Godoff Enters ‘Zone’
Penguin Press’s Ann Godoff bought U.S. rights to Stuart Shanker’s In the Zone: How Children Thrive from agent Jill Kneerim at Kneerim, Williams & Bloom. Shanker, a psychologist whose research is focused on what Penguin dubbed “brain states,” explores how children, as well as adults, can overcome stress and enter a new, calmer state. The book, Penguin noted, picks up on a “radical advance” in the understanding of brain functioning.
Martinez Re-ups at Skyhorse
Former Night Shade Books author Michael J. Martinez, whose recent sci-fi novel The Daedalus Incident was released by Skyhorse Publishing after it acquired Night Shade, signed a two-book, world-rights deal with his new house. Skyhorse’s Jason Katzman bought The Enceladus Crisis and its sequel from agent Sara Megibow at Nelson Literary. The Enceladus Crisis follows an 18th-century naval captain who, Skyhorse said, “investigates a new threat to the Known Worlds among the alien ring-cities of Saturn.” Both new novels are planned for 2014.
SMP Nabs Bannan’s Debut
Elizabeth Beier at St. Martin’s Press took North American rights to Sarah Bannan’s first novel, Weightless. Ed Victor agent Sarah Williams sold the book at auction. In Weightless, SMP said, the narrator is a “golden girl” who has just started at a new school after her family relocated from Alabama to New Jersey. The author’s style, SMP added, is reminiscent of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History “while exposing the kind of pitch-perfect description of the dark side of modern friendship in groups that’s reminiscent of Nick McDonell’s 12.”
Bidwell Smith Stays ‘After’ at Hudson Street
Following the success of her memoir, The Rules of Inheritance (Feb. 2012), Claire Bidwell Smith sold its sequel to her current publisher, Penguin’s Hudson Street Press. In Rules of Inheritance, Bidwell Smith explored how she dealt with the grief of losing both her parents at a young age. The new memoir, After This, is, Hudson Street said, “her personal journey to understand the afterlife, informed by her experiences as a professional grief counselor and young mother.” Denise Roy took world rights to After This from agent Wendy Sherman at Wendy Sherman Associates. Rules of Inheritance has been optioned by actress Jennifer Lawrence, who is currently attached to produce and star in the screen adaptation.
Briefs
At Harper, Claire Wachtel bought world rights to Yvette Corporon’s debut novel, When the Cypress Whispers, from agent Nena Madonia at Dupree/Miller & Associates. The book, which is slated for an April 2014 release, is based on the experiences of the author’s family in Greece during World War II. Harper said the memoir tells of Corporan’s visit to her grandmother’s home in Greece, “where the past and present collide and a fateful decision must be made.” Foreign rights to the book have sold, thus far, in Germany, Norway, Greece, and Italy.
Kent Carroll, publisher of Europa Editions, took North American rights to Michele Zackheim’s Last Train to Paris, a historical novel set during the buildup to World War II. Trident Media Group’s Ellen Levine brokered the sale. The novel is about a Nevada woman who travels to Paris and uncovers a secret about her family history. Then, in the late ’30s, the heroine, Europa elaborated, “decides to make a final move—this time across the border to Germany,” where she becomes “tangled in events far larger than anyone could have predicted.” Zackheim, who teaches at New York City’s School of Visual Arts, has written two other books: 1999’s Einstein’s Daughter (Putnam) and 1996’s Violette’s Embrace (Riverhead).
Correction: An earlier version of this article misidintified Yvette Corporon's book as a memoir; it is a novel. Also, Corporon's agent, Nena Madonia, works at Dupree/Miller & Associates, and not Jan Miller Associates.
