Mara Anastas of Simon Pulse has bought North American rights to a new trilogy, Zeroes, by authors Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, and Deborah Biancotti; Liesa Abrams will edit. The series follows three characters, all with special abilities, and several other teens born in the year 2000 in California who together make up the self-named Zeroes. Their abilities make them anything but heroes – until a high-stakes crisis changes everything. The first book is scheduled for release in fall 2015, with books two and three to follow in fall 2016 and fall 2017. Jill Grinberg of Jill Grinberg Literary Management brokered the deal.

Liz Bicknell of Candlewick has bought Rafi Mittlefehldt's debut YA novel It Looks Like This in a preempt. The story follows Mike, a shy gay teen who moves to a new town in the conservative South. Mike finds a silver lining when he meets Sean – and discovers the terrifying ways that events can spiral out of control. Publication is scheduled for fall 2016; Brianne Johnson at Writers House did the six-figure deal for world English rights.

Anica Rissi of HarperCollins's Katherine Tegen Books has acquired a debut middle-grade novel from YA novelist Terra Elan McVoy, entitled Drive Me Crazy narrated by two 12-year-old girls, Lana and Cassie, who are stuck together with their honeymooning grandparents on a summer road trip. It's slated for summer 2015; a companion novel, This Is All Your Fault, Cassie Parker – in which a girl's embarrassing diary falls into the hands of the popular girls – will follow in summer 2016. Meredith Kaffel of DeFiore and Company negotiated both deals for world rights.

Chris Schoebinger at Shadow Mountain has bought J. Scott Savage's The Mysteries of Cove, the first volume in the Fires of Invention series, about a steam-powered city built inside a mountain, where creativity is a crime and “invention” is a curse word. Publication is set for fall 2015; Michael Bourret at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management did the deal for world rights.

Katherine Jacobs at Roaring Brook has acquired Filming the Locals, a YA debut by Lygia Day Peñaflor about a young actress struggling to meet the demands of an ambitious director, his edgy script, and her pushy mother. Publication is scheduled for spring 2016. Molly Ker Hawn at the Bent Agency brokered the deal for North American rights.

Allison Wortche at Knopf has bought world rights to Hannah Voskuil's Horus and the Curse of Everlasting Regret. Set in the 1930s, the novel brings together two kids, a spunky pet bat, and a cursed child mummy to find a girl who vanished while visiting an ancient Egyptian museum exhibit. Publication is slated for summer 2016; Mary Cummings at Betsy Amster Literary Enterprises negotiated the deal.

Reka Simonsen at Atheneum has acquired Arnold Gets the Gig, a picture book by Linda Lodding. It's an irreverent retelling of Little Red Riding Hood featuring a young sheep eager to star in his very first book. Publication is scheduled for summer 2017; Jennifer Unter at the Unter Agency did the deal for world rights.

Andrew Karre of Dutton Children’s Books has acquired two YA novels by Printz Honor author A.S. King, in his first acquisition since joining Dutton earlier this month. Karre, who published King’s first novel The Dust of 100 Dogs in 2009 while at Flux, has scheduled the untitled new novels for 2016 and 2017. Michael Bourret of Dystel & Goderich brokered the deal for world English rights.

Liz Bicknell of Candlewick has bought a new novel by Newbery Medalist Laura Amy Schlitz, The Hired Girl. Written in journal format, it follows 14-year-old maid Joan Skraggs, who yearns for education and true love, like the heroines in her favorite novels. But what hope is there for adventure, beauty, or art on a hardscrabble farm in Pennsylvania where the work never ends? Publication is slated for fall 2015. Stephen Barbara of Inkwell Management negotiated the deal for North American rights, and secured through Candlewick’s sister companies Walker Books U.K. and Walker Books Australia separate acquisitions for simultaneous English-language global release.

Melanie Cecka Nolan at Knopf has acquired Irish author Sinéad O’Hart's debut middle-grade fantasy adventure, The Eye of the North. After receiving a letter suggesting that her parents are dead, a girl finds herself on a ship to France with a young stowaway, and they must stop a plot to release an evil creature imprisoned in ice. Publication is set for fall 2016; Sarah Davies of the Greenhouse Literary Agency brokered the two-book deal for North American rights.

Krista Marino at Delacorte bought Kathleen Glasgow's ;debut novel The Tender Kit in a preempt. Billed as Girl, Interrupted for a new generation, it's the story of a girl on the verge of losing herself to a debilitating mental illness and her journey back from the edge. Publication is slated for fall 2016; Julie Stevenson negotiated the two-book deal for North American rights.


Neal Porter at Roaring Brook's Neal Porter Books has bought Geraldine, a debut picture book from Elizabeth Lilly, about a singular giraffe looking to fit in, quite literally and figuratively, with the human children at her new school, as well as an untitled picture book. It's scheduled for spring 2017; Elena Giovinazzo at Pippin Properties did the deal for North American rights.

Stephanie Lurie at Disney-Hyperion has acquired Queen Dog, a picture book by Bridget Heos in which a pampered dog must accept a new baby into the family; Alejandro O'Kif will illustrate. Publication is set for winter 2017; Kelly Sonnack of Andrea Brown Literary Agency represented the author, and Justin Rucker of Shannon Associates represented the illustrator in the deal for world rights.