Janine O'Malley at Farrar, Straus and Giroux has acquired, at auction, in a two-book deal, Hafsah Faizal's debut novel, We Hunt the Flame. Faizal has designed numerous author websites through her company, Icey Designs; she submitted her manuscript via the Twitter pitchfest #DVPit. The #ownvoices YA fantasy, set in a world inspired by ancient Arabia, follows Zafira, a young woman who must disguise herself as a man to seek a lost artifact that could return magic to her cursed world. Publication is set for spring 2019; John Cusick at Folio Jr./Folio Literary Management brokered the deal for world English rights.
Nicole Ellul at Simon Pulse has bought two YA titles by Jenn Bennett. In Serious Moonlight, a mystery aficionado spends the summer before college knee-deep in both intrigue and a romance with her charismatic co-worker while working the night shift in a Seattle hotel. The book is scheduled for 2019, with the second novel to follow in 2020; Laura Bradford at Bradford Literary Agency negotiated the two-book deal for North American rights.
Karen Greenberg at Knopf has acquired It's a Whole Spiel, a YA anthology by Jewish writers, edited by Katherine Locke (l.) and Laura Silverman. With contributions from #ownvoices authors including David Levithan, Nova Ren Suma, and more, the anthology will contain contemporary stories with Jewish protagonists who are diverse in sexuality, ability, race, and level of religious observance. Publication is planned for fall 2019; Jim McCarthy at Dystel, Goderich & Bourrett represented Silverman, and Louise Fury at the Bent Agency represented Locke for world rights.
Rhoda Belleza at Imprint has bought Tiny Pretty Things author Sona Charaipotra's Prognosis: Love & Death. Pitched as The Mindy Projectmeets Grey's Anatomy, the YA contemporary novel follows a 16-year-old girl genius, the youngest M.D. in America, as she navigates an oncology internship, her big Indian family, and falling for a guitar-toting skater boy. The catch: he's her patient. The novel is slated for spring 2019; Victoria Marini at the Irene Goodman Literary Agency did the deal for world English rights, on behalf of CAKE Literary.
Sara Goodman at St. Martin's/Wednesday Books has acquired North American rights to the YA crime novel Mayhem by This Raging Light author Estelle Laure. The 1980s-set story is pitched as The Lost Boys meets The Craft with a touch of the Manson Family. Publication is set for spring/summer 2019; Emily van Beek at Folio Jr./Folio Literary Management handled the deal.
Calista Brill at Roaring Brook has bought The Princess in the Piazza, a YA novel from Ben Hatke, author of the Zita the Spacegirl series. The book follows Sebastian, an American teenager spending the summer in Italy, who falls in love with a Renaissance princess who has been dead for 500 years, and finds himself swept up in her ages-old conflict with a sinister wizard. Publication is scheduled for 2019; Judy Hansen at Hansen Literary brokered the deal for world rights.
Natashya Wilson at Harlequin Teen has acquired Abigail Johnson's new book, Even If I Fall, about a figure skater coping with her brother's murder conviction while falling for the last person she ever expected: the victim's brother. Publication is slated for winter 2019; Kim Lionetti at BookEnds Literary Agency negotiated the two-book deal for world rights.
Carolyn Yoder at Calkins Creek has bought, at auction, Jennifer Robin Barr's middle grade debut, Goodbye, Mr. Spalding, the story of a boy and his best friend who need to stop the Philadelphia A's from building the "Spite Fence" along right field in Shibe Park and prevent the loss of income from the families' rooftop bleachers across the street. The book is set against the backdrop of baseball's Golden Era and the Great Depression. Publication is planned for spring 2019; Tracy Marchini at BookEnds did the deal for world English rights.
Stacy Whitman at Tu Books has acquired world rights to Indian No More by debut author Charlene Willing McManis. In the middle grade novel set in the 1950s, a 10-year-old Umpqua girl and her family's tribal rights are terminated and they must relocate from their reservation in Oregon to Los Angeles, where they are expected to assimilate. Publication is scheduled for fall 2019; the author is unagented.
Arianne Lewin at Putnam has bought, in a preempt, two picture books by Chan Lee and Marina Ahn, the husband-and-wife duo behind the Instagram account Drawings for My Grandchildren. The book will feature a grandfather using art to share life experiences and express love for his grandchildren living abroad. Publication for the first book is set for spring 2018; Penny Moore and Andrea Barzvi at Empire Literary negotiated the deal for world English rights.
Christy Ottaviano at Holt/Ottaviano has acquired Camille Andros's (l.) Eliza's Story, a picture book biography about Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, co-founder and director of the first private orphanage in New York City, and wife of founding father Alexander Hamilton. Tessa Blackham will illustrate; publication is planned for 2019. Lori Kilkelly at Rodeen Literary Management represented both Andros and Blackham in the deal for world rights.
Christianne Jones at Capstone has bought A Place for Plutoby Stef Wade (l.), a debut picture book that follows Pluto as he searches for his true identity in the solar system after being told he's no longer a planet. Melanie Demmer will illustrate; publication is slated for summer 2018. Christa Heschke at McIntosh and Otis represented the author for world rights, and James Burns at the Bright Agency represented the illustrator.
Karen Wojtyla at S&S/McElderry has acquired world rights to Lift as You Climb: The Story of Ella Baker, a picture book in verse about the little-known African-American civil rights activist and co-worker of Martin Luther King, Jr., by Loving vs. Virginia author Patricia Hruby Powell. The book shows how Baker led grassroots efforts for civil rights, concentrating on the women of the South and registering voters. Caldecott Honor artist R. Gregory Christie will illustrate; publication is scheduled for fall 2019. Anna Olswanger at Olswanger Literary represented the author, and the illustrator was unagented.
Tamar Brazis at Abrams has bought world English rights to two titles by author-illustrator Jennifer Thermes. Manhattan: The Story of an Islandis the 400-year story of Manhattan Island told through maps, and how humans, history, and nature are always connected, even in a city of constant change. The Indestructible Tom Crean: Antarctic Hero is a picture book biography of Tom Crean, crew member of three Antarctic expeditions (including Shackleton's), who saved the lives of his fellow explorers through extraordinary efforts. The books are slated to be published in 2019 and 2020, respectively; Marietta B. Zacker at Nancy Gallt Literary Agency negotiated the deal.
Karen Nagel at Aladdin has acquired world English rights to Barroux's The Run. In the story, a boy is reading a book on the toilet about animals on a mysterious dash through the jungle, and wonders where they are running to. Publication is planned for spring 2019; Lori Nowicki at Painted Words brokered the deal.
Samantha Swenson at Penguin Random House Canada/Tundra has bought world rights to author-illustrator Anne Hunter's Where's Baby, the tale of a fox family searching for baby fox, only to find him in the most unexpected of places. The book is set for spring 2020; Rosemary Stimola at Stimola Literary Studio negotiated the deal.
Jill Santopolo and Beverly Horowitz at Penguin Random House's Philomel and Delacorte imprints have acquired world rights to three books for young readers by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Philomel will publish the picture book autobiography Turning Pages: My Life Story, illustrated by Lulu Delacre, in which Justice Sotomayor follows the path of her life as it relates to the books she read along the way. Delacorte will publish The Beloved World of Sonia Sotomayor, a middle grade adaptation of her bestselling memoir, My Beloved World. Both books will be released in fall 2018; a second picture book about childhood differences will follow from Philomel in 2019, illustrated by Rafael López. Both Philomel and Delacorte editions will also be published in Spanish, with the picture books releasing simultaneously with the English editions, and the middle-grade title releasing in 2019. Amy Bernstein and Peter Bernstein of Bernstein Literary Agency represented Sotomayor, Delacre is unagented, and Adriana Domínguez and Stefanie Von Borstel of Full Circle Literary represented López.
Annie Berger at Sourcebooks Fire has bought Bridget Morrissey's contemporary YA novel, A Map Back to Us. Five years after the accidental shooting of Marley Bricket, her friends, who were there the day she died, reunite when a box of letters from Marley is found in her former home. The discovery leads them on a scavenger hunt that reopens old memories, wounds, and betrayals, and leads them to question what they thought they knew about Marley’s death. Publication is planned for summer 2019; Taylor Haggerty at Root Literary negotiated the deal for world English rights.
Pam Gruber at Little, Brown has acquired The Bone Houses, a horror novel by Emily Lloyd-Jones about a pair of teens on a quest to reverse a curse that causes the dead to rise every night, terrorizing the villages of medieval Wales. Publication is slated for spring 2019; Josh Adams at Adams Literary did the deal for world rights.
Lisa Yoskowitz and Hallie Tibbetts at Little, Brown have acquired Claire Eliza Bartlett's debut novel, Our Realm Is the Night. The YA fantasy novel introduces two teens—one the daughter of a general, the other the daughter of a traitor—who use illegal magic to fly planes in the first women's military unit organized for an epic war, and face enemies within and without, but the greatest peril may be their distrust of each other. Publication is scheduled for spring 2019; Kurestin Armada at P.S. Literary brokered the two-book deal for world rights.
Beverly Horowitz at Delacorte has bought The Go-Between and Make It Messy co-author Veronica Chambers's new YA novel, in which she takes on issues of colorism. Living in a Latino–African-American community, a teenage girl follows a hard-fought path in search of self-awareness and self-acceptance. Publication is set for 2019; Kim Witherspoon at Inkwell Management brokered the deal for U.S., Canadian, and open market rights.
Erica Finkel at Abrams/Amulet has bought Sara Biren's new YA novel, Cold Day in the Sun, about the only girl on the boys' high school hockey team, who is forced to confront gender role expectations and her self-doubts when she finds herself in the spotlight, under pressure, and falling for the team captain. Publication is slated for spring 2019; Steven Chudney at the Chudney Agency handled the deal for world English rights.
Steve Geck at Sourcebooks has acquired North American rights to two books in Laurel Remington's Secret Cooking Club series. The first book introduces Scarlett, a 12-year-old girl trying to stay out of the spotlight, who transforms her life after forming a secret cooking club. Publication for book one is scheduled for fall 2018, and book two is scheduled for spring 2019; Allison Hellegers at Rights People did the deal on behalf of Elinor Bagenal and Barry Cunningham at Chicken House in the U.K.
Brian Geffen at Holt has bought, in a pre-empt, Heather Kassner's debut middle-grade fantasy, The Bone Garden, and an untitled novel. Made of dust and bone and imagination, Irréelle fears she's not quite real. Tethered to her callous creator, Miss Vesper, Irréelle seeks the truth about the magic that binds her to this world, even if it means she will return to dust and be no more. Publication is set for spring 2019; Suzie Townsend at New Leaf Literary & Media negotiated the two-book, six-figure deal for world English rights.
Janine O'Malley at Farrar, Straus and Giroux has acquired world rights to Barbara O'Connor's new middle-grade novel, Wonderland. Two girls hatch a scheme to help a neighbor find a new dog, which leads them to the nearby dog track and strengthens the bond of their unlikely friendship. Publication is planned for fall 2018; Barbara Markowitz at Barbara Markowitz Literary Agency brokered the deal.
Mark Siegel at First Second has bought Nidhi Chanani and Nick Giordano's middle grade graphic novel, Jukebox, a story about two cousins who find a jukebox that takes them back in time. Publication is scheduled for 2020; Judy Hansen at Hansen Literary negotiated the deal for world rights.
Claudia Zoe Bedrick at Enchanted Lion has acquired world rights to Amy Alznauer's (l.) Flannery and the Peacock, illustrated by Ping Zhu. The book tells the story of author Flannery O'Connor's childhood quest to discover the perfect bird and, ultimately, the perfect story—revealing a girl coming into her own, pursuing her obsessions, and embracing her strangeness. The book is slated for fall 2019; Rosemary Stimola at Stimola Literary Studio represented the author, and the illustrator was unagented.
Nina Gruener at Cameron Kids has bought world rights to Oh, Bear by Melissa Nelson Greenberg (l.), illustrated by Ruth Hengeveld, a picture book about a bear who gets a bright yellow kite for his birthday and delights in flying it—until he loses it. Publication is set for spring 2019; both the author and the illustrator were unagented.
Ann Kelley at Schwartz & Wade has acquired author-illustrator Vern Kousky's Lawrence, a picture book about a bunny whose mother dresses him in ridiculous outfits—until one day he turns the tables. Publication is planned for fall 2019; Elana Roth Parker at the Laura Dail Literary Agency brokered the deal for world rights.
Carol Hinz at Carolrhoda has bought Beth Mills's debut picture book, Ella McKeen, Kickball Queen. The story stars Ella, a first-grade kickball champion who has to learn how to lose gracefully after a new student arrives on the scene and outplays her. The book is slated for fall 2019; Claire Easton at Painted Words represented Mills in the deal for world rights.
Kristen Nobles at Page Street Kids has acquired Sherman's Cloud, David Habben's debut picture book as an author-illustrator. After Sherman wakes up with a raincloud over his head, he spends his day soggy and grumpy until a chance encounter helps him see things in a new light. Publication is scheduled for winter 2019; Habben represented himself in the deal for world rights.
