Bloomsbury Kids Nabs Middle Grade Nonfiction
In a world rights acquisition, Susan Dobinick at Bloomsbury bought Jo Ann Allen Boyce and Debbie Levy’s Down the Hill. The middle grade nonfiction book, subtitled One Girl’s Story of Walking into History, is about Boyce’s experience in the “Clinton 12,” a group of black students who, in 1956, integrated Tennessee’s Clinton High School. (The Clinton 12 are considered the group that broke the color barrier in public education in the South.) Boyce is writing the book with Levy (I Dissent); the pair was represented by Caryn Wiseman at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.
Kershaw Takes ‘Wave’ to Caliber
Bestselling author Alex Kershaw (The Bedford Boys) sold The First Wave, about the first troops to break through the German line on D-Day, to Brent Howard at Caliber. The world rights deal, closed after a six-bidder auction, was brokered by agent Jim Hornfischer, who has an eponymous shingle. Dutton said the book, set for spring 2019 to coincide with the 75th anniversary of D-Day, “will recount the gripping, immersive drama of one of the most important battles of the 20th century through the lens of a select group of heroes.”
Bumble Founder Makes Her Move at Portfolio
Whitney Wolfe sold Make the First Move to Stephanie Frerich at Portfolio. The North American rights deal was handled by CAA. Wolfe is the 27-year-old creator of the dating app Bumble, on which only women can initiate contact with potential matches; the publisher said the book, which is scheduled for fall 2018, will be “a manifesto on how to take action in your career and business, as well as in life and love.”
Wilkman Mounts a Screening at Bloomsbury
Documentary filmmaker and author Jon Wilkman (Floodpath) sold a history of documentary filmmaking to Anton Mueller and Callie Garnett at Bloomsbury. Mel Berger at William Morris Endeavor represented Wilkman, selling North American rights. Bloomsbury said the book, scheduled for 2019, will focus on “the innovators and the new technologies that changed the way Americans viewed the truth.”
Briefs
Fonda Lee sold world rights to her adult debut, Jade City, to Sarah Guan at Orbit. The book, which is slated for fall 2017, was sold by Jim McCarthy at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. Lee is a YA author (Zeroboxer) and black belt. Jade City, according to Orbit, is “a gripping Godfather-esque saga of intergenerational blood feuds, vicious politics, magic, and kung fu.”
Pegasus’s Katie McGuire took world English rights to Clarissa Harwood’s historical debut, Impossible Saints. Laura Crockett at TriadaUS Literary, who represented Harwood, said the novel follows “an English suffragette torn between her political ambitions and her love for a young clergyman.” The book is slated for winter 2018.
In a world English rights deal, Keith Goldsmith at Vintage bought Lucas Mann’s memoir-in-essays, Captive Audience. Victoria Marini at the Irene Goodman Agency, who represented Mann, described the title as an “book-length essay that traces the author’s own life and relationships through examinations of the reality television shows he watched.”
