Stressed about the future? Check out the rights report and feel your anxiety melt away. More amazing books to read, that’s what your future holds! Don’t forget to add these forthcoming titles to your Goodreads to-read and wishlist shelves!
Young Adult
Drowning Is Inevitable by Shalanda Stanley
Melanie Cecka at Knopf has bought Shalanda Stanley‘s debut novel Drowning Is Inevitable, about four teens who flee to New Orleans in the wake of an accidental homicide where they hope to find a solution to an unfixable problem. It’s scheduled to publish in fall 2015; Kate McKean at the Howard Morhaim Agency brokered the deal for North American rights. Add on Goodreads.
In Real Life by Cory Doctorow & Jen Wang
Mark Siegel at First Second Books has bought world rights to a graphic novel by Boing Boing creator and author Cory Doctorow, to be illustrated by Jen Wang. The book, called In Real Life, tells of a girl encountering social inequality and injustice online and having to figure out what to do about it. It will publish this October; Russell Galen was the agent for Doctorow. Add on Goodreads.
2 Untitled Graphic Novels by Rainbow Rowell & Faith Erin Hicks
Calista Brill at First Second Books has acquired world rights to two graphic novels from Printz Honor author Rainbow Rowell. The two graphic novels will be YA romance in the vein of her novels Eleanor & Park and Fangirl; the first will be illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks. Christopher Schelling at Selectric Artists was the agent for Rowell; Bernadette Baker-Baughman at Victoria Sanders represented Hicks.
Bluescreen by Dan Wells
Jordan Brown at HarperCollins imprint Balzer + Bray has bought Bluescreen, the first in a futuristic YA cyberpunk series from Partials author Dan Wells. In the series, a teen hacker’s friend’s overdose on an illicit digital drug leads her to uncover a mystery with roots deep in her L.A. neighborhood’s crime syndicate. Sara Crowe at Harvey Klinger brokered the three-book deal for world English rights. Add on Goodreads.
My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories edited by Stephanie Perkins
Sara Goodman at St. Martin’s Press has bought a YA anthology called My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories, edited by Stephanie Perkins, author of Anna and the French Kiss. The collection will feature 12 romantic tales of young love by celebrated YA authors, including Rainbow Rowell, David Levithan, Gayle Forman, Ally Carter, Holly Black, Kiersten White, Matt de la Peña, Laini Taylor, Jenny Han and Kelly Link. Publication is set for October 2014; Kate Schafer Testerman at KT Literary did the deal for North American rights. Add on Goodreads.
Knockout Games by G. Neri
Andrew Karre at Carolrhoda Lab has acquired Coretta Scott King Honor author G. Neri‘s new YA novel, Knockout Games. It tells the story of Erica, a white 15-year-old, and her experience getting caught up in the TKO Club, a group of middle-school kids urged to play the now-infamous knockout game by Kalvin, a charismatic black 18-year-old. The book, according to its publisher, takes an unflinching and morally complex look at casual violence and American teenagers. Neri wrote the book based on visits to a St. Louis high school where the knockout game was popular several years ago. Publication is scheduled for August 2014; Edward Necarsulmer IV of Dunow, Carlson & Lerner did the deal for world English rights. Add to Goodreads.
Black River by Jeff Hirsch
Lynne Polvino at Clarion Books has acquired Black River, a YA novel by Jeff Hirsch (The Eleventh Plague). In the story, 16-year-old Cardinal Odera is the only member of his family to escape a virus that stole the memories of everyone in his town. He chooses to remain in his quarantined town, caring for a band of orphaned kids, but when a mysterious young woman appears, and factions within the town begin to agitate for greater freedom, the safe, closed-off world he worked so hard to build begins to crumble. Publication is set for fall 2015; Sara Crowe at Harvey Klinger did the deal for world rights. Add on Goodreads.
N.E.E.D. by Joelle Charbonneau
Margaret Raymo at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has signed a two-book deal with Joelle Charbonneau, author of the YA trilogy The Testing. The first title in the deal, N.E.E.D., was pitched as Pretty Little Liars meets Homeland. It’s set in a small Wisconsin town and follows teenager Kaylee, who gets involved in an elite social networking Web site called N.E.E.D., which that grants your desire in return for fulfilling a request. Publication is slated for fall 2016; the second book is currently untitled and scheduled for fall 2016. Stacia Decker at the Donald Maass Literary Agency did the two-book deal for world rights. Add on Goodreads.
The Veiled Man’s Goddess by Amy McNulty
Georgia McBride at Month9Books has bought The Veiled Man’s Goddess trilogy by Amy McNulty, a YA fantasy romance where one girl fights to save the boy she loves from a spell that forces all men to wear masks and only ever love one woman, each their “goddess.” Publication will begin in 2015; Jason Yarn at Paradigm sold world English rights. Add on Goodreads.
Woven by Michael Jensen & David Powers King
David Levithan and Zack Clark at Scholastic bought Michael Jensen and David Powers King‘s epic YA fantasy, Woven, in which a spoiled princess and the ghost who haunts her, a recently murdered young knight, embark on a quest to thwart death itself. Clark will edit, and publication is scheduled for spring 2015. Meredith Bernstein at the Meredith Bernstein Literary Agency held the auction for world English rights; Jacqueline Murphy at Fineprint is handling foreign rights. Add on Goodreads.
The Great Library trilogy by Rachel Caine
Anne Sowards at NAL signed a mid-six-figure deal for a YA fantasy trilogy by Rachel Caine, author of the Morganville Vampires books. In the new trilogy, called the Great Library, the Library of Alexandria still exists and has become all-powerful, and, while there is unfettered access to information digitally, it is a crime to keep print books in any personal collection. The series is described as The Book Thief with Fahrenheit 451 by way of Harry Potter. The first book is planned for summer 2015; Lucienne Diver at the Knight Agency sold North American rights. Add on Goodreads.
Because You’ll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas
Mary Kate Castellani at Bloomsbury has pre-empted Because You’ll Never Meet Me, a debut novel from 24-year-old author Leah Thomas, about the unique friendship – told through letters – between Ollie, a 14-year-old with an allergy to electricity, and Moritz, a blind German boy with unusual powers. It is scheduled to be co-published with Ellen Holgate of Bloomsbury U.K. in spring 2015. Lana Popovic of Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency did the deal for world rights. Add on Goodreads.
The Borden Murders by Sarah Miller
Anne Schwartz at Random House’s Schwartz & Wade imprint has bought Sarah Miller‘s The Borden Murders, a YA narrative nonfiction book about the infamous Lizzie Borden, for publication in spring 2016. Wendy Schmalz at Wendy Schmalz Agency negotiated for world rights. Add on Goodreads.
Puchio by Jing Guo
Lee Wade at Schwartz & Wade has acquired Jing Guo‘s Puchio, a wordless graphic novel about a girl who, in an effort to visit her grandmother, embarks on a fantastical journey. Publication is scheduled for spring 2016. Isabel Atherton at Creative Authors did the deal for world rights. Add on Goodreads.
Middle Grade
Pram by Lauren DeStefano
Catherine Onder at Bloomsbury has acquired a debut middle-grade novel, Pram, and an untitled sequel, by Lauren DeStefano, author of the Chemical Garden and Internment Chronicles YA trilogies. Pram tells the story of a girl with a unique talent: she can talk to ghosts. After befriending a boy named Clarence, Pram decides to search for her father in the hope that he can answer her questions about her mother’s death. It comes out in fall 2015; Barbara Poelle of the Irene Goodman Literary Agency did the deal for U.S., Canadian, and open market rights. Add on Goodreads.
Partition Junction by N.H. Senzai
Sylvie Frank at S&S’s Paula Wiseman Books has acquired N.H. Senzai‘s Partition Junction (working title), a middle-grade novel in which 12-year-old Maya uncovers a family mystery that takes her on an adventure from Pakistan to India. Senzai is the author of Shooting Kabul and Saving Kabul Corner. Publication is scheduled for fall 2015; Michael Bourret at Dystel & Goderich was brokered the deal. Add on Goodreads.
The Dungeoneers by John David Anderson
Jordan Brown at Walden Pond Press has acquired three middle-grade novels from Sidekicked author John David Anderson. In The Dungeoneers, Colm Candorly is the perfect pickpocket, but when he’s chosen to enter a school that trains dungeon raiders, he learns that taking treasure from monsters is the easiest part of being a Dungeoneer. It’s scheduled for publication in summer 2015; Quinlan Lee at Adams Literary negotiated the six-figure deal for North American rights. Add on Goodreads.
The Allegiance and Bottle Cap by Megan Frazer Blakemore
Harvey Klinger agent Sara Crowe has closed two deals for Megan Frazer Blakemore, author of The Water Castle. Mary Kate Castellani at Walker has bought world English rights to a new middle-grade novel, tentatively titled The Allegiance, about a sixth grader who uncovers a mystery in her local library while preparing for the school spelling bee, in a two-book deal. Publication is planned for spring 2015. And Alexandra Cooper at HarperCollins has bought world English rights to a YA novel tentatively titled Bottle Cap, about 16-year-old Very Woodruff, a straight-A student in a family of free-spirited artists, who starts questioning everything in her orderly life when her grandmother, a famous writer, is on her deathbed, and Very is forced to face the truth about her family and who she wants to be, also in a two-book deal. The projected publication date is fall 2015. Add on GR here & here.
Confidentially Yours series by Jo Whittemore
Andrea Martin at HarperCollins has bought a six-book middle-grade series from D Is for Drama author Jo Whittemore. Confidentially Yours is a humorous series about a group of sixth-graders who collaborate on an advice column; publication is tentatively slated to begin in fall 2015. Jennifer Laughran at Andrea Brown Literary Agency did the six-figure deal for world rights. Add on Goodreads.
Which of these YA and MG titles are you most excited about?
**All rights reports are taken directly from PW**
The Hiding Spot 