Homer Hickam, whose memoir Rocket Boys and its sequels were strong sellers and inspired the movie October Sky, has switched from Delacorte to the Thomas Dunne imprint at St. Martin's for a two-book deal negotiated by editor Sean Desmond. He bought world rights for two novels from agent Frank Weimann at Literary Group International; the first will be The Keeper's Son, a mystery revolving around an Outer Banks lighthouse involved with German subs in WWII.... Columbia Pictures has optioned Zathura, a new picture book by Chris Van Allsburg that Houghton Mifflin is publishing next year, with Eric Fogel on board to write the adaptation for Radar Pictures; the moviemakers are hoping it can be a follow-up to the author's very successful Jumanji.... Kris Puopolo at Broadway preempted NA rights for There Must Be More Than This: Fulfilling Your Spiritual Hunger by Rising Above the Soft Addiction Routine, in which "soft addictions" are defined by author Judith Wright as occupations like overshopping, Web-surfing, excessive TV watching and gossip. A new agent at James Levine Communications, Stephanie Kip Rostan, made the sale.... George Witte, SMP editor-in-chief, signed a book called The Republic of Feelings: One Nation Under Therapy (With Empathy and Fulfillment for All) by Christina Hoff Summers, author of Who Stole Feminism and The War Against Boys; he bought U.S., Canada and first serial rights from agent Glen Hartley at Writer's Representatives Inc.