We described recently how Holes author Louis Sacharsuddenly sprang a new book, a sequel to that huge success, on his agent and former editors, just before Frankfurt. Now the smoke has cleared around the succeeding excitement, and Beverly Horowitz, publisher of Bantam, Delacorte and Dell Books for Young Readers, took the prize. She got hardcover and paperback rights to Small Steps from Ellen Levine at Trident Media Group and will edit the book herself. The book will pick up three years after the end of Holes, with some of the same characters, like Armpit and X-Ray, from the previous book, plus some new ones who take the action into the music world. Holes, copublished in 1998 by Random House and FSG, was a phenomenal success, winning the Newbery and a National Book Award, selling five million copies in the U.S. and Canada alone and inspiring a popular movie.