Publishing Industry Lowdown (April 23-27)

It’s that day again–time for Sooz’s YA and MG Publishing Industry Lowdow. The general idea is that I share all the deals I know 0f in the young adult and middle grade publishing world each Friday.

My source for deal news is Publishers Marketplace, which requires a paid subscription. As such I’m only sharing part of the information here–basically, just author names and pitches. If you want to know deal sizes (e.g. advances), editors, publishers, and agents, I highly recommend you sign up for PM–it’s totally worth the cost!

Now, let’s get started, shall we?

Deals

Author of the Olivia Kidney series, SLOB, The Kneebone Boy and The Humming Room, Ellen Potter’s new middle grade series OTIS DOODA: STRANGE BUT TRUE and OTIS DOODA: LETS IT RIP, pitched as Diary of a Wimpy Kid meets The Catcher in the Rye, if Holden Caulfield was in third grade, with illustrations by New Yorker cartoonist David Heatley.

Diana Sharples’ young adult RUNNING LEAN, in which six months after burying his brother, Calvin discovers his girlfriend has an eating disorder and decides to “fix” the problem…even at the cost of their relationship, in a nice deal, for publication in 2013.

Katrina Leno’s debut young adult THE HALF LIFE OF MABEL PIERCE, about a girl with Dissociative Identity Disorder whose alternate personality is trying to save her life, in a two-book deal.

Alex Mallory’s young adult WILD, pitched as a take on Tarzan for the digital age, in which a girl skips her senior trip to go into the wild instead, and finds a boy raised to believe that the world outside the forest has been decimated by a modern plague.

Barbara Mariconda’s young adult GYPSY, set during the passion and chaos of the Spanish Civil War, in which a young gypsy finds herself caught in a conflict that’s not her own – and caught between multiple love interests who hope to tame her free-spirited nature – only to discover a true home, and love, through the electrifying dance of Flamenco.

ALIEN INVASION author Brian Yansky’s young adult UTOPIA, set in a quirky small Iowa town where the strange is normal, about a 17-year-old who has the gift or curse, depending on how you look at it, of being able to talk to dead people, and finds himself caught up in the mystery of two murdered girls, murders that lead him to town secrets long buried.

Gae Polisner’s young adult FRANKIE SKY, still reeling from her little brother’s drowning death, a girl finds her herself holding back – from summer trips to the ocean, friendship, budding romance – till she meets another young boy who may be her brother’s reincarnation, which awakens her to new possibilities.

Esther Friesner’s young adult KESTREL’S PRINCESS and KESTREL’S FLIGHT, about the teenage years of a girl, who grew up to become the legendary “Warrior Queen” of medieval Ireland, for publication in 2014 and 2015.

J.R. Johansson’s young adult INSOMNIA, about a teen boy who thought spending every night trapped in other people’s dreams was bad, but discovers that losing control of his own body and mind is so much worse, in a two-book deal, for publication in 2013.

Tara Sullivan’s middle grade GOLDEN BOY, about a 13-year old Tanzanian albino boy who is running for his life from the bounty hunter who wants to kill him for his body parts, considered to be lucky, until he meets a blind sculptor, who helps the boy see his real worth, for publication in Fall 2013.

Miriam Glassman’s middle grade CALL ME OKLAHOMA, a lighthearted view of a ten-year-old’s determination to try on a more forceful persona, the first step being a name change (but does she really want to be called “Oklahoma?”.

FLUTTER author Gina Linko’s young adult INDIGO, in which a 17-year old girl moves to moody, atmospheric New Orleans with her family following the death of her sister, a death that she believes she caused, until she meets a boy, who convinces her that, rather than taking life, her touch has the power to give life, for publication in Fall 2013.

Author of the 2003 Orange Prize-winning young adult PROPERTY, Valerie Martin and Lisa Martin’s ANTON AND CECIL: CATS AT SEA, about two animal heroes whose curiosity about the world and passion for adventure takes them on a journey beyond their wildest expectations, pitched as in the tradition of The Wind and the Willows, Stuart Little, and Poppy.

Lisa Harkrader’s middle grade COOL BEANS: the Adventure Continues, second installment in The Adventures of Beanboy.

(Source: Publisher’s Marketplace)

Other Stuff

Give me the knows ‘cos I don’t have it. If you haven’t noticed, I have been absent this week (WRITING! I’m almost to 60K in my SCREECHERS rewrite!!). I have been late on getting posts up and I haven’t been answering comments. EEK! I will. Today. I promise. ♥

You tell me: Whaaaa happened this week in publishing?