Alex Ulyett at Viking has acquired Damien Love's Monstrous Devices, a middle grade novel pitched as Raiders of the Lost Ark with a Toy Story twist. When his toy robot suddenly turns deadly, 12-year-old Alex finds his humdrum world of bullies and homework overturned by an ancient family feud. He and his wisecracking grandfather flee across Europe pursued by assassins, of the human and mechanical kind. Publication is slated for fall 2018; Catherine Drayton at InkWell Management brokered the deal for North American rights.
Alessandra Balzer at Balzer + Bray has bought at auction debut author Jan Eldredge's Swamp Witch, a middle grade fantasy set in the Louisiana bayou. The book stars Evangeline Clement, a Swamp Witch apprentice who is studying the ways of folk magic and superstition until she and her grandmother encounter a monster that's been after her family for generations. Publication is planned for spring 2018; Elena Giovinazzo at Pippin Properties negotiated the deal for North American rights.
Katie Bignell Woehr at Scholastic has acquired J.J. Howard's Z on Location, a middle grade novel about Z Yang, a vlogger and filmmaker in American Girl's new line of contemporary characters, who finds it challenging to #liveinthemoment while filming a documentary on a summer road trip. Publication is scheduled for September 2017; Danielle Barthel at New Leaf Literary & Media brokered the deal.
Karen Wojtyla at McElderry Books has bought Stacy DeKeyser's middle grade novel The Rhino in Right Field, about a baseball-loving boy from a Greek immigrant family in the Midwest in 1948. Publication is set for summer 2018; Tracey Adams at Adams Literary negotiated the deal for North American rights.
Melissa Manlove at Chronicle has bought Girl in Bloom, a picture book in verse by Brynne Barnes. The book is a read-aloud tribute to African-American women who have paved the way for generations, reminding girls they should never fear climbing too high or shining too brightly. Publication is slated for spring 2019; Deborah Warren at East West Literary Agency brokered the deal for world rights.
Kathy Landwehr at Peachtree has acquired 2982 Days, a free-verse middle grade book by rocket engineer Suzanne Slade, about the Apollo missions and the daring astronauts who paved the way for the first moon landing. Thomas Gonzalez will illustrate; publication is planned for fall 2018. Karen Grencik at Red Fox Literary did world rights for the author; the artist was unagented.
Mary Kate Castellani at Bloomsbury has acquired world rights to Jessica Rinker's (l.) debut picture book What Gloria Heard, a biography of Gloria Steinem, to be illustrated by Daria Peoples. Publication is scheduled for winter 2019, in time for Women's History Month and Steinem's 85th birthday. Linda Epstein at Emerald City Literary Agency represented the author, and Marietta Zacker at Gallt and Zacker Literary Agency represented the illustrator.
Liz Szabla at Feiwel and Friends has bought North American rights to All Welcome Here by James Preller, illustrated by Mary GrandPré, celebrating the first day of school and the beginning of a child's new, diverse, and open-hearted community in a narrative composed of interconnected haiku. The book is set for spring 2019; Rosemary Stimola at Stimola Literary Studio negotiated the deal for both author and illustrator.
Maria Modugno at Random House has acquired world rights to Take Your Pet to School Day by Linda Ashman (l.), illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman, for kids and parents familiar with National Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, when the workplace sometimes becomes as chaotic as Maple View School on Pet Day. Publication is scheduled for summer 2019; Jennifer Mattson of Andrea Brown Literary Agency represented the author, and Alexandra Penfold of Upstart Crow represented the illustrator.
Liz Bicknell at Candlewick has bought Cori McCarthy's Hope Is an Arrow, a picture book text chronicling the immigrant journey of Lebanese writer Kahlil Gibran, whose quest for a new home in America and need to bridge gaps between people led him to write The Prophet and to become one of the bestselling poets of all time. Publication is planned for 2019; Sarah Davies at Greenhouse Literary did the deal for world rights.
Nancy Paulsen at Penguin's Nancy Paulsen Books has acquired world rights to Derrick Barnes's The King of Kindergarten, to be illustrated by Vanessa Brantley Newton. It's a humorous celebration of a cool kindergartner who oozes self-confidence, positive energy, and pride as he deals with his first day of school. Publication is slated for summer 2019; Regina Brooks of Serendipity Literary Agency represented the author and Lori Nowicki of Painted Words represented the illustrator.
Rebecca Davis at Boyds Mills Press has bought Lee Bennett Hopkins's School People, an anthology of poems focusing on the people children encounter in the course of a school day. Ellen Shi will illustrate. Publication is set for spring 2018; Elizabeth Harding at Curtis Brown Ltd. represented the author, and Anne Moore Armstrong at Bright USA represented the illustrator in the deal for North American English rights.
