Melissa Frain at Tor Teen has acquired a YA sci-fi trilogy by bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout, as yet untitled, set in the world of her Lux series. Four years after a devastating war between humans and aliens, a teen girl is swept up in the alien resistance and in the process falls in love and discovers the dark secrets of her past. Publication for the first book is set for fall 2018; Kevan Lyon at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency brokered the six-figure, three-book deal for world English rights.
Elizabeth Bennett and Alessandra Preziosi at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt have bought the first two books in the Junior Ninja Champion middle grade series by Catherine Hapka, about a diverse group of boys and girls who become unlikely friends while training together at the local gym, each with their own motivation for winning the final competition. Publication is scheduled for spring 2018 and fall 2018; Jaida Temperly at New Leaf Literary & Media negotiated the deal for world rights.
Elise Howard at Algonquin Young Readers has acquired Blackberry Farm, a middle grade novel by two-time National Book Award finalist Adele Griffin. The book follows the adventures of Becket Branch, who uses her city smarts and charms not only to cope but to thrive when her family moves to her grandmother's farm. Publication is slated for spring 2019; Emily van Beek at Folio Jr. / Folio Literary Management did the deal for world English rights.
Andrew Karre at Dutton has bought world English rights to Kate Allen's middle grade debut, The Line Tender. Set in a Massachusetts fishing town, the book tells the story of Lucy, daughter of a shark researcher and a rescue diver, and the grief-filled summer when she realizes she must complete the important scientific work her late mother began. Publication is planned for 2019; Michael Bourret at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret brokered the deal, which includes a second untitled novel.
Anna Roberto at Feiwel and Friends has acquired YA author Elsie Chapman's debut middle grade novel, All the Ways Home, in which a Japanese-Canadian boy's last chance to avoid expulsion is a summer writing assignment that will take him to Tokyo and the far reaches of Japan to reunite with his estranged father and brother. Publication is tentatively set for spring 2019; Victoria Marini at Irene Goodman negotiated the deal for world English rights.
Katherine Jacobs at Roaring Brook Press has bought the middle grade novel Raffie on the Run, an animal adventure written by Jacqueline Resnick, illustrated by Joe Sutphin. Pitched as Finding Nemo meets The Cricket in Times Square, it stars Raffie Lipton, a New York City subway rat who ventures outside his comfy subway stop in Brooklyn in a quest to save his younger brother. Publication is scheduled for winter 2018; Stephen Barbara at InkWell Management did the deal for North American rights on behalf of Resnick, and Ed Maxwell at Sanford Greenburger represented Sutphin.
Christy Ottaviano at Macmillan's Christy Ottaviano Books has acquired world rights to It Rained Warm Bread, a middle grade novel in verse about Moishe Moskowitz's (center) Holocaust survival story by two-time Coretta Scott Honor-winning poet Hope Anita Smith (l.) and Gloria Moskowitz-Sweet, illustrated by Lea Lyon (r.). The book is projected for 2019; Charlotte Sheedy at Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency negotiated the deal for Smith, and Abigail Samoun at Red Fox Literary brokered the deal for Moskowitz-Sweet and Lyon.
Tracy Gates at Viking has bought three picture books from Night Animals author-illustrator Gianna Marino. The first book, Just Like My Brother, follows a young giraffe who discovers she is just like her big brother in a game of hide and seek. Publication is slated for fall 2018; Deborah Warren at East West Literary Agency negotiated the deal for world rights.
Carolyn Yoder at Calkins Creek has acquired Alice Faye Duncan's and R. Gregory Christie's Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop: The Sanitation Strike of 1968, a picture book about Martin Luther King Jr.'s final days in Memphis during the garbagemen's strike, as seen through the eyes of a girl whose family is caught up in the protest. Publication is planned for 2018; Tricia Lawrence at Erin Murphy Literary Agency did the deal for the author for world rights, and Christie represented himself.
Anne Schwartz at Random House/Schwartz & Wade Books has bought Lisa Rogers's picture book Mr. Marshall's Red Wheelbarrow: A Story About William Carlos Williams's Beloved Poem, illustrated by Chuck Groenink, inspired by Williams's poem “The Red Wheelbarrow.” Publication is scheduled for spring 2019; Erzsi Deak at Hen & Ink Literary represented the author, and Stephen Barr at Writers House represented the illustrator in the deal for world rights.
Emma Ledbetter at Atheneum has acquired world rights to Truman, a picture book written by Jean Reidy (l.) and illustrated by Lucy Ruth Cummins, about an ordinary little tortoise and the day that everything changes, when he has to find his most extraordinary self. Publication is set for summer 2019; Erin Murphy at Erin Murphy Literary Agency represented the author and Emily van Beek at Folio Jr. / Folio Literary Management represented the illustrator.
Victoria Rock at Chronicle Books has bought world rights to Rosie's Sword by Jacqueline Veissid (l.), to be illustrated by Paola Zakimi, in which a girl, always feeling left out of her older brothers' play, uses a stick and a big imagination to transform the world around her. Publication is slated for spring 2019; Rosemary Stimola at Stimola Literary Studio represented the author and Emily van Beek at Folio Jr. / Folio Literary Management represented the illustrator.
Barb McNally at Sleeping Bear Press has acquired Margie Markarian's debut picture book, The Princess and the Cafe on the Moat, about a determined princess who turns traditional ideas about what a kid can and can't do upside down. Chloe Douglass will illustrate; publication is planned for March 2018. Karen Grencik at Red Fox Literary negotiated the deal for world rights for the author, and Chloe Morgan at Plum Pudding Illustration Agency represented the illustrator.
Tamar Brazis at Abrams has bought Elizabeth Brown's (l.) debut picture book, Dancing Through Fields of Color, a biography of abstract painter Helen Frankenthaler, to be illustrated by Aimee Sicuro. Publication is scheduled for spring 2019; Sean McCarthy at Sean McCarthy Literary Agency represented the author and Andrea Morrison at Writers House represented the illustrator.
Hannah Lambert at Little Simon has acquired Celebrate the World, a board book series about holidays around the world, featuring various illustrators. Rashin Kheiriyeh will illustrate the first book in the series, Ramadan. The book will publish in April 2018; Carrie Hannigan at Hannigan Salky Getzler represented the illustrator in the deal for world rights.
Jennifer Besser at Putnam has acquired Love & War: An Alex and Eliza Story by Melissa de la Cruz, sequel to her bestselling novel Alex & Eliza. Settling into married life isn't as easy as newlyweds Alexander Hamilton and Eliza Schuyler Hamilton had hoped, as Alex returns to Morristown to help end the war while Eliza stays in Albany with her sisters. From the Battle of Yorktown to setting up home in New York City, Alex and Eliza discover they are strongest as a team. Publication is planned for spring 2018; Richard Abate at 3 Arts negotiated the deal for world English rights.
Maria Barbo at HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen has bought Kathryn Purdie's new YA fantasy adventure series, Bone Grace—in which star-crossed lovers Ailith, a magical siren and soul-ferrier, and Bastien, her soulmate who's hell-bent on avenging his murdered father, are fated to kill one another. Book one is scheduled for fall 2019; Josh Adams at Adams Literary brokered the two-book deal for world English rights.
Anna Roberto at Feiwel and Friends has acquired T.E. Carter's YA novel, All We Could Have Been, about a teen girl whose only goal is to survive senior year without anyone connecting her to her brother's gruesome crimes. But as she struggles to build a life, she finds herself falling in love and desperate to tell the truth. Publication is slated for spring 2019; Mandy Hubbard at Emerald City Literary Agency negotiated the two-book deal for North American rights.
Alyson Heller at Aladdin has bought world rights to Jenny Lundquist's coming-of-age middle grade novel, The Carnival of Wishes & Dreams. Pitched as The Night Circus for younger readers, the book follows three former friends in a struggling factory town, who each receive an anonymous note to meet at the town carnival's Ferris wheel, where they discover new truths about each other. Publication is set for spring 2019; Kerry Sparks at Levine Greenberg Rostan was the agent.
Becky Herrick at Sky Pony Press/Swirl has acquired Cinnamon Bun Besties by Stacia Deutsch, about a tween girl who adopts a stray dog in the park—and it turns out his owner is a boy she holds a huge grudge against. Publication is scheduled for fall 2017; Deborah Warren at East West Literary brokered the deal for world rights.
Annie Berger at Sourcebooks Jabberwocky has bought world English rights to animator Dan Haring and author MarcyKate Connolly's middle grade adventure The Star Shepherd. In a world where the light from the stars is the only thing that keeps the world safe from dark creatures, a boy, his dog, and the town grocer's daughter must race to rescue the stars and find his father, the local Star Shepherd, before too many stars fall from the sky. Publication is planned for fall 2018; Kathleen Ortiz represented Haring, and Suzie Townsend represented Connolly, both at New Leaf Literary & Media.
Allison Moore at Little, Brown has acquired Beep! Beep! Go to Sleep! author Todd Tarpley's (l.) Three Grumpy Trucks, the tale of a boy who just can't get his three little trucks to leave the playground without a honking, clanging, windshield-wiping tantrum. Giraffes Can't Dance artist Guy Parker-Rees will illustrate; publication is set for fall 2018. Rachel Orr at Prospect Agency represented the author, and Hilary Delamere at the Agency (London) represented the illustrator in the deal for world rights.
Nancy Inteli at HarperCollins has bought Beth Ferry's Sealed with a Kiss, illustrated by Olivier Tallec, in which a fish-loving, fishy-smelling seal must come to terms with the fact that his fellow zoo dwellers might not appreciate his friendship. Publication is slated for fall 2018; Elena Giovinazzo at Pippin Properties represented the author, and Kirsten Hall at Catbird Productions represented the illustrator in the deal for world rights.
Eliza Berkowitz at Sterling Children's Books has bought world rights to Jill Esbaum's (l.) Frankenbunny, to be illustrated by Alice Brereton. In this picture book, Spencer the bunny recounts how his big brothers made him believe monsters were real—and how he stopped their torturous tales. Publication is scheduled for fall 2017; Tricia Lawrence at Erin Murphy Literary Agency represented the author and Emily Coggins at Astound represented the illustrator.
Anne Schwartz at Random House/Schwartz & Wade has acquired world rights to Alice McGinty's (l.) And Its Name Is Pluto: The Story of Venetia Burney, illustrated by Elizabeth Haidle, a nonfiction picture book about how an 11-year-old girl gave the planet Pluto its name. Publication is planned for summer 2019; Steven Chudney at the Chudney Agency represented the author and Abigail Samoun at Red Fox Literary represented the illustrator.
Carol Hinz at Lerner/Millbrook Press has acquired world rights to The Vast Wonder of the World, a picture book by Mélina Mangal (l.), illustrated by Luisa Uribe, about the life and accomplishments of Ernest Everett Just, an African-American research biologist. The book is slated for fall 2018; the author represented herself and Alli Brydon at Bright USA represented the illustrator.
Jessica Echeverria at Lee & Low has bought world rights to Sally J. Pla's picture book Benny, the Bad Day, and Me, about two brothers, differently abled, who are having a particularly bad day but overcome it together. Ken Min will illustrate; publication is set for 2018. Taylor Martindale Kean at Full Circle Literary represented the author and Jennifer Rofé at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency represented the illustrator.
Patti Ann Harris and Celia Lee at Scholastic/Cartwheel have acquired author-illustrator Hilary Leung's picture book Will Bear Share? and three additional titles featuring different animals experiencing early childhood milestones. In the first book, a little bear faces what it means to share and not to share. The first book is planned for 2018; the author brokered the four-book deal for world rights.
Lee Wade at Random House/Schwartz & Wade has bought world rights to Andrew Joyner's The Pink Hat, a picture book celebrating women, girls, and activism, about a pink hat and the budding feminist who finds it just in time for the Women's March. Publication is scheduled for spring 2018; Kirsten Hall at Catbird Productions negotiated the deal.
Tara Walker at Tundra has acquired world rights to What's Out There Anyways, a picture book about a city kid learning to appreciate nature, by Tundra Books Emerging Artist of the Year winner Madeline Kloepper. Publication is set for summer 2019; Emily van Beek at Folio Jr. / Folio Literary Management brokered the two-book deal.
