Brendan Deneen and Kat Brzozowski at Thomas Dunne Books, a division of St. Martin's Press, have acquired a YA novel by Chelsie Hill, a star of reality TV show Push Girls. The novel, called Push Girls, will be written with Jessica Love and is based on Hill's life: when she was a high school senior, she was driven home by a friend who had been drinking; their SUV crashed into a tree, snapping Hill's back and paralyzing her from the waist down. The novel is scheduled for publication in March 2014. Jill Corcoran of the Herman Agency represented Love; Hill is unagented.
Katherine Harrison at Knopf has acquired two titles by Liesl Shurtliff, set in the same magical kingdom as her fractured fairy tale Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin. The first, Jack: The True Story of Jack and the Beanstalk, scheduled for spring 2015, tells of a mischievous boy who climbs the beanstalk to a land of giants, and learns to see his home in a new light. In Red: The True Story of Red Riding Hood, scheduled for spring 2016, Rump's surly best friend forms an alliance with wolves, bears, and Goldilocks to save Granny and defeat a wicked huntsman. Michelle Andelman at Regal Literary brokered the deal for U.S./Canadian rights.
Jennifer Arena at Random House has bought world rights to The Island of Dr. Imago by Chris Grabenstein (Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library). In the middle-grade novel, scheduled for spring 2015, Billy Guilfoyle discovers that an island in the lake where he's spending the summer is the testing grounds of the mysterious Dr. Imago, who has invented a way to make the characters in books come alive. Eric Myers at the Spieler Agency brokered the deal.
Allison Wortche at Knopf has acquired How to Babysit a Grandma by Jean Reagan, illus. by Lee Wildish, the spring 2014 follow-up to the duo's How to Babysit a Grandpa. Like the first book, this is a role-reversal picture book written in a how-to style, with tips for kids who babysit their grandmothers. Jamie Weiss at Andrea Brown Literary Agency did the deal for world rights.
Caitlyn Dlouhy at Atheneum has bought North American rights to the sequel to Ashley Rhodes-Courter's 2008 memoir, Three Little Words. That book, about the author’s experiences coming up through the foster-care system, was also published by Atheneum and is being adapted into a movie set for 2014 release. The new book, Three More Words, follows the author's life into her late teens and early 20s (Rhodes-Courter is now 27). Three More Words will be published when the film comes out and marketed as both a YA and adult title. Joelle Delbourgo of Joelle Delbourgo Associates brokered the deal.
Dinah Stevenson of Clarion Books has acquired world rights to I Got It!, a picture book by three-time Caldecott Medalist David Wiesner. It follows the split second after a ball leaves the bat and before a young outfielder catches it (or doesn't); the images that pass through the boy’s mind form a suspenseful wordless picture book. I Got It! is scheduled for spring 2015; Wiesner is unagented.
Alvina Ling at Little, Brown has bought The Walled City, a YA novel by Ryan Graudin, about three teenagers fighting to survive and escape a lawless, walled city (inspired by China's Kowloon Walled City), plus an untitled two-book series at auction, for publication in fall 2014. Tracey Adams at Adams Literary did the deal for world rights.
Michelle Poploff at Delacorte has acquired Monkey Wars by Richard Kurti, a YA thriller billed as “a compellingly original exploration of power and the individual in the tradition of Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies.” Publication is set for spring 2015; Poploff bought North American rights from Denise Johnstone-Burt at Walker Books.
Farrin Jacobs at Little, Brown's Poppy imprint has acquired Those Girls, a debut novel by Lauren Saft, plus an untitled novel. Those Girls tells the story of three friends at an all-girls prep school and their junior year filled with secret crushes, best-friend rivalry, lying, cheating, sex, and betrayal. Publication is planned for spring 2015. Kirby Kim at WME did the deal for North American rights.
Joanna Cardenas at Viking has bought debut author Julie Falatko's picture book Snappsy the Alligator (Did Not Ask to Be in This Book) in a preempt. Snappsy is an alligator whose ordinary day is interrupted by a meddling narrator who insists Snappsy is looking for innocent forest creatures to devour and is obsessed with food that starts with the letter P. Publication is scheduled for summer 2015; Danielle Smith of Foreword Literary brokered the deal for world rights.
