Lamb Takes ‘Girl Rising’
For her eponymous imprint at Random House, Wendy Lamb took North American rights, in a six-figure deal, to Girl Rising, by Tanya Lee Stone. The book is a companion title to the 2013 documentary of the same name; the movie, which received limited theatrical distribution in New York, focuses on nine girls from developing countries, each facing a uniquely devastating situation, from arranged marriage to child slavery. Agent Rosemary Stimola, at Stimola Literary Studio, worked as a co-agent on the deal with Scott Waxman, at Waxman Leavell Literary. Stimola said the book will build on the stories of the nine girls featured in the film, as they “confront and overcome tremendous challenges to achieve their dreams of education." Girl Rising is set for a fall 2016 publication.

Greenwillow Invests Six-Figures in Zhang
Virginia Duncan, publisher of Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books, took world English rights, for six figures, to two new contemporary YA books by Amy Zhang. Agent Emily S. Keyes at Foreword Literary brokered the deal. The two books are tentatively titled This Is Where the World Ends and Memento Mori, respectively, and both address, Keyes said, “themes of love and death.” Zhang’s debut, Falling into Place, will be published by Greenwillow on September 9, and has been selected by the ABA as a Kids’ Indie Next List top-10 pick for autumn 2014.

Burks Closes Picture Book Quartet
Author/illustrator James Burks sold a picture book called Pigs and Blanket, at auction, to Disney-Hyperion, in the first of two, two-book deals. Stephanie Lurie acquired world rights from agent Kelly Sonnack at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. The book, Sonnack said, is about two pig siblings who encounter difficulties sharing the blanket they have both come to love. Sonnack went on: “Despite their individual interests pulling them in different directions, these sweet pigs ultimately prefer to remain side-by-side.” In the second deal, which Sonnack also handled, Katie Carella at Scholastic took world rights to a new illustrated series written by Jessica Young, and featuring drawings by Burks. The first title in the deal, Haggis and Tank Unleashed, follows a clumsy Great Dane and her best friend, a Scottie, as they head out on a pirate adventure. Sonnack said the book is “full to the brim with clever wordplay.”

SMP Nabs Perinot’s Next Historical
Sophie Perinot sold world English rights to her historical novel Medicis Daughter to St. Martin’s Press editor Toni Kirkpatrick. Agent Jacques de Spoelberch represented the author. The book is set in 17th-century France and follows a beautiful princess who, de Spoelberch explained, “walks the knife edge between the demands of her serpentine mother, Catherine de Medicis, and those of her conscience.” Medicis Daughter is set for a late 2015 release.

Briefs
At Europa Editions, publisher Kent Carroll bought U.S. rights to Winter by Christopher Nicholson. The novel, released in the U.K. by Fourth Estate in January, imagines Thomas Hardy, in his later years, yearning for his final muse. The book received strong reviews in England, with the Sunday Times calling it a “poetic and unashamedly literary book.” The Elephant Keeper, Nicholson’s previous novel, was shortlisted for the 2009 Costa Best Novel Award. Winter, which Europa has set for a May 2015 release, was sold by Isobel Dixon at Blake Friedman.