France’s Camus Rewrite Goes to Other Press
Meursault, Counter-Investigation, the debut French novel by Algerian journalist Kamel Daoud, has been acquired by Judith Gurewich at Other Press. Gurewich took world English rights to the book in what Other Press dubbed a “heated auction” from Lucinda Karter at the French Publishers’ Agency, and Claire Teeuwissen at Actes Sud. The novel, currently a bestseller in France, is, according to Other Press, a “reimagining” of Albert Camus’s The Stranger that is narrated by the brother of the nameless Arab killed in Camus’s original. In France, the book has picked up a number of awards and is shortlisted for what some consider the country’s most prestigious literary nod: the Prix Goncourt. Sandra Smith is set to translate this English-language edition of the novel (she also translated Suite Française), and Other Press has the book set for spring 2016. So far, rights to the novel have been sold in China, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Turkey.

Johnasen 10-er at SMP
Jennifer Enderlin at St. Martin’s Press has closed a 10-book deal with Iris Johansen. Seven of the books signed will be written by Johansen alone, while three will be coauthored with her son, Roy Johansen. Enderlin took North American rights in the deal from Andrea Cirillo at the Jane Rotrosen Agency. Currently, SMP publishes two novels per year by Johansen; her first title written with her son, Silent Thunder, was published by SMP in 2008.

Soho Gets ‘Poor’ with Ptacin
Guernica contributor Mira Ptacin sold world rights to her memoir, Poor Your Soul, to Mark Doten at Soho Press. The coming-of-age tale explores the author’s unexpected pregnancy, at 28, and the birth of her child, who, the publisher explained, could not “survive outside of the womb” due to extreme birth defects. Soho added: “Ptacin’s tragedy is mirrored in her own mother’s story of losing a child after she emigrated from Poland, also at 28.” The book is set for fall 2015.

Fine Goes Fantastic for McElderry
Ruta Rimas at McElderry Books preempted world English rights to two YA fantasy novels by Sarah Fine. The deal was brokered by agent Kathleen Ortiz at New Leaf Literary, and the first book is set for spring 2016. In the novel, currently untitled, a 16-year-old who has been training her whole life to become queen finds that, when coronation day arrives, she has not inherited the magical powers of her predecessor. Ortiz elaborated: “Cast out, she’s thrust—powerless—into a world with outlaws who want to overtake the kingdom, and her only redemption is to search for the person who did inherit the former queen’s magic.”

FSG Nabs McInnes’s New YA
Joy Peskin at Farrar, Straus and Giroux took North American rights to Nicole McInnes’s YA novel, 100 Days. McInnes’s YA debut, Brianna on the Brink, was published by Holiday House last year. Dystel & Goderich agent Stacey Glick, who brokered the FSG deal for McInnes, said that 100 Days is about a high school sophomore who suffers from progeria, a genetic condition that produces the effect of profound aging in the young. Agnes Delaney, Glick explained, is “trapped in the body of an 85-year-old.” When tensions flare between Agnes and her best friend, after the two become closer to the class loner, Agnes’s health suddenly deteriorates. Then, Glick said, in one ”final night together, the three of them must find a way back to connection or risk losing each other forever.” The novel, which, Glick added, has “strong adult crossover appeal,” is set for spring 2016.

Ashland Creek Explores ‘Dogland’
Midge Raymond at Oregon-based indie Ashland Creek Press took world English right to Jacki Skole’s Dogland: A Journey to the Heart of America’s Dog Problem. The nonfiction narrative work combines, the press said, “memoir and investigative reporting,” as the author tries to trace the origins of a dog she gets from a rescue group. Skole, who has written for CNN’s Headline News and been a freelance producer for shows like Animal Planet, interviews various people working in the animal rescue world—from shelter managers to animal rights activists—as she traces her pooch’s background. Dogland is currently set for August 2015.

Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that 100 Days was Nicole McInnes's YA debut; Brianna on the Brink, published in 2013, is the author's YA debut. Additionally, Brianna on the Brink was published by Holiday House, and not Hay House.