Sara Goodman at Wednesday Books has acquired world rights to a collection of essays titled How I Resist: Activism and Hope for the Next Generation, edited by Maureen Johnson and Tim Federle, who will also contribute. Additional contributors include authors Jacqueline Woodson, Malinda Lo, Sabaa Tahir, Jason Reynolds, Libba Bray, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Joss Whedon, and many more. Publication is slated for spring/summer 2018; Kate Testerman at KT Literary represented Johnson, and Brenda Bowen at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates represented Federle. The editors and contributors have pledged the full advance of $50,000 to the ACLU.
Holly West at Feiwel and Friends has bought, in a two-book deal, Daughter of the Pirate King author Tricia Levenseller's Viking-inspired standalone fantasy, Warrior of the Wild. The book stars a teen warrior who is banished after failing her coming-of-age test, but befriends two boys who have failed before her and will help each other complete their quests. The first book will pub in winter 2019, with the second to follow in winter 2020; Rachel Brooks at BookEnds Literary negotiated the deal for world rights.
David Levithan at Scholastic has acquired All About Mia, by The Art of Being Normal author Lisa Williamson, in which imperfect middle child Mia Campbell-Richardson struggles to step out from the shadow of her two perfect sisters and claim her own voice. Publication is planned for 2018; Catherine Drayton at InkWell Management brokered the deal on behalf of Catherine Clarke at Felicity Bryan Associates for U.S./Canadian rights.
Marissa Grossman at Razorbill has bought Not Now, Not Ever author Lily Anderson's Undead Girl Gang. Pitched as Veronica Mars meets The Craft, the novel follows teenager Mila Flores as she investigates the suspicious deaths of three classmates and accidentally brings the girls back to life, forming an unlikely vigilante girl gang. Publication is scheduled for summer 2018; Laura Zats at Red Sofa Literary did the deal for world rights.
Christy Ottaviano and Jessica Anderson at Christy Ottaviano Books have acquired world rights to Stacia Tolman's Western Civ, a contemporary YA debut pitched as American Girls meets Hillbilly Elegy. The book is slated for 2019; Sorche Fairbank at Fairbank Literary Representation negotiated the deal.
Paige Hazzan at Scholastic has bought The Lady Is a Spy by Don Mitchell, author of The Freedom Summer Murders. Illustrated with photographs, the YA biography examines the life and exploits of Virginia Hall, an American secret agent in Nazi-occupied France. Publication is set for fall 2018; Susan Cohen at Writers House brokered the deal for world rights.
Melanie Nolan at Knopf has acquired The Guggenheim Mystery, a middle grade novel inspired by an idea from the late Siobhan Dowd(l.), and written by Murder Is Bad Manners author Robin Stevens. The book features an amateur sleuth named Ted Spark who follows a trail of clues after a theft at New York City's Guggenheim Museum—with all the evidence pointing to Ted's aunt. Publication is planned for fall 2018; Camilla Borthwick at Penguin Random House UK did the U.S./Canadian deal on behalf of Stevens and the Siobhan Dowd Trust.
Catherine Onder at HMH has won at auction, in a three-book deal, debut author Crystal Smith's Bloodleaf, a retelling of the fairy tale “The Goose Girl.” In it, a princess finds herself destitute and stripped of her title. In order to win back her crown, she has to unravel the mystery binding her to an enigmatic prince, the unquiet ghost of an ancient queen, and a magical plant called bloodleaf. Publication is scheduled for fall 2018; Peter Knapp at Park Literary and Media negotiated the deal for North American rights.
Kendra Levin at Viking has acquired in a six-house auction Laura Tucker's debut middle grade novel, All the Greys on Greene Street, set in 1981 in SoHo. Twelve-year old Olympia is good at lots of things and has plenty to keep her busy. But when her dad runs off to France with a woman she and her mom call Vouley Voo and her mom gets into bed and doesn't get up, something's got to give. Publication is slated for 2019; Faye Bender at the Book Group handled the deal for North American rights.
Mallory Kass at Scholastic has bought The House with Chicken Legs by Sophie Anderson, a middle grade Baga Yaga reimagining about a 12-year-old girl seeking to escape her destiny as a guardian of the gate between this world and the next. Gemma Cooper at the Bent Agency brokered the deal for North American rights.
Jeffrey Salane at Little Simon has acquired Kat Writes a Song by Thank You, Bear author-illustrator Greg Foley. On a rainy, miserable day, Kat decides to write a song to cheer herself up, and share it with her friends. Publication is set for summer 2018; Caryn Wiseman at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency did the deal for world rights for the picture book plus two board books.
Mary-Kate Gaudet at Little, Brown has bought author-illustrator Deborah Marcero's picture book, My Heart Is a Compass, about a girl who draws maps to guide her on an imaginative quest for a unique item for show-and-tell. Publication is scheduled for fall 2018; Danielle Smith at Lupine Grove Creative negotiated the deal for world rights.
Liz Bicknell at Candlewick has acquired in a preempt Pete Oswald's Hike, a picture book about a family tradition of a child's first mountain hike and how they commemorate it. It's slated for spring 2020; Kirsten Hall at Catbird Productions brokered the deal for world rights.
Sonali Fry at Little Bee has bought Tina Cho's debut picture book, Rice from Heaven, in which a South Korean girl helps with a secret kindness mission to send rice in balloons over the border to impoverished families in North Korea. Publication is planned for August 2018; Adria Goetz at Martin Literary & Media Management negotiated the deal for world rights.
Rob Broder at Ripple Grove Press has acquired world rights to Julia Loopstra's debut picture book, Abilene, in which a girl who is frustrated with the quietness of her town uses paper lanterns to break the silence. Publication is set for 2019; the author-illustrator was unagented.
Asia Citro at the Innovation Press has bought world rights to Julia Finley Mosca's picture book biography, The Girl with a Mind for Math: The Story of Raye Montague. The rhyming tale introduces children to her remarkable life and career as the U.S. Navy's very own "hidden figure." Daniel Rieley will illustrate; publication is scheduled for fall 2018. The author represented herself, and Robbin Brosterman at Bright USA brokered the deal for the artist.
Sarah McCabe at Simon Pulse has acquired at auction, in a two-book deal, Nicki Pau Preto's debut fantasy, Crown of Feathers, pitched as Eragon meets The Winner's Curse, in which a teenage girl runs away from her controlling sister and disguises herself as a boy to join a secret group of nearly extinct warriors who ride into battle on the backs of phoenixes, as the ruling Empire sets out to destroy them. Publication is scheduled for spring 2019 and 2020; Penny Moore at Empire Literary handled the deal for North American rights.
Eliza Swift at Albert Whitman has bought Maura Milan's debut novel, Ignite the Stars, pitched as Throne of Glass in space, and an untitled sequel. Everyone in the universe fears famous outlaw I.A. Cōcha, but when I.A. is revealed to be a 16-year-old girl, she is forced into a reform program at her enemy's military academy, where some surprising friendships lead her to question her alliances. Publication is slated for fall 2018; Logan Garrison Savits at the Gernert Company brokered the deal for world English rights.
Kelly Delaney at Knopf has acquired at auction Gray Hats by Lillian Clark, a multi-perspective story about five teens determined to hack into one of their billionaire father's accounts to steal college tuition money. Publication is set for spring 2019; Melissa Edwards at Stonesong negotiated the two-book deal for world rights.
Kate Egan at KCP Loft has bought, in a two-book deal, a YA novel by Alice Kuipers, Me and Me, along with a second untitled biography. Told from two parallel perspectives, Me and Me tells the story of a young woman coming to terms with the aftermath of a tragic boating accident, in which she must decide who to save—the girl she used to babysit or the boy she's just started dating. The second book tells the life story of Canadian singer and champion figure skater Carley Allison, whose life was cut short at 18 by cancer. Publication for Me and Me is planned for fall 2018, followed by the second book in spring 2019. Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists and Lyons Johnston did the deal for world rights, excluding Canada.
Chris Hernandez at HarperCollins has acquired The Magicians of Elephant County by debut author-illustrator Adam Perry. In the Now You See Me meets Hocus Pocus-style middle grade novel, two amateur magicians get in over their heads with real magic. Publication is scheduled for fall 2018; Alexander Slater at Trident Media Group brokered the deal for world English rights.
Sylvie Frank at S&S/Wiseman has bought Edgar Award-winner Susan Vaught's middle-grade mystery, Me and Sam-Sam Handle the Apocalypse. The story is told in dual timelines, one the week that Jesse makes her first friend just as her father is accused of stealing fundraising money from the high school where he teaches, and one a week later when their town is flattened by a tornado. Publication is set for spring 2019; Erin Murphy negotiated the deal for North American rights.
Steve Geck at Sourcebooks has acquired Lexi and the Lie, a middle-grade novel by Emma Shevah, author of Dara Palmer's Major Drama. Eleven-year-old Lexi is devoted to her London-based Greek family, and is especially fond of her frail cousin who has a heart condition. But when Lexi tells a lie that threatens to split the family, she must find a way to make everything right again. Publication is slated for fall 2018; Allison Hellegers at Rights People sold the book on behalf of Chicken House U.K.
Sonali Fry at Little Bee/Yellow Jacket has bought a middle-grade novel, The Prophet Calls, by debut author Melanie Sumrow. Set in a polygamous cult in the foothills of New Mexico, and in a world where many of life's pleasures are banned and the Prophet dictates community policy from jail, a girl must defend her younger sister and escape her own arranged marriage. The book is due out in summer 2018; Rick Richter at Aevitas Creative Management brokered the deal for world rights.
Adrienne Szpyrka at Running Press Kids has acquired Susan Lubner's middle grade novel, The Trickiness of Signs, about a girl named Lizzie growing up in the small Maine town of East Thumb, who's searching for signs to guide her, and perhaps guarantee her, a bump-free path through life. When she meets a runaway with a four-leaf clover tattoo on her hand, Lizzy hides the girl in her bedroom closet, convinced she can protect her family from tragedy. Publication is planned for fall 2018; Linda Epstein negotiated the deal for world rights.
Jennifer Greene at Clarion and Heather Curdie at Penguin Australia have bought a picture book from author-illustrator Anna Walker, called Hello, Walter. The book stars a girl who is convinced that there's an enormous shark in the swimming pool waiting to eat her and only her—that is until an imaginary friend in the form of a walrus arrives and helps her conquer her fears. Publication is scheduled for spring 2019; Stephen Barr at Writers House did the deal for world rights, excluding Australia and New Zealand.
Liz Bicknell at Candlewick has acquired world rights to Mr. Posey's New Glasses, a picture book by former Poet Laureate Ted Kooser (l.), in which something as ordinary as picking out new glasses becomes an extraordinary adventure. Daniel Duncan will illustrate; publication is set for spring 2019. The author represented himself; Anne Moore Armstrong at Bright USA represented the artist.
Callie Metler-Smith at Clear Fork/Spork has bought Sarah Floyd's picture book, Ten Clever Ninjas, illustrated by Marcin Bruchnalski. In the story, a clever ninja and his nine ninja buddies spar across the countryside, build a secret hideout, and solve a cupcake clue. Publication is slated for spring 2018. Essie White at Storm Literary Agency represented the author and illustrator in the deal for world English rights.
Alexis Orgera and Chad Reynolds at Penny Candy Books have acquired world rights to the picture book H Is for Haiku: A Treasury of Haiku from A to Z by the late Sydell Rosenberg (l.), illustrated by Sawsan Chalabi. Inspired by Rosenberg's experience living in New York City, the haiku invite readers to slow down, linger, and pay attention to the moments that are often overlooked. Publication is scheduled for April 2018; Amy Losak represented her late mother in the deal.
Mara Conlon at Peter Pauper Press has bought world rights to Wade Bradford's picture book, Papa Bear's Page Fright, illustrated by Mary Ann Fraser. Goldilocks is supposed to be the star of this story, but when Papa Bear realizes that he's inside of a book—and that there are readers watching him— he is suddenly struck with a case of Page Fright and can't remember his lines. Publication is set for spring 2018; Abigail Samoun at Red Fox Literary represented the author and illustrator.
Asia Citro at the Innovation Press has acquired world rights to Miss Turie's Magic Creatures by Joy Keller, illustrated by Richard Watson. Miss Turie's Magic Creatures guarantees the perfect pet for every customer, but will she be able to find a match for a persnickety boy? Publication is planned for fall 2018; the author represented herself, and Robbin Brosterman at Bright USA represented the illustrator.
