Episcopal Bishop to Avery

In a world rights acquisition, Avery’s Megan Newman bought two books by Michael Curry, who is the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. The first title under the agreement, which Merrilee Heifetz at Writers House brokered, is The Power of Love: Sermons, Reflections and Wisdom to Uplift and Inspire; Avery said the book features five sermons the author has delivered, including the one he gave at the recent wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Power is slated for October, and the second book in the deal—a memoir that Avery said will explore “the Bishop’s faith, ancestry, and personal journey”—is set for 2020. In the U.K., Hodder & Stoughton acquired the books.

HMH Scares Tintera’s Monsters

For Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Emilia Rhodes nabbed two books, at auction, by bestselling YA author Amy Tintera (Reboot). The world English rights agreement (excluding Australia) was handled by Emmanuelle Morgen at Stonesong. Morgen said the first book in the deal, All These Monsters, is a contemporary science fiction novel set in an alternate world; it follows a 17-year-old girl who runs away from home to “join a vigilante monster-fighting squad.” After she leaves, though, the young heroine “discovers the most dangerous monsters are where you least expect them to be.” Monsters is set for spring 2020.

Knopf Nabs Popkey’s Debut

Miranda Popkey, a former associate editor at Farrar, Straus and Giroux, sold North American rights to her debut novel, Topics of Conversation. Jordan Pavlin at Knopf bought the novel from Denise Shannon, who has an eponymous shingle. Shannon said the book “navigates through the life of an introspective woman who has a young child” and that it unfolds through a series of conversations the central character is having. Elaborating, Shannon said the book “explores the nature of truth, female pain, desire, and subjectivity.”

Briefs

For Wednesday Books, Eileen Rothschild took world English rights to Francesca Flores’s debut young adult novel, Diamond City. The publisher said the novel is set “in a city full of half-constructed subway tunnels, hidden magical dens, secret weapons markets, and wolf-sized spiders.” It’s in this strange metropolis that “a young assassin unravels a conspiracy, which could rewrite her city’s history and—if it isn’t stopped—sink her country into a catastrophic war.” The book, set for winter 2020, was sold by Pete Knapp at Park Literary & Media.

At the University of Minnesota Press, Erik Anderson nabbed world English rights to Anika Fajardo’s debut memoir, Magical Realism for Non-believers. Thao Le at Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency, who represented the author, said the book tells the story of how the author returns to Colombia, where she was born, and finds “family and a father she never knew.” The memoir is set for spring 2019.

For more children’s and YA book deals, see our latest Rights Report.