Bosch Moves to Dial

Bestselling author Pseudonymous Bosch has signed a three-book deal with Dial Books for Young Readers to do a middle-grade series. The deal marks something of a coup for Dial, since Bosch—whose moniker is a playful pen name—was at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, where he published his bestselling five-book, Secret series. Jennifer Hunt bought world English rights from Sarah Burnes at the Gernert Company, and the first book is set for fall 2013. Dial provided scant information about the plot of the books, instead offering this statement from Bosch: “As my readers know, I love to eat, especially anything chocolate. I couldn’t be more excited to embark on this important search for three new cooks. If bread is the staff of life, then a good cook is... what? Not cooks, books? I’m supposed to write three new books? Oh, no—how distressing!”

Norton Gets a Cheerio Take on Yanks

John Glusman at Norton took North American rights to Terry Eagleton’s Americans: A British View. The book, slated for spring 2013, was sold by Georges Borchardt, at the Georges Borchardt agency. Eagleton, who taught at the University of Manchester, delivers what Glusman called “a hilarious, provocative, and enlightening examination of American culture, language, and lifestyle.”

Atria Lands Hot Debut

Closing a major sale right before the London Book Fair, Victoria Sanders at Victoria Sanders & Associates sold the debut novel Children of the Jacaranda Tree, by Sahar Delijani. Sanders did a multicountry simultaneous auction, with coagent Chandler Crawford, selling North American rights to Judith Curr and Sarah Branham at Atria; U.K. rights to Weidenfeld & Nicolson; and Italian rights to Rizzoli. Each deal was for mid-six figures. Delijani, a 2010 Pushcart nominee, is an American-educated Iranian (she was born in Tehran and went to college at UC-Berkeley), and the multigenerational novel follows a group of Iranians through the country’s tumultuous recent history. Sanders said the work is centered on “a single tragedy that leaves both the begetters of the revolution and their children permanently scarred... the imprisonment and execution of thousands of political activists in Iran’s summer of 1988.”

Crown Pre-empts Hanson’s Latest

In a six-figure pre-empt, Julia Pastore at Crown Archetype bought world rights to Dr. Rick Hanson’s Brain Changer. Hanson (Buddha’s Brain) is a neuropsychologist; in this book, according to agent Amy Rennert, who brokered the deal, he “shows readers, for the first time, how to use everyday positive experiences to build stronger, healthier, and happier brains.” The book is scheduled for fall 2013. Rennert has an eponymous agency.

Del Rey Nabs SF Series by Video Game Writer

Tricia Narwani at Del Rey, in a six-figure three-book acquisition, pre-empted North American rights to a science fiction trilogy by Drew Karpyshyn, one of the lead writers of the popular video games Mass Effect and Star Wars: The Old Republic. Agent Ginger Clark, at Curtis Brown, represented Karpyshyn, who has also written branded Star Wars and Mass Effect novels for Del Rey. The series, which Clark said recalls work by authors like George R.R. Martin and Terry Goodkind, is a sprawling fantasy epic, told from multiple characters’ points of view. The first book, Children of Fire, is set for 2014.

SMP Gets Jazzed with the Fitzgeralds

Hope Dellon, executive editor at SMP, took North American rights to Tessa Byrd’s debut novel, Z, about F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. Agent Wendy Sherman of Wendy Sherman Associates brokered the mid-six-figure deal for Byrd. The novel will chart the lavish but rocky relationship of the famed literary duo from New York through Paris to Hollywood. Focusing on Zelda, Sherman said, the novel explores “the evolution of this iconic woman through glamour and heartbreak as she tried to find her own identity in the shadow of her celebrated husband.” Simultaneous to the SMP deal, the book was pre-empted in the U.K. by Two Roads/Hodder, with Jenny Meyer handling the foreign rights sale.

Da Capo Enters Sandman

Ben Schafer, executive editor at Da Capo, bought a two-volume authorized biography of heavy metal band Metallica by Paul Brannigan and Ian Winwood. The first book, Birth School Metallica Death: Volume I, will come out in fall 2013, with Birth School Metallica Death: Volume II following in fall 2014; both volumes are based on 75 hours of interviews by the authors. Brannigan wrote This Is a Call: The Life and Times of Dave Grohl for Da Capo, and Winwood is a music journalist. Da Capo is promising that the works—the first book will cover the band’s years in the underground metal scene, while the second will chart its meteoric rise as a mainstream act—will be “the most comprehensive, complete and authoritative” take on the band to date. Da Capo took U.S. and open market rights (except Europe) from Matthew Elblonk at DeFiore & Company. (Elblonk brokered the deal on behalf of Matthew Hamilton at Aitken Alexander.)