Erin Stein at Macmillan's Imprint has acquired Disaster Diaries, a three-book series by R. McGeddon. Featuring survival tips and sketches from a comic perspective, the middle-grade novels follow three unlucky but resourceful 12-year-old friends as they work to save their town, Sitting Duck, from outlandish disasters. The first two books, Zombies!and Aliens!, are scheduled for spring 2016; the third is scheduled for fall 2016. Samantha Bagood and Tracey Adams at Adams Literary negotiated the deal for North American rights on behalf of Hothouse Fiction in London.
Sara Goodman of St. Martin's Press has bought North American rights to a collaborative YA novel by Nina LaCour and David Levithan. You Know Me Well is the story of an unlikely friendship that evolves between two teens over the course of Pride Week in San Francisco. Kate, an artist, has just run away from a chance to finally meet, in the flesh, a girl she has been in love with from afar for months. Mark is hopelessly in love with his best friend, who may or may not feel the same way. When the two meet on the first night of Pride, little do they know that each is exactly who the other needs – a true friend. Publication is slated for June 2016; Sara Crowe at Harvey Klinger represented LaCour and Bill Clegg at the Clegg Agency represented Levithan.
Talia Benamy at Philomel has acquired world rights to Sonia Belasco's debut YA novel, Speak of Me as I Am. The story is told in the alternating perspectives of two teens who, in the aftermath of loss, learn how to grieve, how to love, and how to find their true selves through the literal lens of a camera and the figurative lens of Shakespeare. Publication is set for summer 2017; Erica Rand Silverman at Sterling Lord Literistic brokered the deal.
Liza Kaplan at Philomel has preempted Fire Color One, a YA novel by Jenny Valentine. It tells the story of a 16-year-old girl who struggles to find her way out of her mother's game of greed and revenge, and connect to the father she never knew she had through a mutual love of art. Publication is planned for spring 2017; Samantha Bagood and Tracey Adams negotiated the two-book deal for U.S. rights on behalf of Veronique Baxter at David Higham Associates in London.
Kelly Delaney at Knopf has bought at auction Closer to Fine, Canadian author Carrie Mac's U.S. debut. The contemporary YA follows the story of Maeve, who is struggling with severe anxiety, and who falls in love with a girl who is not afraid of anything. Publication is set for spring 2017; Emily Brown at Foundry Literary + Media brokered the deal for North American rights.
Yolanda Scott at Charlesbridge has acquired two contemporary middle-grade novels by Ellen Wittlinger. The first, Hitchcock, Grandma, and the First Kiss, centers on 12-year-old Maisie's dream of becoming a movie director, her relationship with her forgetful grandmother, and a complicated best-friend love triangle. The second, Be Always Tender, focuses on three unlikely friends – Izzy, Ben, and Oliver – who become for each other the family they all need. The first book is scheduled to publish in 2017, with the second to follow in 2018; Ginger Knowlton of Curtis Brown Ltd. negotiated the two-book deal for world rights.
Amy Cloud at S&S/Aladdin has bought Holly Farb and the Princess of the Galaxy, a middle-grade science-fiction novel by debut author Gareth Wronski, about a schoolgirl kidnapped by alien space pirates who mistake her for the missing princess of a far-away galaxy. She must join with her eccentric science teacher and a mysterious new student to escape the pirates, locate the princess, and find her way back to Earth. Publication is slated for summer 2017; Lydia Moëd at the Rights Factory did the deal for North American rights.
Emily Seife at Scholastic has acquired Daphne Benedis-Grab's new middle-grade novel, Army Brats. When their mother accepts a post at an army base, siblings Tom, Charlotte, and Rosie find that life on base is full of new friends, rules, and challenges – including solving the mystery behind the creepy abandoned building. Publication is planned for 2017; Sara Crowe of Harvey Klinger brokered the deal for world rights.
Erin Black at Scholastic Press has bought the middle-grade novel Once Upon a Cruise by Anna Staniszewski, about a 12-year-old girl who lands a summer job on a cruise, only to find her magical vacation quickly turning into a titanic mess. Publication is set for fall 2016; Ammi-Joan Paquette of Erin Murphy Literary Agency negotiated the deal for world rights.
Christian Trimmer at Simon & Schuster has acquired three picture books from children's musician Laurie Berkner. The first, We Are the Dinosaurs, based on one of Berkner's most popular songs, will release in spring 2017 and will be illustrated by Ben Clanton. The second, Pillowland, is due out in fall 2017 and will be illustrated by Camille Garoche. The third, Monster Boogie, is scheduled for summer 2018, also to be illustrated by Clanton. Jill Grinberg at Grinberg Literary brokered the deal for world rights; Marietta B. Zacker of Nancy Gallt Literary Agency represented Clanton, and Kirsten Hall of Catbird Agency represented Garoche.
Emily Feinberg at Roaring Brook Press has bought debut author-illustrator Phil Gosier's Snow Beast Comes to Play and a second, untitled book. In the first book, Snow Beast discovers he is not like other snow beasts, and searches for friendship. Publication is slated for 2017; Jodell Sadler at Sadler Children's Literary negotiated the deal for world English rights.
Sara Sargent at HarperCollins has acquired Libby and Pearl, a photographic picture book by Lindsey Bonnice, in a preempt. It tells the true story of the friendship between the author's adopted daughter Libby and her pet piglet Pearl. Publication is planned for fall 2016; Meg Thompson and Cindy Uh of the Thompson Literary Agency brokered the deal for world rights.
Sarah Shumway at Bloomsbury has boughtIntroducing Teddy from debut author Jessica Walton and debut illustrator Dougal MacPherson. Originally a Kickstarter project, the book was inspired by Walton's father's transition from male to female. In the story, a boy and his teddy bear, Thomas, are best friends. But one day, the boy finds that Thomas the Teddy is sad, and can't figure out why until the teddy shares that she's really Tilly the Teddy. The book will publish globally in spring 2016; Brianne Johnson at Writers House negotiated the deal for world English rights.
Christy Ottaviano at Henry Holt's Christy Ottaviano Books has acquired ;Julia Alvarez's Already a Butterfly, a picture book about Mari Posa, a little butterfly with too much to do in too little time, illustrated by Raúl Colón. The book is scheduled for 2018; Stuart Bernstein at Stuart Bernstein Representation for Artists represented the author and Gail Gaynin at Morgan Gaynin Inc. represented the illustrator in the deal for North American rights.
