Crown, Grand Central Snag Novels Revisiting Beloved Characters as Adults

Two novels that reimagine beloved YA and children’s characters—Blair Waldorf and Nancy Drew, respectively—are in the works at Grand Central and Crown. 

Karen Kosztolnyik at Grand Central preempted world rights to Blair by Gossip Girl author Cecily von Ziegesar from Sara Shandler at the Book Group on behalf of the author and Josh Bank, Joelle Hobeika, and Jess Harriton at book packager and film production company Alloy Entertainment. The standalone novel, set 20 years after the original series, follows Blair Waldorf’s return to New York City and “climb back to the top of Upper East Side society,” per the publisher. Release is scheduled for summer 2027.

Meanwhile, Amy Einhorn and Lori Kusatzky at Crown preempted world rights, in a three-book deal, to to Nancy by E. Lockhart and Sarah Mlynowski from Elizabeth Kaplan, who represented Lockhart and has an eponymous agency, and Laura Dail, who repped Mlynowski and has an eponymous agency. The novel, to be written under a pseudonym, kicks off a series in which Nancy Drew is a divorced 40-something Brooklyn mom whose sleuthing days are behind her but must team with her ex–childhood best friend to solve the case of “the body in the recycling bin.” Pub date TBA.

Photos: Heather Weston (E. Lockhart) and Heather Waraksa (Sarah Mlynowski)