Kristin Ostby at Simon & Schuster has acquired two middle-grade novels by Catherynne M. Valente, author of The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. The first book, The Lords of Glass Town, follows Charlotte, Emily, Branwell, and Anne Brontë as they discover a portal into Glass Town, a Narnia-like fantasy world of their own creation. Publication is scheduled for fall 2017; Howard Morhaim of Howard Morhaim Literary Agency negotiated the deal for North American rights.
Cheryl Klein at Scholastic's Arthur A. Levine Books has bought Alyson Gerber's debut middle-grade novel Braced, in which 12-year-old Rachel learns her scoliosis has worsened and she has to wear a back brace, but the experience teaches her that she is made of stronger stuff than even her brace. Publication is slated for spring 2017; Kate McKean at the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency did the deal for North American rights.
Christine Krones at HMH has bought Lucas Hargis's debut novel If Found Return to Astropop, in which, unaware of one another's gender or appearance, two gender fluid teens become mutually smitten by reading each other's journals. Publication is scheduled for fall 2017; Sara Crowe at Harvey Klinger brokered the deal for world rights.
Judith Graves at Leap Books' Shine imprint has acquired world rights to Alex Van Tol's YA horror novella Dead Man's Curve. The book tells the story of 18-year-old Booker, who accidentally runs over a mysterious figure on a wilderness highway. Publication is set for fall 2016; the project was unagented.
Deirdre McDermott at Walker Books in the U.K. has acquired world rights to a picture book from Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston entitled A Child of Books; Karen Lotz will edit in the U.S. The story follows a girl and boy traveling through literary landscapes; it is slated for simultaneous U.S., U.K., and Australian publication in fall 2016. Paul Moreton at the Bell-Lomax Moreton Agency negotiated the deal.
Wendy Lefkon at Disney Editions has bought Matthew Reinhart's pop-up adaptation of Frozen, bringing the popular film to a new format with paper sculptures, interactive transforming scenes, and a dancing snowman. Publication is planned for fall 2017; Emily van Beek at Folio Jr./Folio Literary Management did the six-figure deal for world rights.
Christy Ottaviano of her eponymous imprint at Henry Holt has acquired author-illustrator Deb Pilutti's next picture book Ruby Goes to Ninja School, which tells of a girl who goes to ninja school and discovers her skill at being a good friend. Publication for Ruby is slated for fall 2017, with a second book to follow in fall 2017. Jennifer Rofé of Andrea Brown Literary Agency brokered the deal for world rights.
Rebecca Davis at Boyds Mills Press has acquiredCy Makes a Friend, a picture book by Ann Marie Stephens, illustrated by Tracy Subisak, about a lonely Cyclops and his quest for companionship. Publication is set for spring 2017; Emily Mitchell of Wernick & Pratt represented both author and illustrator for North American English rights.
Andrea Welch at S&S's Beach Lane Books has bought world rights to What Do You Do with a Voice Like That?, a picture-book biography of Texas Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, by Chris Barton, to be illustrated by Ekua Holmes, for publication in fall 2018. Erin Murphy of Erin Murphy Literary Agency represented Barton, and Rubin Pfeffer at Rubin Pfeffer Content represented Holmes.
Cheryl Klein at Scholastic's Arthur A. Levine Books has bought The Great Greene Heist author Varian Johnson's next middle-grade novel, The Packer Inheritance. In the story, two 12-year-olds search their small Southern town for the hidden will of an eccentric millionaire who disappeared years before. Publication is slated for 2017; Sara Crowe at Harvey Klinger brokered the deal.
Caitlyn Dlouhy, for her eponymous imprint at S&S/Atheneum, has acquired Alison McGhee's Dollar Will, a YA novel told in 100-word vignettes, of a boy in Los Angeles who leaves dollar-store items as anonymous gifts to neighborhood characters. A publication date has not yet been set; Heather Alexander at Pippin Properties negotiated the deal for North American rights.
Tara Weikum and Christopher Hernandez at HarperTeen have acquired Amy Plum's Dreamfall, the first book of a duology. In the books, a radical experiment to cure chronic insomnia goes wrong, and its seven teenage test subjects are plunged into a shared coma populated by one another's nightmares; those who die in the dream will also die in real life. The first book comes out in summer 2017, with the second book publishing in summer 2018. Stacey Glick of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management brokered the deal for world rights.
Tamar Brazis at Abrams has bought Roseblood, A.G. Howard’s next YA novel, a retelling of the Phantom of the Opera set in a boarding school for music and art inside a French opera house. Anne Heltzel will edit. Publication is slated for January 2017; Jenny Bent at the Bent Agency negotiated the deal for world English rights.
Katherine Jacobs at Roaring Brook has bought Jennifer Mathieu's Moxie, which follows a girl who takes inspiration from her mother's stories of the Riot Grrrl movement of the 90's to start her own anonymous zine, sparking a modern-day feminist revolution at her small-town Texas high school. Kerry Sparks of Levine Greenberg Rostan did the two-book deal for North American rights, with publication ofMoxie scheduled for fall 2017 and an untitled book for fall 2018.
Annie Berger at HarperCollins has pre-empted Sally J. Pla's debut,Someday Birds, in which bird-loving Charlie, diagnosed with OCD and Asperger's, reluctantly travels cross-country with his siblings to see his dad, hospitalized after a brain injury. Charlie bargains with the universe that if he can spot along the way all the rare birds that the two had been hoping to see someday, then everything might just turn out okay. Publication is set for 2017. Taylor Martindale Kean at Full Circle Literary negotiated the deal for world English rights.
Mark Siegel at First Second has acquired world rights to a graphic novel from Drew Weing, called The Creepy Casefiles of Margo Maloo, and a sequel. The book tells the story of a boy named Charles who moves to a new city and learns that it's infested with monsters. The first volume will be published in 2016; Weing is unagented.
Margaret Ferguson at Farrar, Straus and Giroux has acquired The Book by Sarah Stewart and David Small, a picture book that praises the simple act of slowing down, opening a good book, and reading – to ourselves or to someone else. Publication is scheduled for 2017; Holly McGhee at Pippin negotiated the deal for world English rights.
Christine Krones at HMH has acquired Let the Children March, written by debut author Monica Clark-Robinson, and illustrated by Frank Morrison. Told from a child's point of view, the book tells the story of the Children's Crusade, a series of civil rights marches that took place in 1963 to protest the Jim Crow laws. Publication is scheduled for January 2018; Natalie Lakosil at Bradford Literary Agency represented the author and Lori Nowicki of Painted Words represented the illustrator in the deal for world rights.
Grace Kendall at Farrar, Straus and Giroux has bought at auction Gifts for Abuela, a debut picture book by novelist Mitali Perkins (l.), to be illustrated by Sara Palacios. The book is inspired by the Christmas tradition of Posadas sin Fronteras, in which families who have been separated by immigration laws gather on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border to sing Christmas carols and share sweets. Publication is set for fall 2017; Laura Rennert at Andrea Brown Literary Agency represented Perkins and Minju Chang and Kendra Marcus at BookStop represented Palacios in the deal for world rights.
Tamar Brazis at Abrams bought Susan Verde's Rock-and-Roll Soul, illustrated by Matthew Cordell, about a child's connection to music. Publication is slated for spring 2018; Erica Rand Silverman of Sterling Lord Literistic represented the author and Rosemary Stimola of the Stimola Literary Studio represented the illustrator in the deal for world rights.
Tamar Brazis at Abrams also bought Susan Verde's My Kicks, illustrated by Kathie Kath, about a boy and his love for his favorite sneakers. Publication is scheduled for spring 2017; Erica Rand Silverman of Sterling Lord Literistic represented the author, and Justin Rucker of Shannon Associates represented the illustrator in the deal for world rights.
Meredith Mundy and Merideth Harte at Sterling have acquired This Is NOT a Cat! by David LaRochelle (l.), illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka, the team behind the one-word picture book Moo!Using variations on a single sentence, the story depicts a mouse teacher's lesson to her distracted students about recognizing the danger of felines. Publication is set for fall 2016; the author and illustrator represented themselves in the deal for world rights.
Kristin Zelazko at Albert Whitman has bought world rights to Andrea Wang's (l.) debut picture book, The Nian Monster, a retelling of a Chinese legend, in which a girl saves Shanghai’s New Year’s celebration with her culinary skills and wits. Alina Chau will illustrate. Publication is planned for fall 2016; Erin Murphy of Erin Murphy Literary Agency represented Wang, and Justin Rucker of Shannon Associates represented Chau.