Norton ‘Mad’ for Souder
Norton editor-in-chief John Glusman picked up world English rights to Mad at the World: John Steinbeck and the American Century, by William Souder, in a deal brokered by Chuck Verrill of Darhansoff & Verrill. In the book, Souder, who wrote the Pulitzer Prize–nominated Under a Wild Sky: John James Audubon and the Making of the Birds of America, reevaluates the life and work of Steinbeck, a man who “helped reshape 20th-century American literature, but came to question his own fame,” according to the publisher. Mad at the World is slated for spring 2019 publication.

Scholastic Looks ‘Up’
Cecilia Galante sold North American and nonexclusive open market rights to her middle-grade novel The World from Up Here to Jenne Abramowitz at Scholastic. The book follows 12-year-old Wren Baker, who lives in Sudbury, a “beautiful little town with green mountains, gushing waterfalls, and a horribly dark secret” about a woman named Witch Weatherly haunting the town’s biggest mountain. Wren and her cousin Silver seek to uncover the secret, but “unearth some of their own life-changing ones as well.” The book goes on sale summer 2016; Stacey Glick at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management represented Galante in the deal.

Johnson to Putnam
Sara Minnich at G. P. Putnam’s Sons bought U.S. rights to They Left Us Everything, by Plum Johnson, from Samantha Haywood at the Transatlantic Agency. The book, published by Penguin Canada in March 2014, was the winner of the 2015 RBC Charles Taylor Prize for literary nonfiction and nominated for the 2015 Leacock Medal for humor. In it, Johnson chronicles the undertaking of sorting and emptying her beloved childhood home after the death of her elderly parents, a task that “triggers difficult memories and unearths new facts, ultimately allowing her to reconcile her relationship with her mother and come to a richer understanding of her family history, and herself.” Johnson is the founder of KidsCanada Publishing Corp., publisher of Kids- Toronto, and cofounder of Help’s Here!, a magazine for seniors and caregivers. The title will go on sale in the U.S. in summer 2016.

SMP Gets ‘Dirty’
In a major six-figure deal, St. Martin’s Press acquired world rights to Lisa Renee Jones’s Dirty Money series. Monique Patterson, editorial director, romance, and executive editor, SMP, closed the deal with agent Louise Fury at the Bent Agency. Described as “the boardroom meets Sons of Anarchy,” the series is about “a wealthy family with secrets to hide.” The first book is slated for summer 2016, to be published as a trade paperback by St. Martin’s Griffin. Jones is also the author of the Inside Out series, which is now in development by Suzanne Todd (Alice in Wonderland, Austin Powers) for cable TV.