Baumbach Talks ‘Former Wives’ at Dzanc
Novelist Jonathan Baumbach (Babble) sold a short story collection to Steve Gillis at Dzanc called The Pavilion of Former Wives. Baumbach, who has written 15 books and is also the father of filmmaker Noah, was represented by Andrew Blauner at the Blauner Books Literary Agency. The collection, Blauner said, explores “the sobering vulnerability in our awkward, oft-absurd, but not always vain search for a shared destiny.” Gillis took world rights in the deal, and the book is tentatively scheduled for late 2016.

At Hachette, Boxer Gets ‘Tough’
Mauro DiPreta at Hachette Books has acquired world English rights to a memoir by California Senator Barbara Boxer. The Art of Tough: Inside the Battle for America’s Soul will, the publisher said, be a “no-punches-pulled” account of the author’s rise from her working-class Brooklyn roots to her Senate career, detailing the “challenges, heartbreak, and enduring sense of purpose that drove her.” Boxer, a Democrat who has served in Congress for 34 years, was represented by Kimberley Cameron. The book is set for spring 2016.

NBA Finalist Is ‘Good’ for Norton
Epidemiologist and author Devra Davis sold Good Vibrations: The Secret History of the Body Electric to Maria Guarnaschelli at Norton. In the deal, Guarnaschelli took U.S., Canadian, and open market rights from Al Zuckerman at Writers House. Davis, a founding director of the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh, was nominated for a National Book Award for 2002’s When Smoke Ran like Water (Basic Books). In Good Vibrations, Norton said, she examines bioelectronics—a relatively new area of study that deals with the use of electronics in conjunction with biology—to explore “the science of electricity in the body and its possible benefits.” Norton elaborated that the book will touch on topics ranging from electromagnetic treatments for palliative care to scientific studies of acupuncture.

Okee Dokee Bros. Get the Picture at Sterling
In a two-book world rights deal, folk singers Justin Lansing and Joe Mailander sold a picture book called Can You Canoe? And Other Adventure Songs to Meredith Mundy at Sterling Children’s Books. Lansing and Mailander, aka the Okee Dokee Brothers, are a Grammy Award–winning duo, and the book will be packaged with a 12-song CD. Illustrating the title will be Brandon Reese, who has also worked on album cover art for the Brothers. Sterling said the book, like the pair’s songs, will be inspired by their “travels together in the great outdoors.” The title is set for spring 2016, to coincide with the release of the next Okee Dokee Brothers album. Mailander and Lansing were represented by Jennifer Mattson at Andrea Brown Literary, and Reese was represented by Danielle Smith at Red Fox Literary.

Frankel Tackles Transgender Parenting at Flatiron
Off an exclusive submission, Amy Einhorn at Flatiron Books took world rights to Laurie Frankel’s currently untitled novel about a couple raising a transgendered son. The new book, Flatiron said, explores notions of how “tolerance and progressiveness are challenged” in a family when a five-year-old son “puts on a dress and refuses to take it off.” Frankel’s most recent novel, Goodbye for Now (Doubleday, 2012), was optioned by Lionsgate and is now in development; she was represented in the deal by Molly Friedrich at the Friedrich Agency.