NEWS Bloomsbury Kids bags diverse series trio


Frankfurt Book Fair 2019 The headlines


signing Triple


Bloomsbury Children’s has made three acquisitions centred around diversit


which will “up-end the content stereotpes of series for young read- ers”. Editorial director Zoe Griffiths acquired bought three books in Mark Powers’ and illustrator Dapo Adeola’s “‘Star Wars’ meets Sherlock Holmes” Space Detectives series. Griffiths acquired the titles from Kate Shaw at The Shaw Agency on behalf of Powers, while Sallyanne Sweeney at MMB Creative represented Adeola. Griffiths also nabbed world rights for two books in a series titled The Worst Class in the World by bestsell- ing author Joanna Nadin, best known for her Rachel Riley novels, from Julia Churchill at A M Heath. Illustrations will be by Rikin Parekh, who is repped by Claire Cartey at Holroyde Cartey. The Worst Class will have “two hilarious madcap


three books by Michelle Robinson, the first young fiction titles from the picture book author. The books will feature two


“intrepid girls who go from ladies- in-waiting to knights-in-action when they rip up the rule book and go searching for adventure”. The first title, Do Not Disturb the Dragons, is “hilarious and warmhearted with a message that heroes come in all shapes and sizes”. Holgate bought the books from


DAPO ADEOLA WILL ILLUSTRATE ONE OF BLOOMSBURY’S THREE NEW SERIES


adventures” in each book, and will “celebrate the diversit of back- grounds and cultures of students in primary schools across the UK”. Meanwhile, head of fiction Ellen Holgate acquired world rights in


James Catchpole at The Catchpole Agency on behalf of Robinson. Hannah Whity at Plum Pudding represented illustrator Sharon Davey. The first The Worst Class in the World title will publish in the UK in May 2020 while Robinson’s Do Not Disturb the Dragons follows in June 2020. The initial Space Detectives title is scheduled for early 2021.


Reporting Tom Tivnan Photographer Chapman snapped up


Début Michael Joseph editorial director Jillian Taylor has acquired a story of “love, hope and the extraordinary capacity of


humans to connect” by a Curtis Brown Creative graduate in a “major deal”. Taylor bought UK and Commonwealth rights (including audio) in Jodie Chapman’s Another Life, plus a second book, from Madeleine Milburn of the Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency. The title was sold in Italy (Mondadori) and Spain (PRH/Suma) in “signifi- cant” deals, and is the subject of a “heated” auction in Germany. Another Life centres around Nick, who “falls in love with passion-


author


First- time


ate but troubled Anna, and must choose between finding the courage to follow his heart, or risk letting go of the love of his life”. Chapman, whom Taylor described as an “an astonishing new voice”, is a 35-year-old photographer who lives in rural Kent. She began writing the novel during a Curtis Brown course she attended in 2016. Another Life is scheduled for publication in 2021.


SUE MONK KIDD’S THE BOOK OF LONGINGS IS DUE IN APRIL


Secret Life of Bees author Monk Kidd finds her perfect Tinder match


06 17th October 2019


Headline imprint Tinder Press is publishing the “life-changing” new novel from The Secret Life of Bees author Sue Monk Kidd. The Book of Longings will be released in April 2020, after UK and Commonwealth rights were acquired by executive publisher Marion Donaldson from WME. Set in biblical times, the “thought-provoking and compelling” novel tells the story of Ana, a rebel- lious young woman living in Galilee at the time of Jesus of Nazareth. Kidd, who worked on the book


for over four years, said: “The Book of Longings is the story of a daring young woman who becomes the


wife of Jesus and who struggles against the profound invisibility and silencing of women to realise her passion and voice. It is [a topic that is] enduring and relevant even today, as women strive for greater empowerment and voice.” Headline says it has sold more


than 1.6 million copies of Kidd’s books, which have been translated into more than 35 languages. “Sue has excelled herself—what a brilliant, haunting, life-changing novel,” Donaldson said. “Sue has created one of her most memorable characters: a woman who won’t accept the posi- tion dictated to her by her family.”


Quercus grabs Child Quercus and Flatiron have bought Romy Hausmann’s thriller Dear Child, which has shifted over 175,000 copies in Germany and been sold in 12 territories. Quercus publisher Stef Bierwerth bought world English-language rights from the author’s original publisher DTV, with US rights sold at auction to Flatiron. The deal was brokered by Rebecca Folland, rights director at Quercus. Due in May 2020, the novel is “a mix between Room and Gone Girl”.


Milburn Pushes on with 30th territory for Audrain The Madeleine Milburn Agency rights director Liane-Louise Smith and rights agent Georgina Simmonds have notched up a 30th territory for The Push, the début of former Penguin Canada publicity director Ashley Audrain. Recent languages for the “psychological drama told through the lens of motherhood” include Ukrainian, Korean and Hebrew. The title was first sold by Madeleine Milburn in sepa- rate deals to PRH companies in the UK, US and Canada in June.


Fourth Estate sets the date for Lasley’s State


Début Fourth Estate has snapped up Tabitha


Lasley’s “brutal exploration of masculinity” and portrait of the oil-rigging industry, Sea State. Publishing director Nicholas Pearson acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Tracy Bohan at The Wylie Agency. Lasley’s début will be published in spring 2021. Pearson said: “I haven’t read anything quite like Sea State... it’s brilliantly written, and impossible to put down.”


Foodpairing title finds its perfect match at MB Mitchell Beazley has acquired a “groundbreaking” book from The Foodpairing Company. Octopus publishing director Stephanie Jackson acquired world rights in all languages direct from the firm. The Art & Science of Foodpairing by Peter Coucquyt, Bernard Lahousse and Johan Langenbick, publish- ing in October 2020, will explain why the food combinations we know and love work so well, and promises “a new world of unex- pectedly delicious pairings”.


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