented the illustrator.
Laura Godwin at Henry Holt has acquired world rights to Ruby's Chinese New Year, a debut picture book written by Vickie Lee and illustrated by Joey Chou. The story follows a girl who delivers a gift to her grandmother with help from the animals of the Chinese zodiac. Publication has been set for winter 2018; the author represented herself and Kirsten Hall of Catbird Productions represented the illustrator.
