Eileen Rothschild at St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books has acquired world rights to White Stag, the start of a trilogy from Wattpad author Kara Barbieri. Pitched as Twilight meets Game of Thrones, the series follows a 17-year-old girl who was captured from her village and brought to live in the brutally beautiful Permafrost as a servant to Goblins. She finds herself becoming more monster than human and must uncover secrets to find the truth about who she is and the world that has become her home. Publication is planned for fall 2018; Ashleigh Gardner at Wattpad negotiated the deal.
Adrienne Procaccini at Skyscape has bought Fire and Bone, first in a new Urban Fantasy series by Dark Cycle series author Rachel A. Marks. It was pitched as “Gossip Girl meets Percy Jackson in the glitz and grit of L.A., with a little steam on the side,” and is based on Celtic mythology, telling the story of the daughter of a Celtic goddess who struggles to find her way in Los Angeles amid the complicated politics of her powerful family. It's slated for winter 2018; Rena Rossner at the Deborah Harris Agency sold world English rights.
Elizabeth Bewley at HMH pre-empted world English rights for Laura Hopper's debut YA novel, I Never. Inspired by Judy Blume's Forever, the book features an almost‑too‑good‑to‑be‑true high school relationship, and it doesn't shy away from the details. Publication is scheduled for fall 2017; Steven Malk at Writers House brokered the deal.
Kate Sullivan at Delacorte has acquired sign language interpreter and Chained author Lynne Kelly's Song for a Whale in a five-house auction. Pitched as The Thing About Jellyfish meets Counting by Sevens, the book tells the story of 12-year-old Iris, born deaf, who becomes obsessed with helping a whale based on the real-life marine phenom known as "The Loneliest Whale in the World." together, Iris and the whale help each other break through isolation to be heard in ways they'd never imagined. It's set for fall 2018; Molly O'Neill at Waxman Leavell Literary Agency did the two-book deal for North American rights.
Andrew Harwell at HarperCollins has signed two untitled middle-grade novels by Nanci Turner Steveson. In the first, scheduled for summer 2018, Lizzie St. Clair's world is turned upside down when her father is convicted of a white-collar crime, but when she and her mother move into a transitional housing shelter, Lizzie finds unexpected hope and love from the friends and families she meets while there. Al Zuckerman at Writers House did the deal for world English rights.
Diane Landolf at Random House has bought Zetta Elliott's Dragons in a Bag, a middle grade fantasy featuring a diverse cast of characters set in a magical Brooklyn, where the homeless guy on the corner might actually be an inter-dimensional time-lord, and Grandma's purse might just be hiding baby dragons. Publication is slated for fall 2018; Jennifer Laughran at Andrea Brown Literary Agency sold world rights.
Aimee Friedman at Scholastic has acquired world rights to Refugee, a middle grade novel by Alan Gratz. The book tells the story of three fictional refugees: a Jewish boy fleeing Nazi Germany for Cuba in 1939, a Cuban girl trying to escape Cuba to get to America by raft in 1994, and a Syrian boy traveling from Syria to Germany in the present day. Publication is planned for fall 2017. Holly Root at Waxman Leavell negotiated the deal.
Rebecca Davis at Boyds Mills Press has bought Jessie Haas's Rescue. In this middle grade novel, Joni's love of everything about her Vermont farm, from eating cheese to working horses, is upended with the arrival in the neighborhood of a new girl who is an animal rights activist. Publication is scheduled for spring 2018. Marietta B. Zacker at Gallt and Zacker Literary Agency brokered the deal for North American rights.
Susan Van Metre at Abrams and Sheila Barry at Groundwood Books have acquired Caldecott and Printz Honoree Jillian Tamaki's debut picture book, They Say Blue, an exploration of color, perception and nature. Publication is slated for spring 2018; Steven Malk at Writers House represented Tamaki in the deal for world rights.
Nancy Paulsen at Penguin's Nancy Paulsen Books has bought author-illustrator Joy Steuerwald's The Peculiar Pig, a debut picture book that explores the relationship of a brave little puppy raised by pigs. Publication is set for summer 2018; Teresa Kietlinski at Bookmark Literary negotiated the deal for world rights.
Laura Godwin at Henry Holt's Laura Godwin Books has signed two picture books written by Deborah Underwood and illustrated by T.L. McBeth. Ducks! is a story told using just two words that has a lost duck eventually reuniting with his flock, and Ogilvy tells of a bunny that may be wearing a sweater – or is it a dress? – and won't be limited by other bunnies' perceptions. Publication is planned for winter and fall 2019. Erin Murphy of Erin Murphy Literary Agency represented the author and Kirsten Hall of Catbird Productions represented the illustrator in the deal for world rights.
Chad Reynolds and Alexis Orgera at Penny Candy Books have acquired Palestinian poet Maya Abu Alhayyat's The Blue Pool of Questions, illustrated by Hassan Manasrah, published by the Palestine Writing Workshop in 2015. The book, which tells of an odd man who annoys the inhabitants of a town with his bothersome questions, won the Etisalat Award for Arabic Children's Literature for best illustration at the Sharjah Book Fair earlier this month. It's projected to publish in spring 2017; Kelly Falconer at the Asia Literary Agency sold world English rights.
Anna Cavallo at Carolrhoda Books has bought world rights to Peep & Egg author Laura Gehl's (l.) I Got a Chicken for My Birthday, about a girl whose birthday gift is not amusement park tickets, as requested, but a chicken with surprisingly big plans of its own. Sarah Horne will illustrate. Publication is scheduled for spring 2018; Erzsi Deàk at Hen&ink Literary Studio represented the author and Hannah Abbo at Advocate Art represented the illustrator.
Sarah Ketchersid at Candlewick Press has acquired Smile: How Young Charlie Chaplin Learned to Make the World Laugh (and Cry) by Gary Golio (l.), illustrated by Ed Young, a picture book biography that explores the early life of one of the most famous entertainers of all time. Publication is slated for fall 2019. Edward Necarsulmer IV of Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency represented the author and Christa Heschke of McIntosh & Otis represented the artist.
