HMH Kids Nabs Debut at Auction

In a North American rights agreement, Catherine Onder, HMH Books for Young Readers senior v-p and publisher, bought three books by Crystal Smith at auction. The first book in the deal, Bloodleaf, is a retelling of the fairy tale “The Goose Girl” and is slated for fall 2018. HMH said the book is “equal parts love story, ghostly mystery, and epic fantasy.” 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.” Smith was represented by Peter Knapp at Park Literary and Media.

Producer’s Ex to TarcherPerigee with Family Book

Mashonda Tifrere, ex-wife of producer Swizz Beatz, closed a six-figure deal for a book about coparenting with Sara Carder at TarcherPerigee. The world rights deal, which closed at auction, was brokered by Wendy Sherman and Cherise Fisher at Wendy Sherman Associates. Blend chronicles how Tifrere, after splitting from Swizz Beatz, worked with her ex-husband and his new wife (Alicia Keys) to create a loving family unit for her son, Kasseem. Written with the blessing of both Swizz Beatz and Keys—he wrote a chapter and she provided a foreword—the book offers advice on how to effectively coparent, which, the publisher noted, “is a challenge now faced by nearly half of all American adults.”

Bestsellers Resist in New Collection

For Macmillan’s Wednesday Books imprint, which launched last year and focuses on books with coming-of-age themes, Sara Goodman bought world rights to an essay collection called How I Resist. The book, which is subtitled Activism and Hope for the Next Generation, features contributions from a collection of bestselling YA and adult authors, as well as some big Hollywood names, including Libba Bray, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jennifer Weiner, and Joss Whedon. YA authors Maureen Johnson (The Shades of London series) and Tim Federle (Better Nate Than Ever) are editing (and contributing to) the book. Johnson was represented by Kate Testerman at KT Literary, and Federle was represented by Brenda Bowen at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. The book is set for a spring/summer 2018 release.

Daniels Inks Triple at HQN

Bestselling romance author B.J. Daniels inked a three-book deal with HQN Books for a new Western suspense trilogy. The Montana-set books, which Denise Zaza bought world rights to, follow three brothers who work at a guest ranch in Big Sky country that, the publisher explained, “offers the perfect place for escape—or murder.” Daniels, who has written more than 40 novels and sold, according to HQN, over nine million copies worldwide, was represented by Lisa Erbach Vance at the Aaron M. Priest Literary Agency. The first book in the series is slated for spring 2019.

Viking Prevails in Auction for Middle Grade Debut

After a six-house auction, Viking’s Kendra Levin took North American rights to Laura Tucker’s first middle grade novel, All the Greys on Greene Street. The book, which is set in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood circa 1981, follows a 12-year-old girl named Olympia whose father abruptly leaves her mother for another woman. Faye Bender at the Book Group, who represented Tucker, elaborated on the book’s plot by saying that, after Olympia’s father “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.” The book is currently scheduled for a 2019 release.

Mother and Advocate Sells Gun Violence Book

For her 37 Ink imprint at Atria Books, Dawn Davis took U.S., Canadian, and open market rights to Lucy McBath’s Standing My Ground. McBath, the national spokesperson for Everytown for Gun Safety, is the mother of Jordan Davis, an African- American teenager who was fatally shot in 2012 at a gas station by another patron who complained that the music coming from Davis’s car was too loud. Agent Stuart Krichevsky, who has an eponymous shingle, represented McBath; he described the book as “part memoir, part manifesto” and said it will “explore the role of God and faith in the debate around gun violence.” Davis said she hopes the book “infuses questions of morality and faith into the discussion around the Second Amendment.”