DEAL OF THE WEEK

Candlewick Inks Medina to Triple

In a high-six-figure acquisition, Candlewick’s Kate Fletcher bought world rights to three new books by Meg Medina. The agreement covers the third and final installment in her Merci Suárez series; a standalone, currently untitled middle grade novel; and a currently untitled picture book. Medina, who won the 2019 Newbery Medal, was represented by Jennifer Rofé at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

FROM THE U.S.

Chalabi Sells Inequality Title to RH

Data journalist Mona Chalabi sold The Ten to Molly Turpin at Random House. Turpin took world rights to the book at auction from Emma Paterson at Aitken Alexander. The Ten, RH said, will mix narrative with data-driven graphics to create “a portrait of inequality in America.” It follows 10 socioeconomically diverse households to illuminate “the specific impacts economic disparities have on everyday life, as well as how those disparities have been exacerbated by history and policy to the point of the crisis we are in today.”

Morrow Chews Myers’s ‘Tobacco’

With a six-figure preempt, Liz Stein at William Morrow bought world rights to Adele Myers’s debut novel, The Tobacco Wives. It follows a seamstress in 1947 North Carolina who, Morrow said, “discovers a shocking scandal that calls into question the ethics of the tobacco empire that employs her.” The novel is a “reimagining, from a feminist angle, of one of the largest corporate frauds of the 20th century.” Myers was represented by Stefanie Lieberman at Janklow & Nesbit Associates. She was born in North Carolina and now lives in New York City and works in advertising.

Balzer Wins Tian’s Debut

After a 10-bidder auction, Alessandra Balzer at Balzer + Bray won XiXi Tian’s debut YA novel. This Place Is Still Beautiful follows a pair of estranged sisters who, the HarperCollins imprint explained, “are forced to reunite in their small Midwestern town when their family becomes the victim of an anti-Asian hate crime.” There the sisters spend a summer clashing “as they navigate the ripple effects that the hate crime has had in their community and uncover the explosive truth behind the perpetrator’s identity.” The two-book deal, which includes a second, currently untitled YA novel, was brokered by Wendi Gu at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.

Harper Traps Razak’s ‘Moth’

Erin Wicks at Harper bought North American rights to Melody Razak’s Moth in a preempt. Harper called the novel a “stunning saga of a family’s trials through India’s bloody Partition.” It examines “the disproportionate violence against women in times of political unrest, what it means to be othered, and the power of family.” The book, which Stephanie Cabot at Susanna Lea Associates sold on behalf of Caroline Wood at Felicity Bryan Associates, is set for spring 2022.

Work on Migration Bought by HarperVia

For HarperVia, Judith Curr and Rosie Black bought world English and world Spanish rights to Somewhere We Are Human: An Anthology on Migration, Survival, and New Beginnings. The collection will feature 35 pieces—a mix of poems, essays, and visual art—by migrants and will be edited by author Reyna Grande (The Distance Between Us) and migrant poet Sonia Guiñansaca. Johanna Castillo at Writers House, who sold Somewhere We Are Human, said it asks the question, “How do we shift the nation’s collective imagination about migrants toward one rooted in humanity and justice?”