Publishing Industry Lowdown (Sept. 12-16)

It’s that day again–time for Sooz’s YA and MG Publishing Industry Lowdow. The general idea is that I share the biggest news in the young adult and middle grade publishing world each Friday–big deal*, important changes, etc.

Note: 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!

Also, notice how many deals we’ve got rolling in this week? I told you that post-Labor Day is when publishing really picks up! Now, let’s get started!!

Deals

Alyson Noel’s books #5 and 6 in the middle grade Riley Bloom book series, featuring the younger sister of the protagonist in the best selling IMMORTALS series and the fantastic and heartwarming adventures in her life after death, for publication in 2012 and 2013.

MASTERWORK OF A PAINTING ELEPHANT author Michelle Cuevas’s middle grade THE ORNITHOLOGIST’S DREAM, the story of a boy hatched from an egg, who wants desperately to learn to fly.

Author of Paranormalcy Kiersten White’s next 4 young adult books beginning with MIND GAMES, a dark thriller where psychics and mind-readers are the ultimate tools in corporate espionage and two teen girls try to save themselves and their future; FLOOD AND STONE, in which the teen daughter of Egyptian gods tries to escape her overly dramatic family dynamics only to find you can’t escape fate; plus a sequel to Mind Games and another standalone, in a major deal, for publication beginning in Winter 2013.

Indie filmmaker and author e.E. Charlton-Trujillo’s young adult FAT ANGIE, about a girl who finds reprieve from her high school tormenters by keeping solitary vigil for her idolized sister missing in Iraq when a purple-heart-tatooed boy struts into her life.

Andy Marino’s young adult UNCRASHABLE DAKOTA, pitched as “Die Hard” on a steampunk airship, set in an alternate 1914 in which the teen heir of the Dakota aeronautical empire has to foil a hijacking of the flagship’s first trans-Atlantic flight and discovers dark secrets about his family’s history that could ignite the entire world if revealed.

Bestselling author Jacquelyn Mitchard’s young adult THINGS WE SAW AT NIGHT, in which a trio of teens rebel against their deadly diagnosis of XP (an allergy to sunlight) with late night extreme sports and daredevil risks, and uncover a human devil in their midst.

Rusty Fischer’s ZOMBIES DON’T CRY, A LIVING DEAD LOVE STORY, in which a girl is struck by lightning and awakens to realize she has been reanimated and turned into a zombie, for publication in 2012.

Aidan Harte’s IRENICON, set in a dark alternative renaissance Italy, as a young contessa plots to free her city from the grip of the Concordian Empire, in a three-book deal, for publication in April 2012.

The Weirdstone of Brisingamen author Alan Garner, OBE’s COMPLETE FOLK TALES, comprised of stories from the author’s Book of British Folk Tales and The Hamish Hamilton Book of Goblins, as well as never-before-published tales from his archives.

Michael Betcherman’s BREAKAWAY, about a rising hockey star who risks everything to prove his NHLer father was framed for the murder of a rival player, in a two-book deal, for publication in Fall 2012.

Carolita Blythe’s young adult REVENGE OF A NOT SO PRETTY GIRL, set in the streets of 1980s Brooklyn, the story of an unlikely friendship that develops between an 80-year-old reclusive former actress and a 13-year-old girl who tries to mug her, for publication in Spring 2013.

Author of MOONGLASS and the forthcoming IN HONOR Jessi Kirby’s young adult GOLDEN, the story of a shy high school senior who has always played it safe until she comes across the journal of a girl who disappeared ten years ago when her boyfriend’s jeep crashed at the bottom of a ravine, and begins a search to find out what really happened to the most popular couple in town , for publication in summer 2013.

Author of THE GOLEMS OF GOTHAM, a San Francisco Chronicle Top 100 Book and SECOND HAND SMOKE, finalist for the National Jewish Book Award, Thane Rosenbaum’s young adult THE STRANGER WITHIN SARAH STEIN, after her parents’ divorce, in which a 12-year-old assumes two separate identities–the daughter of the prim, social climbing chocolatier mother, and the street-wise, wisecracking child of her abstract painter father, finally beginning to accept herself with the help of her new friend — a disgraced homeless fireman who has been missing since 9/11, and her Holocaust-survivor grandmother.

K.A. Barson’s young adult 45 POUNDS, about a girl who doesn’t fit — not into her blended family, and certainly not into Snapz! clothes, and who is certain that if she could lose 45 pounds, her life would be perfectly normal, only to find that there is nothing perfect about normal.

Newbery Honor-winner Margarita Engle’s middle grade THE LIGHTNING DREAMER, a history in verse about Cuban abolitionist, folk hero, feminist, and poet Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, for publication in spring 2013.

Kimberly Derting’s young adult THE PLEDGE series, books 2 and 3, in which a teen girl in an oppressive society, who has a secret ability to speak all languages, meets a mysterious and beautiful teen boy who speaks a language she’s never heard, and discovers she is the key to her country’s survival, for publication in Fall 2012 and 2013.

Liz Rosenberg’s young adult ONE RAINY FORTNIGHT, the story of how the brilliant young Mary Shelley created a monster, writing FRANKENSTEIN over one particularly rainy long weekend in the company of some of England’s most famous and formidable men — including her husband the poet Shelley and Lord Byron, “mad, bad, and dangerous to know.”

J.V. Kade’s middle grade debut BOT WARS: LINE ZERO, set in a futuristic world where humans and robots are at war, and about a boy who goes on a search to find his missing military father, in a two-book deal.

#1 NYT bestselling author of The Other Boleyn Girl and The Red Queen Philippa Gregory’s four young adult historical romance titles, her first books for young adults, for publication starting in summer 2012.

(Source: Publisher’s Marketplace*)

Other News

LeVar Burton (please say everyone reading this knows that name on sight. YOU SHOULD! He is an icon of all 80s & 90s childhoods. I’ve added a video for your viewing enjoyment.) is launching RRKidz, which are digital titles aimed at the Reading Rainbow market. This is chock full of WIN, if you want my opinion!

HarperTeen is doing a nifty promotion in which authors share pics and stories from their summer–it’s called Fall in Love With These Summer Escapes.

Here’s an interesting article about what’s popular at a public library in Chicago. As a fan of Pinkalicious (thanks for introducing me, Savannah!) and middle grade, I’m excited to see how well these are doing!

If you haven’t seen already, Read for Relief is auctioning off books, critiques, and other swag to help raise money for Hurricane Irene. Be sure to stop by (if you haven’t already).

And finally, in completely unrelated news, if you want to partake in the Paris Giveaway (a Parisian souvenir + a copy of Anna and the French Kiss), leave a comment here. AAAAND, if you want see more of my Paris pictures, head here.

You tell me: Is there any industry news-bite I missed? Do you have an significant news you want to share?

♥

*Note: Because Publishers Marketplace requires a paid subscription, 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!