Anne Heltzel at Abrams/Amulet has bought Destiny Soria’s debut YA novel, Iron Cast, at auction. The historical fantasy follows two best friends and illusionists who live and work in a Prohibition-era nightclub and con the city’s elite, only to find themselves entangled with mobsters when a con goes awry. Publication is set for fall 2016; Taylor Haggerty at Waxman Leavell negotiated the deal for world rights.
Stacey Friedberg at Dial has bought We Now Return to Regular Life by Martin Wilson, about a teen who returns home after disappearing three years earlier, forcing his older sister and childhood friend to deal with their own emotions and questions about what happened. Publication is scheduled for summer 2017; Duvall Osteen at Aragi Agency negotiated the deal for world rights.
Annie Berger at HarperCollins has acquired debut author Darcy Miller’s middle-grade novel Roll, in which 11-year-old Ren meets a new neighbor girl who is focused on breaking into the strange world of competitive pigeon rolling; he then discovers that there’s more to life than vintage comic books and video game marathons. Publication is set for summer 2017; Carrie Hannigan at Hannigan Salky Getzler negotiated the two-book deal for world English rights.
Kate O’Sullivan at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has preempted Special Little Helpers, a debut picture book by Michéle Brummer Everett. The book presents a variety of animals with various ways of assisting people in need. Publication is tentatively scheduled for fall 2017; Kirsten Hall at Catbird Productions did the deal for world rights.
Margaret Ferguson at Farrar, Straus and Giroux has bought world rights to The Egg Thief, a picture book by Matthew Olshan, illustrated by Shadra Strickland. Set in 19th-century Jamaica, it tells the story of nine-year-old Isaac, who collects plant and animal specimens for the English naturalist Philip Henry Gosse. When Isaac steals the eggs of the sacred long-tailed hummingbird, strange things start to happen. The book is slated for publication in fall 2018; Seth Fishman at the Gernert Company represented the author, and Lori Nowicki at Painted Words represented the illustrator.
Catherine Onder at Bloomsbury has signed Daniel Kirk to illustrate Rhonda Gowler Greene’s construction counting rhyme Push! Dig! Scoop! and Let’s Go ABC. The first book will publish in fall 2016, with the second to follow in fall 2017. The world rights deal was brokered by Barry Goldblatt at Barry Goldblatt Literary on behalf of Kirk; Elizabeth Harding at Curtis Brown brokered Greene’s deal at auction, also for world rights.
Emily Easton at Crown has acquired Dear My Blank and The Last Message Received, book projects based on the two popular Tumblrs of the same name, created by 15-year-old Emily Trunko. Publication is scheduled for 2016; Heather Flaherty at the Bent Agency negotiated the two-book deal for U.S. rights.
Wendy Lefkon of Disney has bought ABC News chief meteorologist Ginger Zee's middle-grade trilogy starring a storm-chasing girl. The first volume, called Storm Chaser, is set for January 2018; Jay Sures at United Talent Agency brokered the deal for world rights.
Melanie Cecka Nolan at Knopf has acquired a YA novel by Shalanda Stanley, It Didn't Have To End This Way, a Bonnie and Clyde-inspired love story about June and Nick, two teens who are on the run from authorities and running out of time – she from mental illness, and he from a criminal past. Publication is slated for fall 2017; Kate McKean at Howard Morhaim Literary Agency brokered the deal for North American rights.
Stacey Barney at Putnam won at auction Natalie Anderson's debut YA novel, The Breaking Wheel. The novel follows a Congolese refugee, Tina, who is nursing visions of revenge after seeing her mother murdered. Anderson has worked for NGOs and the United Nations toward refugee relief in Africa. Publication is planned for fall 2017; Faye Bender at the Book Group represented Anderson in the deal for North American rights.
Emilia Rhodes at HarperTeen has bought No More Blues, a debut YA magical realism novel by Lauren Karcz, about a teenage artist whose quest for inspiration leads her to a mysterious studio where her paintings can be perfect, and where the girl she loves possibly loves her back. The book is set for summer 2017; Victoria Marini at Gelfman Schneider/ICM Partners negotiated the deal for world English rights.
Brendan O'Neill at Oxford University Press has acquired children's literature scholar Philip Nel's Was the Cat in the Hat Black?: The Hidden Racism in Children's Literature and Why We Need Diverse Books. The book looks at structural racism in children's literature as well as within the publishing industry itself. Publication is scheduled for fall 2016; Stephen Barbara at Inkwell Management sold North American rights.
Andrea Tompa at Candlewick has bought an illustrated middle-grade novel by Lila Quintero Weaver, called That Year in the Middle Row. Set in Alabama in 1970, it tells the story of a girl named Lu Olivera who discovers a love for running and figures out who she wants to be – and what kind of friends she wants to have – against the backdrop of school integration. Publication is slated for spring 2018; Adriana Domínguez of Full Circle Literary brokered the deal for world rights.
Ann Rider at HMH has preempted Karina Yan Glaser's debut middle grade novel The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street, about the five Vanderbeeker siblings who are trying to convince their mysterious landlord not to evict them five days before Christmas. Publication is planned for 2017; Ginger Clark at Curtis Brown brokered the two-book deal for world rights.
Ariel Richardson at Chronicle has bought Il Sung Na's A Pig Who Admires Birds, about a pig that wishes to fly, and brainstorms a way to do so. Publication is slated for fall 2018; Lori Nowicki at Painted Words negotiated the deal for world rights.
Anne Schwartz at Random House's Schwartz & Wade Books has acquired Kate Banks's (l.) Rumble Grumble… Hush, to be illustrated by Simone Shin, a picture book about a child's day of imagination and play. Publication is scheduled for spring 2018; Rick Margolis at Rising Bear Literary Agency represented the author and Kelly Sonnack at Andrea Brown Literary Agency represented the illustrator in the deal for world rights.
Shannon Marchese at Crown's WaterBrook Multnomah has acquired two picture books, When God Made You and When God Made Light, written by Matthew Paul Turner (l.) and illustrated by David Catrow, about the uniqueness of every child in the eyes of God, and the creation of light. Publication is set for spring 2017 and spring 2018; Greg Daniel of the Daniel Literary Group represented the author and Bethany Buck at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates represented the illustrator in the deal for world rights.
