Condie Brings Debut Middle Grade to Dutton
Ally Condie, author of the bestselling YA trilogy Matched, has sold her debut middle-grade novel, Summerlost, to her current publisher, Dutton Children’s Books. Julie Strauss-Gabel bought North American rights to the book from Jodi Reamer at Writers House. Summerlost, which is scheduled for April 2016 and will get an announced first printing of 100,000 copies, follows 12-year-old Cedar, who is struggling with the sudden deaths of her father and younger brother. At the titular summer camp, organized by a Shakespearean theater troupe, the young heroine “finds herself surprised by the wonderful, magical feeling of falling into an unexpected friendship” as she “explores long-held mysteries within her community and concerning those she loves,” Condie said. Matched, published in 2010, was a PW’s Best Book that year.
‘Prometheus Man’ Heads To Mulholland
The debut thriller by Scott Reardon, The Prometheus Man, was acquired in a mid-six-figure world-rights preempt by Wes Miller at Mulholland Books. Agent Stacia Decker at Donald Maass Literary represented Reardon. The book, Mulholland said, follows a failed government program to genetically engineer the perfect soldier. When the test subject starts eliminating the people who worked on the program, the CIA puts together a team to take him down. The deal includes a second book, and the novel is launching a planned series. Reardon is a graduate of Georgetown University and Northwestern Law and currently lives in Los Angeles, where he works in investment management.
Krouse Rosenthal Drops ‘Textbook’ at Dutton
Jill Schwartzman at Dutton took world rights to Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal, the first adult title by Amy Krouse Rosenthal (Duck! Rabbit!) in 10 years. A follow-up to the author’s Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life (Crown, 2005), this book is, according to Dutton, a blend of memoir and literary nonfiction with an innovative structure and format. Amy Rennert, who has eponymous shingle, represented the author, and the book is set for a 2016 publication.
PUP Buys Comics History
Michelle Komie, executive editor in the art and architecture division at Princeton University Press, has acquired world rights to Bill Kartalopoulos’s Comics: The Evolution of the Art Form from the 19th Century to the Present. Kartalopoulos, who was represented by Stephanie Steiker at Regal Hoffman & Associates, is the programming director at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, as well as the editor of the Best American Comics series. This book, PUP said, aims to offer “a complete history of the medium, tracing the art form’s history from its earliest days as short strips in newspapers to its current form as graphic novels.” Comics is set for fall 2018.
Genoways Closes Double At Norton
In a two-book deal, former Virginia Quarterly Review editor Ted Genoways sold This Blessed Earth: A Year in the Life of an American Farm and Tequila Wars: The Bloody Struggle for the Spirit of Mexico to John Glusman at Norton. Glusman took U.S., Canadian, and open-market rights to the nonfiction titles from Don Fehr at Trident Media Group. This Blessed Earth follows a longtime farming family in Nebraska and, Norton said, “examines up close the challenges of family farming in contemporary America.” Tequila Wars examines agave farming in Mexico and aims to “tell the story of the modern tequila industry.” Earth is set for summer 2017, and Tequila Wars for summer 2018.
Dlouhy Wins McGhee’s ‘Pablo and Birdy’
In a mid- to high-five-figure deal, Alison McGhee sold her middle grade novel Pablo and Birdy to Caitlyn Dlouhy, for her eponymous imprint at Simon & Schuster Children’s Books. Heather Alexander at Pippin Properties represented the author in the North American rights deal. Alexander said the book follows a boy who, as a baby, crossed the ocean in an inflatable pool. Accompanied on his journey by a parrot, he wound up being raised by a small fishing community. “With Pablo’s 10th birthday come the winds of change,” and the outside world takes unwelcome interest in a legendary parrot, she elaborated.
