Children's Books Frankfurt 2019

Children’s Books Frankfurt 2019

CONTENTS

YOUNG ADULT FICTION & NON-FICTION 3

MIDDLE-GRADE FICTION 14

ILLUSTRATED BOOKS 27

BACKLIST & ESTATES 31

CONTACT 37

YOUNG ADULT FICTION & NON-FICTION

YOUNG ADULT FICTION

ALL THAT EVER WAS by Caitlin Devlin

Moonrise by Sarah Crossan meets Girl Missing by Sophie McKenzie in this beautiful debut novel for young adults.

When Edie finds her runaway sister Mae after four months, she assumes that their problems are over. But there’s a lot that Mae still isn’t telling her.

It’s been four months now since Mae packed a bag and left with her boyfriend in the middle of the afternoon, and Edie is beginning to wonder if Mae is even still out there. Agent: Silvia Molteni So when new information comes to light about Mae’s

On submission: Autumn whereabouts, Edie doesn’t waste any time in setting out to 2019 bring Mae home.

Age: 14+ Dragging her infinitely patient best friend Finn along, she heads for Guernsey, to find a very different girl from the Genre: Contemporary, one she parted with four months earlier. Mae is scared. realistic And she’s lying. And now people are going to get hurt.

Months earlier, in a small flat on the island of Guernsey, Mae contemplates her escape. She knows her way out.

But there’s a chance that the people she left behind will never forgive her. And there’s an even greater chance that the person who knows her better than anyone else will ruin everything.

Caitlin Devlin is studying English and Creative Writing at Warwick University. Her writing has been recognised by national and international competitions including the Iggy Litro Young Writers’ award, the Flash500 short story competition, the Exeter Writers short story competition, and in the music world, by the UK Song Writing Contest. She debuted her play ‘Aftermath’ with Bench Theatre Company in February 2019. All That Ever Was is her first novel for Young Adults.

YOUNG ADULT FICTION

TO DIE FOR by Ava Eldred

Part pacey thriller, part emotional exploration of celebrity culture; murder mystery meets fandom in this funny yet poignant debut for young adults. Karen McManus’ One Of Us Is Lying crossed with Alice Oseman’s I Was Born For This.

When Harri Lodge said she’d do anything for Half Light, solving a murder wasn’t quite what she had in mind.

Agent: Lucy Irvine Boyband Half Light are pretty complacent about fan worship. After all, crowds of teenage girls screaming their Currently on submission names became commonplace a long time ago, and surprises are rare when every move is choreographed. But Age: 14+ when frontman Frankie Williams is arrested on suspicion of murder and their carefully curated world implodes, it is Genre: Contemporary, up to superfans Harri and Jas to side-step the police and thriller begin an investigation of their own. They may not technically be qualified detectives, but they’ve spent long enough watching Frankie Williams to prove he wouldn’t kill someone. Would he?

Using their self-taught sleuthing prowess, the girls become convinced that Frankie is being set up, and that his relationship with band mate Jack is at the heart of it.

Empowered by social media, Harri and Jas rally an international army of fans to prove that it’s a mistake to underestimate a teenager with a passion, and that when they said they’d do anything for Frankie, they meant anything.

Ava Eldred was born in London, and has spent the last decade writing and developing stage musicals, as well as producing large scale theatrical concerts. Her work has been performed both in London and internationally. She is a recent alumna of Faber Academy’s Writing a Novel course, and a life-long fan of boybands. To Die For is her first novel.

YOUNG ADULT FICTION

WELCOME TO THE END OF THE WORLD by B.J. Ryan

Becky Albertalli’s Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda meets The Walking Dead; a coming out YA story set in the zombie apocalypse.

“Have you ever had a secret so big it feels like if you don’t tell someone the world will end? But you know the second you tell people, YOUR world, as you know it, will be Agent: Silvia Molteni gone?”

On submission: Autumn Alex has one. But then the world actually ended! 2019 When his city is overrun by the undying – reanimated, Age: 14+ bloodthirsty corpses – Alex decides that simply surviving the apocalypse is not enough. To truly live, he Genre: Coming-of-age, must finally come out to his tough and distant big brother, action, adventure Brody, before it’s too late. But Alex doesn’t want to make things awkward with the only living family he has left. Not while they’re fighting their way through undying hordes, trying to escape a dead city. And especially not when there is a huge, living-dead beast on their trail. And worst of all... what if Brody rejects him?

Then Alex glimpses a boy with a beautiful smile, out there all alone in a world full of monsters, and he realises that if he doesn’t tell Brody his big secret soon, it’ll be as if he never really lived. He will be no better than the undying corpses that now wander the earth.

B. J. Ryan studied media at Macquarie University in Australia. One of his short films received an honourable mention at the International Film Awards Berlin. His writing has also received an honourable mention in the Eric Hoffer Book Award and was a finalist in the 2019 American Fiction Awards. He now writes concepts for TV as well as novels for young people and lives in Utrecht, The Netherlands.

YOUNG ADULT FICTION

THE UNDYING TOWER by Melissa Welliver

The first instalment in a political trilogy set in a future world in which an overpopulation crisis has caused society to collapse, The Undying Tower is The Hunger Games for 2019.

‘Melissa Welliver has no problem inventing adventures and once she’s let loose she’ll run and run’ Jeanette Winterson

When the world discovered that a small percentage of the Agent: Lucy Irvine population stopped aging, it tore itself apart. Fifty years later, The Avalonia Zone is one of the only civilisations On submission: Autumn left. A place where healthcare is restricted; religion is 2019 banned; hangings are televised; and the terrorist group the Three-book series Alchemists fight for Undying rights.

Age: 14+ Sadie cares for her father and yearns for a heart transplant for him. But after she is injured in a terrorist Genre: Political future attack and a blood test reveals her to be one of the Undying, she and her family are no longer eligible for med- ical treatment. The government give Sadie an ultimatum: find the Alchemist leak inside the Tower, the highest security Undying prison in the country, and her father can have his heart transplant.

As Sadie probes deeper into what she always considered a criminal underworld, she begins to realise that there is more to the Undying than is reported on the news. And when she discovers the Tower’s darkest secret, will she risk everything to save the Undying, or will she abandon them to save her father?

Melissa Welliver studied Creative Writing at the University of Manchester. Her work has listed in Bath Novel Award; Mslexia; the #BNAKids Award; and was recently shortlisted for the inaugural Hachette Children’s Novel Award. She has been published in two short story collections. The Undying Tower is her first novel.

YOUNG ADULT FICTION

WITCHES OF ASH AND RUIN by E. Latimer

Modern witchcraft blends with ancient Celtic mythology in a mesmerizing novel that’s perfect for fans of V.E. Schwab’s Shade of Magic trilogy and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

With razor-sharp prose and achingly real characters, E. Latimer crafts a sweeping, mesmerizing story of dark magic and brutal mythology set against a backdrop of contemporary Ireland that’s impossible to put down.

Seventeen-year-old Dayna Walsh is struggling to cope Agent: Silvia Molteni with her somatic OCD; the aftermath of being outed as US publisher: Disney bisexual in her conservative Irish town; and the Hyperion return of her long-absent mother, who barely seems like a parent. But all that really matters to her is ascending and US editor: Hannah Allaman finally, finally becoming a full witch—plans that are complicated when another coven, rumoured to have a US publication: 3 March sordid history with black magic, arrives in town with 2020 premonitions of death.

Age: 14+ Dayna immediately finds herself at odds with the bewitchingly frustrating Meiner King, the Genre: Fantasy granddaughter of their coven leader. And then a witch

Rights sold: turns up murdered at a local sacred site, along with the Audio US (Listening Library) blood symbol of the Butcher of Manchester—an infamous Spanish and Catalan serial killer whose trail has long gone cold. (Editorial Planeta) The killer’s motives are enmeshed in a complex web of witches and gods, and Dayna and Meiner soon find themselves at the center of it all.

If they don’t stop the Butcher, one of them will be next.

E. Latimer lives in Canada. Her breakout success on the online writing platform, Wattpad.com, has resulted in a fan base of nearly 90k followers, with over 20 million combined reads. Her first MG novel, The Strange and Deadly Potraits of Bryony Gray was published by Tundra Books in February 2018. Witches of Ash and Ruin is her debut novel for young adults.

YOUNG ADULT FICTION

WE ARE NOT OKAY by Natália Gomes

From the author of Dear Charlie and Blackbird, comes a new provocative and eye-opening novel for young adults, perfect for fans of Thirteen Reasons Why, All The Bright Places, and Girl Online.

‘Beautifully written [...] sensitively portrayed and ultimately uplifting, this book deals with serious issues and their potential outcomes’ Goodreads reviewer

‘A gripping, eye-opening YA novel that I wish I could put in everyone's hands’ Pretty Little Memoirs on Dear Charlie Agent: Silvia Molteni Four girls. Four voices. All unheard. UK Publisher: HQ Young Adult Lucy loves to gossip. If she’s pointing fingers at everyone else, no-one will see the secret she’s hiding. UK editor: Sarah Goodey Ulana comes from a conservative Muslim family where Publication: 2 May 2019 reputation is everything. One rumour – true or false – can

destroy futures. Page extent: 384

Age: 14+ Trina likes to party, and she’s kissed a lot of boys at school. But she didn’t say ‘yes’ that night… and Genre: Contemporary, no-one believes her. realistic Sophia loved her boyfriend. She did everything for him. Previous works: When he asked her to pose for photos, she didn’t hesitate Blackbird (HQ, 2017) – but then he betrayed her trust. So why’s she the one Dear Charlie (HQ, 2016) being shamed?

What happens when the friends you should be turning to are turning against you?

Natália Gomes is completing an MLitt in Literature and Creative Writing. She also holds an M.Ed. in Education and worked for several years in the US public education system. Her first novel, Dear Charlie, was published in 2016, followed by Blackbird in 2017 and We Are Not Okay in 2019. Gomes currently lives in Scotland.

YOUNG ADULT FICTION

BLACKBIRD by N.D. Gomes

‘A study of grief and how tragic events can push us apart or bring us together’ IShouldReadThat

‘A raw, emotional book’ Goodreads reviewer

Olivia disappeared the night the blackbirds died.

It was New Years Eve the night that dead blackbirds descended, hours before fourteen year old Alex McCarthy’s sister Olivia went missing from a party.

Committed to finding out what happened to her Agent: Silvia Molteni sister, within the previously safe walls of their subarctic

Orkney village, Alex knows that dishevelled, UK Publisher: HQ Young Adult, 16 November 2017 sometimes intoxicated Detective Inspector Birkens is her best shot. UK editor: Sarah Goodey Yet as they uncover the secrets behind Olivia’s last night, Alex starts to find things she may be better off never knowing… DEAR CHARLIE by N.D. Gomes

‘At its searing best the novel demonstrates how the perpetrator of a despicable act can still be loved, forgiven and very missed’ The Financial Times

“Death should never meet the young. But it did. Thanks to my brother, death made fourteen new friends that day. Maybe even fifteen, if you count Charlie.”

At sixteen, Sam Macmillan is supposed to be thinking about girls, homework and his upcoming application to music college, not picking up the pieces after the school Agent: Silvia Molteni shooting that his brother Charlie committed.

UK Publisher: HQ Young Yet as Sam desperately tries to hang on to the memories Adult, 20 October 2016 he has of his brother, the media storm surrounding their family threatens to destroy everything. And Sam has to UK editor: Sarah Goodey question all he thought he knew about life, death, right and wrong.

YOUNG ADULT FICTION

DON’T FORGET ME by Victoria Stevens

‘[A] highly emotional yet approachable journey searching for acceptance, friendship, and love… A satisfying coming- of-age story’ School Library Journal

‘Family isn't limited to those connected by blood; sometimes it includes the people who are dearest to you. Themes of family, hope, and love permeate the novel as the three teens try to move forward with their lives, never forgetting those who are most important. Sweet but never sappy; heart-breaking but always hopeful’ Kirkus

Agent: Silvia Molteni Don't Forget Me is Victoria Stevens's sparkling debut, and

US publisher: Farrar, Straus a touching testament to coming of age, falling in love, and and Giroux finding home in unlikely places.

US editor: Melissa Warten Seventeen-year-old Hazel Clarke is no stranger to heartbreaks, and being sent to live with a father she’s Publication: 13 February never met is the latest in a string of them. 2018 Even the beauty of eastern Australia isn't enough to take Age: 12+ her mind off of her mother, who suffers from early-onset Alzheimer's and is living in a nursing home in England. Genre: Romance, literary fiction But when Hazel meets the friendly, kind-hearted Red and

Rights sold: his elusive twin, Luca, she begins the slow process of US (Farrar, Straus and piecing together a new life - and realizes she isn't the only Giroux) one struggling with grief. Danish (Palatium Books) French (Hugo et Cie) As friendships deepen and love finds its way in, Hazel also learns that when you truly love someone, they are never really gone.

After spending four years in London studying for a Masters degree in Creative Writing at the University of Roehampton, Victoria Stevens now lives in Whittlebury, England, where she spends her time writing stories. Don't Forget Me was inspired by childhood vacations to Australia and her grandmother's diagnosis of Alzheimer's.

YOUNG ADULT NON-FICTION

TRANS MISSION: MY QUEST TO A BEARD by Alex Bertie

A brave and ground-breaking first-hand account of the life, struggles and victories of a transgender teen, as told by YouTuber Alex Bertie.

No. 1 Amazon bestseller in Homosexuality and Bullying.

Shortlisted for the Polari First Book Prize. Featured on The One Show, Buzzfeed, BBC Radio 1 and Gay Times Magazine.

Agent: Silvia Molteni ‘Must read… [a] moving memoir’ NME Magazine UK publisher: Wren & Rook I guess we should start at the beginning. I was born on 2 UK editor: Liza Miller November 1995. The doctors in the hospital took one UK publication: 2 November look at my genitals and slapped an F on my birth 2017 certificate. 'F' for female, not fail - though that would actually have been kind of appropriate given present US publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers circumstances.

US editor: Hallie Tibbetts When I was 15, I realised I was a transgender man. That makes it sound like I suddenly had some kind of lightbulb US publication: April 2019 moment. In reality, coming to grips with my identity has Page extent: 304 taken a long time.

Age: 12+ Over the last six years, I've come out to my family and Genre: Coming-of-age, memoir, friends, changed my name, battled the healthcare system, narrative non-fiction started taking male hormones and have had surgery on my chest. My quest to a beard is almost complete. This is Rights sold: US (Little Brown Books for my story. Young Readers) Alex Bertie is a young transgender YouTuber from rural Dorset. While still attending school at just 14 he started making videos on sexuality and gender identity. To this day, he has reached over 300,000 subscribers. His work has been picked up by organisations such as Childline and Stonewall, and has been recognised by The One Show, the Independent, Gay Times Magazines, Buzzfeed, BBC Newsbeat, BBC Radio 1, YouTube magazine TenEighty and trans publication FTM Magazine. 12

YOUNG ADULT NON-FICTION

CAN I JUST CHECK?: A guide to growing up with the doubting disease by Sarah Collins

Mad Girl for the young adults, Can I Just Check? is a hilarious yet important account of navigating teenage life with OCD, or, as Sarah calls it, the doubting disease.

Can I just check is a stereotype busting non-fiction book aimed at young adults, based on Sarah’s first-hand experience of growing up with OCD and battling with intrusive thoughts, rumination and reassurance seeking. Agent: Lucy Irvine Challenging the narrative that OCD is always about On submission: Autumn 2019 symmetry, tidiness and order, this book will explore the symptoms of OCD that don’t match the stereotypical Age: 14+ and often mocked traits.

Genre: Non-fiction, memoir, Centred around 10 ‘OCD questions’ that Sarah has mental health grappled with in an unsuccessful quest for certainty whilst growing up, each question will be accompanied by a real life anecdote on how Sarah’s search for answers impacted on her teenage life—from learning to drive to her first kiss.

Funny and relatable as well as informative, this book will be as much about the awkwardness of growing up as it will be about OCD, and will aim to serve as a guide to navigating the turbulent interplay between puberty and the ‘doubting disease’.

Sarah Collins is a freelance writer and poet, reviewer for The Arts Desk., and occasional stand up comedian. She performed her anecdotal sketch ‘The unbelievable hang- over caused by Pure-O’ at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2019, after which it was picked up by the BBC and reformatted as a BBC Sounds podcast.

MIDDLE-GRADE FICTION

FIREBLOOD by Samantha Stewart

Fireblood is an ambitious fantasy adventure that sets up a magical and incredible world. The first istallment in a middle grade series for fans of Harry Potter and Percy Jackson.

It’s true there’s no such thing as a dragon. But not true that there never was.

When the knights of the realm slew the last dragon over Agent: Lucy Irvine 2000 years ago, her blood fell on each of the knights,

On submission: Autumn 2019 and each of them inherited an essence of dragon kind. Abandoned, hunted, and feared, the descendants of the Multiple books series knights hid their powers, retreating to hidden corners of the land where they could live undisturbed. Age: 8+ In modern day Bristol, Finn and Tula Flint have lost their Genre: Fantasy, adventure father. When an attempt to find him goes wrong, they are pulled into a world that they never knew existed, a world of fire and dragons to which their father is somehow connected.

But with Tartarus plotting to escape from Hell, demon attacks on the rise, and an impending volcanic eruption that could end the world as we know it, soon Finn and Tula realise that their missing father is the least of their problems.

Or is he the cause of them?

Sam Stewart was born in Zambia, grew up in South Africa and now lives in England with her two children. She has been fascinated by fire since a very early age when she accidentally set her bedroom alight with her sister in it (luckily, her sister escaped unscathed!). Most of her days have been spent working in publishing at HarperCollins Publishers, which doesn’t feel like work when editing other people’s brilliant books, and her nights are spent trying to write her own.

MIDDLE-GRADE FICTION

ALCHEMAGICAL by Jordan Stratford

From the bestselling author of the Wollstonecraft Detective Agency series, comes a new wonderful, funny and magical MG adventure with series potential about a fierce friendship and a centuries-old magical turf war.

‘This is a winner’ School Library Journal on The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency

Agent: Silvia Molteni ‘Smart and witty. Comical narration and dialogue will charm readers thoroughly’ Publishers Weekly on The On submission: Autumn 2019 Wollstonecraft Detective Agency

Multiple books series In a rainy heritage town under a bridge in the Pacific Northwest, twelve year old Oscar is about to discover Age: 8+ the secrets of his home, his family, himself, and the mysteries of the universe. Genre: Adventure With the help of his best friend Raylan, a pen-knife, and Previous works: an antique floppy disk, the boys figure out how to turn The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency series: lead into gold. Dusty fishing weights found in the The Case of the Perilous basement are suddenly worth a fortune — but all magic Palace (2018) comes with a cost. For each transformation, a “spark” or The Case of the Counterfeit “firefly” is created and set loose on the world. Ancient Criminals (2017) secret societies have been patiently waiting underground The Case of the Girl in Grey and watching for these spark – which lead them back to (2016) Oz and Ray, to the stone and the secret. The Case of the Missing Moonstone (2015) Magical attacks call for magical defences, and Oz and Ray now have to deal with a homonculus army, malevolent garden gnomes, fire-starting salamanders, a Mysterious Stranger, an enigmatic Middle School Guidance Counsellor, and the coolest girl in the whole world.

Jordan Stratford is a producer, author, and screenwriter and lives in British Columbia, Canada, with his wife and children. He's the author of the Middle-Grade Wollstonecraft Detective Agency series from Knopf/ Random Penguin, which is being adapted to a video game for iOS and Android, a tabletop pen-and-paper Roleplaying Game, as well a television series in production. 16

MIDDLE-GRADE FICTION

ROSEMARY AND THE WITCHES OF PENDLE HILL by Samantha Giles

A magical adventure that reads like an instant classic – an edgy and delightful mix between The Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland, with tones of Jacqueline Wilson meets Nevermoor.

“My Mum is a witch. I know this to be a fact because: a) She has a broomstick by the front door b) She does spells sometimes Agent: Silvia Molteni c) There are 4 other witches who live with us, that only me, Mum and Lois see. Currently on submission We didn't really question their comings and goings, it was just normal to us, until THINGS STARTED Age: 8+ HAPPENING...”

Genre: Fantasy, adventure Rosemary’s cosy world is being challenged. Her Mum, who’s a witch, finally gets an acting job opposite the impossibly slimy Marcus; her Dad is suffering with depression; and Phyllis, one of the four witches they share their house with, has disappeared through the wall.

Meanwhile the group who call themselves the ‘No-Laws’ are wreaking havoc over the North West. But what is their link to the Pendle witches of 1612?

With the help of her windy little sister Lois and Maths genius friend Adi, the trio set off on a hazardous magical journey to solve the mystery of Phyllis’s disappearance, stop the No-Laws and put her fractured family back together.

Samantha is an actress and writer, best known for her role as Bernice Blackstock in television soap opera Emmerdale, in which she can currently be seen. She studied English and Drama at Bristol University and has always been a prolific reader. Samantha lives in Liverpool with her 2 children, 2 cats, and her husband. She loves hot weather, tap dancing and eating chocolate.

MIDDLE-GRADE FICTION

SCHOOL FOR NOBODIES by Susie Bower

An enchanting middle grade novel about growing up and finding yourself.

“I’m going to tell you a Secret: until the day of my 10th birthday, I had no Name of my own. Sonia and Claude, who adopted me when I was three, called me Claudia. It wasn’t my Name - it was their two names joint together.”

On her 10th birthday, an unwanted orphan girl discovers three things:

Agent: Silvia Molteni 1. Her real name – Flynn – is tattooed high on the back of her neck UK Publisher: Pushkin Press 2. Her parents died in a terrible fire 3. She has a twin, alive and at a boarding school UK editor: Sarah Odedina nearby.

Publication: May 2020 Her plan to get herself banished there backfires, and instead she finds herself at the eccentric School for Age: 8+ Nobodies, run by the redoubtable Miss Cruet and by Mr Gold, a former circus clown. Genre: Magical realism, adventure Flynn must battle trickery, temptation and treachery to reveal the secret of her true family, discover her gift, and find her lost twin – in the one place she never dreamed of looking.

Susie has been a teacher, a tour-guide, a typist, a workshop facilitator, a PA and a painter: she’s dressed dancers at Drury Lane and fluffy monsters on the end of Bournemouth Pier. Her main job was writing and directing TV programmes for children at the BBC and Channel 4. She currently writes audio scripts, transporting children anywhere from the Jurassic age to the depths of the ocean. Susie lives in Bristol and School for Nobodies is her debut children’s novel.

MIDDLE-GRADE FICTION

THE PECULIAR PEGGS OF RIDDLING WOODS by Samuel J. Halpin

An astonishing debut, a peculiar and vivid tale guaranteed to delight fans of Neil Gaiman and Roald Dahl.

‘The real joy of [Halpin’s] writing lies in his ability to observer adult vanities through the eyes of a child’ The Telegraph

‘A thrilling read... flavoured with fairy tales, drizzled with a syrup of fear and sprinkled with heart’ M.G. Leonard Agent: Silvia Molteni author of Beetle Boy

UK Publisher: Usborne Books ‘A story woven in the finest of silk threads and stitched full of imagination. Poppy and Erasmus will warm even UK editor: Rebecca Hill the coldest of beating hearts’ Helena Duggan, author of A Place Called Perfect Publication: 10 January 2019 ‘A deliciously dark tale with an original premise’ Lisa Age: 8+ Thompson, author of The Goldfish Boy

Genre: Fantasy, adventure This is the story of a sleepy town called Suds. A place where stories fill the air of children who keep turning Rights sold: grey and disappearing without a trace… Dutch (Billy Bones)

French (Pocket Jeunesse) Swedish (Modernista) Poppy and Erasmus are certain there's something Polish (Foksal) peculiar going on in Suds, and they're determined to Russian (Eksmo) unravel its secrets. But when they discover the answers might lie in the dark and twisting woods, can they find the courage to creep inside and solve this riddling mystery?

Born in Tasmania with Irish roots, Samuel J. Halpin is a writer of children's fiction living in London. His first book, The Peculiar Peggs of Riddling Woods, was influenced by the brooding fairy tales he so enjoyed reading as a kid.

MIDDLE-GRADE FICTION

THE BOY WHO FOOLED THE WORLD by Lisa Thompson

The brand new, read-in-one-sitting mystery from the bestselling author of THE GOLDFISH BOY, which won the Southwark Book Award and the Wirral Grammar School Award, was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Books Prize, longlisted for the Branford Boase Award, and nominated for the Carnegie Medal.

‘Thompson writes with great kindness, perception and an enviable light touch, clever plotting, heart and humour’ The Observer on The Goldfish Boy

Agent: Adam Gauntlett Telling a little white lie now and then is harmless, right? But what if it leads to you being a household name and UK publisher: Scholastic international celebrity?

UK editor: Lauren Fortune Cole is the boy who fooled the world and finds himself UK publication: 2 January trapped in a huge web of lies... can he break free? 2020 Cole's family is struggling to make ends meet and he Page extent: 300 pages doesn't fit in with the rich kids at his school. Until the day a painting Cole made in Art class is unexpectedly Age: 8+ spotted and sold in a posh London gallery for thousands of pounds. Suddenly, he's the toast of the international Genre: Contemporary, art world, invited on prime time chat shows, hailed as a adventure boy genius!

But Cole has been keeping a secret... he is not the creator of the painting; the white lie he told has spiralled out of control and his world will crumble when he's exposed on live television. His family is plunged back into poverty, and there's only one way out: Cole must crack the riddle of a mysterious painting that promises the clues hidden within it will lead the solver to great riches.

Before becoming a novelist, Lisa worked as a broadcast assistant for BBC Radio 2 and CPL Productions where she got to make tea for lots of famous people. She lives in Suffolk, UK with her family.

MIDDLE-GRADE FICTION

THE DAY I WAS ERASED by Lisa Thompson

Maxwell Beckett wishes he’d never existed, but soon learns that you should be careful what you wish for. From the author of The Goldfish Boy and The Light Jar comes a new, extraordinary and wonderfully gripping middle-grade novel full of heart and adventure.

Maxwell Beckett keeps getting into trouble. His sister hates him, his parents are living separate lives in the same house and his neighbour, Mrs Banks is planning to call the police about his wayward dog, Monster.

Agent: Adam Gauntlett Maxwell has had enough. All he wants is to be erased from the world; he wishes he had never existed. And UK Publisher: Scholastic, then… his wish comes true. 3 January 2019

Age: 8+ Rights sold: Audio UK (Bolinda), US (Scholastic Press), Dutch (Billy Bones), French (Pocket Jeunesse), Russian (MIF), Genre: Magical realism Spanish and Catalan (Planeta)

THE LIGHT JAR by Lisa Thompson

A story of fear and hope, loneliness and friendship - full of the heart, engaging characters and propulsive, page- turning mystery that has made The Goldfish Boy the breakout children's books hit of 2017. Longlisted for The Grampian Children’s Book Award and nominated for the Children’s Book Award.

Nate and his mother are running away, hiding out in a tumbledown cottage in the middle of a forest. When Mum heads off for provisions, and then doesn't return, Nate is left alone and afraid, with the dark closing in all Agent: Adam Gauntlett around him. ...

UK Publisher: Scholastic, Will Nate find the bravery needed to face the troubles 4 January 2018 of his present and ultimately illuminate the future?

Age: 8+ Rights sold: Audio UK (Bolinda), US (Scholastic Press), Genre: Magical realism Chinese simplified (Jieli) Dutch (Billy Bones), French (Pocket Jeunesse), Italian (DeA Planeta Libri), Korean (See & Talk), Russian (MIF), Spanish and Catalan (Planeta) Turkish (Pegasus) 21

MIDDLE-GRADE FICTION

THE GOLDFISH BOY by Lisa Thompson

‘This carefully judged, poignant story should help those with OCD feel less alone. It's an intriguing, involving mystery’ The Guardian

Twelve-year-old Matthew is trapped in his bedroom by crippling OCD… Until the day he is the last person to see his next door neighbour's toddler, Teddy, before he goes missing.

Matthew must turn detective and unravel the Agent: Adam Gauntlett mystery of Teddy's disappearance - with the help of a brilliant cast of supporting characters. UK Publisher: Scholastic, 5 January 2017 Rights sold: US (Scholastic Press), Chinese simplified (Jieli), Dutch (Billy Bones) Farsi (Porteghaal), French (Pocket Age: 8+ Jeunesse), Greek (Kedros Publishers), Italian (DeA Planeta

Libri), Korean (See & Talk), Romanian (Art Grup Editorial), Genre: Mystery, adventure Russian (MIF), Spanish & Catalan (Planeta), Turkish (Pegasus)

OWEN AND THE SOLIDER by Lisa Thompson

A touching story of loss and remembrance, particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant or dyslexic readers.

A crumbling stone soldier sits on a bench in the park. Only Owen understands how important he is.

At home, Owen and his mum are struggling and there's nobody he can talk to. Hidden away in the park, Owen feels free to be himself.

When the war-weary soldier is listening, his worries slip away. But nobody else cares about the soldier, and the Agent: Adam Gauntlett town council want to tear him down. UK Publisher: Barrington Stoke, 15 June 2019 Owen's the only one who can save him but can he find the courage to speak up before it's too late? Age: 8+

Genre: Contemporary, realistic

MIDDLE-GRADE FICTION

THE STRANGE AND DEADLY PORTRAITS OF BRYONY GRAY by E. Latimer

Lemony Snicket meets Oscar Wilde meets Edgar Allan Poe in this exciting and scary middle-grade novel inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray - a family curse is unleashed!

‘An action-packed adventure that is lightly laced with horror, there is a little something for everyone in this middle grade debut’ CM Magazine

Shortlisted for the Red Maple Award and the Manitoba Young Readers Choice Award. Agent: Silvia Molteni Bryony Gray is becoming famous as a painter in London US Publisher: Tundra Books, art circles. But life isn't so grand. Her uncle keeps her PRH Children’s Books locked in the attic, forcing her to paint for his rich clients… and now her paintings are taking on a life of US editor: Lynne Missen their own, and customers are going missing under mysterious circumstances. Publication: February 2018 (hardback), April 2020 (paperback) When her newest painting escapes the canvas and rampages through the streets of London, Bryony digs Page extent: 320 into her family history, discovering some rather scandalous secrets her uncle has been keeping, Age: 8+ including a deadly curse she's inherited from her missing father. Bryony has accidentally unleashed the Gray family Genre: Horror, adventure curse, and it's spreading fast.

Rights sold: With a little help from the strange-but-beautiful girl next US & Canada (Tundra Books) door and her paranoid brother, Bryony sets out to break Russian (Rosman) the curse, dodging bloodthirsty paintings, angry mobs Turkish (Dogan) and her wicked uncle along the way.

E. Latimer lives on the West Coast of Canada. Her breakout success on the online writing platform, Wattpad.com, has resulted in a fan base of nearly 90k followers, with over 20 million combined reads. The Strange and Deadly Portraits of Bryony Gray is her debut novel for middle-graders.

MIDDLE-GRADE FICTION

HATTIE BROWN VS THE CLOUD SNATCHERS by Claire Harcup

Alice in Wonderland meets The Sisters Grimm in this imaginative, humorous series aimed at Middle Graders.

‘Super exciting’ Hamburger Abendblatt

When Hattie Brown is pulled through the fridge into a new world, she has no idea why. But everyone around her seems to be looking for someone important called Nimbus. Could it be her? After all, strange things are Agent: Silvia Molteni happening. She even seems to be able to make it rain.

German Publisher: Piper Not everyone in the new world is welcoming. The Verlag guards want to arrest her, Sir Gideon the dragon wants to get rid of her because he thinks he’ll get blamed for Three-book series the fact she’s there. But when Hattie discovers that there’s an army of kidnapped children in the new world, Publication: March 2019, she doesn’t care who wants her there and who doesn’t. March 2020 Nothing is going to stop her rescuing them. Even if she

Age: 8+ isn’t Nimbus. HATTIE BROWN AND THE LOST SEAL by Claire Genre: Fantasy, adventure Harcup

When Hattie Brown is tricked back to Somewhere- Nowhere, she’s walked into a trap. There’s a drought in the realm and Lord Mortimer, its brutal leader, wants to capture her and her friend Arthur because he knows they can make rain.

But Hattie isn’t about to go home. She’s discovered that Lord Mortimer has thrown her friend Victor into prison for his part in helping her and Arthur free an army of kidnapped children, and she’s determined to rescue him. But in the cell next to him they find Lord Mortimer’s brother, Lord Jasper. And Hattie discovers Lord Jasper is not only her father, but Arthur’s as well.

Claire is Director of Copy at Quietroom, a team of business writers, trainers and strategists. Walker published her first picture book, This is The Kiss, in January 2017. Hattie Brown is her debut series for MG. 24

MIDDLE-GRADE FICTION SPIRIT OF THE JUNGLE: NEW JUNGLE BOOK ADVENTURES by Bear Grylls

An action-packed return to the jungle inspired by Rudyard Kipling's classic The Jungle Book, from real-life adventurer Bear Grylls.

Could you survive in the jungle?

After being washed away down the Wainganga River during a flash flood, Mak wakes up alone in the Indian jungle. The jungle is full of danger - poisonous snakes, Agent: Caroline Michel cunning monkeys and desperate poachers - and every step Mak takes might be his last. UK publisher: Pan Macmillan

UK editor: Venetia Gosling Mak finds help and friendship from other jungle creatures, but he will need all his skill and luck to survive Two-book series: and make his way back home.

Publication: April 2016, September 2017 RETURN TO THE JUNGLE by Bear Grylls

Age: 8+ Six months after his adventures in Spirit of the Genre: Action, adventure Jungle, Mak returns to the Wainganga River, where a conservation project is tracking the elusive wild elephant, endangered by loggers and poachers.

When a young elephant is captured by an unscrupulous merchant, Mak and his friend Diya follow them into the heart of the jungle in a quest to set the animal free. But soon Mak finds that he must remember all his survival skills to escape danger.

Rights sold: US (Feiwel and Friends), Chinese, simplified (Jieli), Czech (Albatros), Hungarian (Jaffa), Slovakian (Albatros)

Bear Grylls is a world-record breaking adventurer, bestselling author of a dozen books, which have been translated into more than 20 languages, and one of the world’s most sought-after motivational speakers. He served for three years with the British Special Forces and is the UK’s Chief Scout to the Scouting Association.

MIDDLE-GRADE FICTION

MISSION SURVIVAL SERIES - TRACKS OF THE TIGER by Bear Grylls

A thrilling adventure series from a real survival expert.

‘Exciting, well-informed and zips along at an impressive pace’ Independent

‘If you like survival and adventure stories you’ll definitely like this book’ TBK

MISSION: Survival LOCATION: The Indonesian jungle DANGERS: Lava flows; fearsome tigers; orang-utans Agent: Caroline Michel

UK publisher: Doubleday Young survival expert Beck Granger is supposed to be Children’s; Agora enjoying a holiday. But when a volcano erupts he is stranded and must flee from red-hot lava and molten Twenty-six book series rocks crashing out of the sky.

Publication: 2008 - 2019 If he is to stay alive, he must make his way across the Age: 9+ jungle to safety – travelling right through the heart of

Genre: Adventure, survival tiger territory…

Rights sold: Brazilian (Record) Chinese, simplified (Jieli) Chinese, complex (Planter Press) Czech (Jota) Hungarian (Jaffa) Korean (Jaeum & Mouem) Polish (Pascal) Romanian (Corint Junior) Turkish (Timas) Bear Grylls is a world-record breaking adventurer, bestselling author of a dozen books, which have been translated into more than 20 languages, and one of the world’s most sought-after motivational speakers. Bear’s primetime adventure Born Survivor series reaches over a billion viewers worldwide in over 150 countries. He served for three years with the British Special Forces and is the UK’s Chief Scout to the Scouting Association.

ILLUSTRATED BOOKS

ILLUSTRATED FICTION

BOB GOES POP by Marion Deuchars

‘A dazzling example of picture book illustration’ The New York Times

‘Loose, inky brushstrokes and hand-lettered text add to the stylish presentation, and the message about taking criticism with a grain of salt, whether personal or artistic, lands with a light touch’ Publishers Weekly

From Marion Deuchars comes this charming and funny follow-up to Bob the Artist and Bob’s Blue Period, about art and friendship and working together.

Agent: Elizabeth Sheinkman There's a new artist in town making a new art, knocking

UK publisher: Laurence King Bob's beak out of joint.

Three-book series The subsequent competition to see who is the best artist escalates as the two artists try to outdo each Publication: March 2020 other.

Page extent: 32 It all ends in tears, but the two realise that they are Age: 3+ better working together rather than against each other.

Previous works: Bob’s Blue Period (Laurence King, 2018) Bob The Artist (Laurence King, 2016)

British illustrator and author Marion Deuchars works with major design and advertising agencies, publishes

illustrated children's books and has created a globally recognised style of hand-lettering. Whether it’s client work for the likes of The Royal Mail and The Imperial War Museum, or inspiring youngsters with her Let’s Make Great Art books, Marion’s impact on the creative scene continues to be wide-ranging. She is a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale and represented the UK at Helsinki's World Design Capital celebrations. She has won 5 prestigious Yellow Pencils from D&AD for her work.

ILLUSTRATED FICTION

BOB’S BLUE PERIOD by Marion Deuchars

From Marion Deuchars comes this charming and funny follow-up to Bob the Artist, about feeling sad, expressing your emotions and ways to feel better.

Bob the bird loves to paint pictures with his best friend Bat. But one day Bat goes away and Bob is sad.

He tries to paint, but everything he paints is blue! Can his friends help him to find his bright colours again?

Rights sold: Chinese Complex (San Min Book Co), Agent: Elizabeth Sheinkman Chinese Simplified (United Sky), French (Seuil), German (Laurence King Verlag), Korean (Kookminbooks. Co), UK publisher: Laurence King, 22 Portuguese (Editorial Bizancio), Turkish (Fom Kitap) May 2018

Age: 3+

BOB THE ARTIST by Marion Deuchars

An affirming picture book for age 3+ about the power of art and of being confident enough to be yourself.

Bob the bird is just like all his friends, apart from his skinny legs.

When Bob is teased, he decides to try and change himself to fit in.

But little does he know where all his efforts will lead Agent: Elizabeth Sheinkman him…

UK publisher: Laurence King, 24 Rights sold: Brazilian (Pinakotheke Cultural), Chinese March 2016 Complex (San Min Book Co), Chinese Simplified (United Sky), Dutch (Gottmer), French (Seuil), German Age: 3+ (Coppenrath), Korean (Kookminbooks. Co), Portuguese (Editorial Bizancio), Romanian (Pandora/Trei), Spanish & Catalan (Maeva), Turkish (Fom Kitap)

ILLUSTRATED FICTION

ANNA AND THE SEA written by Michele Rossi and illustrated by La Bigotta

A beautiful, moving and inspirational tale - illustrated by the skilful hand of La Bigotta - that will delight art lovers of all ages.

“Far, far away, there was a little girl named Anna. Anna had a bed, a doll, a pen, a pacifier from when she was a baby, and an old book with a whale on its cover.”

Agent: Silvia Molteni "The sea is worthless!" is all Anna hears from her parents every single day, when all she wants to do is Italian publisher: HarperCollins leave the hundred floors building they live in and go Italia swim in the sea.

Italian editor: Sabrina Annoni But Anna cannot swim and she can’t afford to dream much. Publication: 14 November

2018 She reads everything about the sea: atlases, manuals, Page extent: 32 stories and legends. Moby Dick is her favourite novel.

Age: 3+ Then one day, her mother gives her a goldfish, and Anna names it Moby. Together, they will finally discover Rights sold: and explore the sea and Anna will understand that Italian (HarperCollins Italia) nothing is impossible and that dreams can become Korean (Woori School) reality.

Michele Rossi is Fiction Publisher at Rizzoli in Italy.

La Bigotta is a social media influencer and one of the most famous Italian tattoo artists; she has designed international VIP’s jewelleries, clothing lines and tattoos.

Anna and The Sea is their first book together.

BACKLIST & ESTATES

CHILDREN’S FICTION

CLEVER POLLY AND THE STUPID WOLF by Catherine Storr

‘The stories were every bit as brilliant as I remembered’ The Guardian

‘All the wolf wants to do is eat a little girl, but he has chosen one very clever girl, and he is unfortunately one very stupid wolf! A charming, classic tale’ Waterstones Guide for Kids' Books

Agent: Giulia Bernabe Once upon a time the front door bell rang and Polly went to open the door. There was a great black wolf UK publisher: Puffin who said he had come to eat her up. Four-book series: Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf; Polly and Twelve stories written for the author's daughter, who the Wolf Again; Tales of Polly was scared of the wolf under the bed! Drawing and the Hungry Wolf; More Stories of Polly and the Wolf occasionally on well-known fairy tales, and skilfully blending fantasy and reality, these stories are bursting Publication: July 2015; January with humour, originality and charm. And Polly, not 2016 scared at all, outwits the wolf on each and every

First publication: 1955; 1980; occasion. 1990

Page extent: 160; 176; 160; 128

Age: 5+

Genre: Adventure

Rights sold: US (NYRB) Chinese (Shanghai 99) French (Editions Nathan) Italian (Mondadori) Japanese (Iwanami Shoten) Korean (Bir Publishing Co. Ltd.) Slovenian (Kud Sodobnost Int.) Catherine Storr (21 July 1913 – 8 January 2001) was an Taiwanese (The Eastern English author best known for her novel Marianne Publishing Co.) Dreams and for the series of books about a wolf ineptly pursuing a young girl, beginning with Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf. Married to psychologist Anthony Storr for over 20 years, her books often involve children confronting their fears.

CHILDREN’S FICTION

THE WIND ON THE MOON by Eric Linklater

Winner of the Carnegie Medal.

‘Eric Linklater is not primarily a novelist, or an essayist or a dramatist. He is above all else an enchanting prose poet. These fragments of wonderful singing prose are scattered all over his books, and through them English literature is permanently enriched’ George Mackay Brown

In the English village of Midmeddlecum, Major Palfrey asks his two daughters to behave themselves while he’s off at Agent: Giulia Bernabe war.

UK publisher: Vintage Dinah sighs, ‘I think that we are quite likely to be bad, however hard we try not to be,’ and her sister Dorinda Publication: August 2013 adds helpfully, ‘Very often, when we think we are behaving well, some grown-up person says we are really First publication: 1944 quite bad. It’s difficult to tell which is which.’

Page extent: 448 Sure enough, the mischievous sisters soon convince a Age: 9+ judge that minds must be changed as often as socks, they stage an escape from a local zoo (thanks to a witch’s Genre: Fantasy, adventure potion that turns them into kangaroos), and – in the company of a golden puma and a silver falcon – set off to Rights sold: rescue their father from the tyrant of Bombardy. US (NYRB) Chinese (Aurora) German (DVT) Polish (Muchomor) Romanian (Grup Media Litera) Swedish (En Bok for Alla) Thai (Matichon Publishing House)

Eric Linklater (1899–1974) wrote scores of novels for adults and children. He was also a journalist in India, commander of a wartime fortress in the Orkney Islands, and rector of Aberdeen University.

CHILDREN’S FICTION

THE RESCUERS by Margery Sharp

‘A devastating mixture of magic and fantasy’ Evening News

‘Margery Sharp is an adept describer of situations; whether comic or merely piquant, embarrassing or exciting. Her dialogue is brilliant, uncannily true. Her taste is excellent: she is an excellent story teller’ Tatler

Bianca and Bernard, agents for The Prisoners’ Aid Society of Mice, rescue prisoners and outwit villains in this enchanting story, made world-famous by the Walt Disney Agent: Giulia Bernabe film.

UK publisher: HarperCollins The Prisoners’ Aid Society of Mice discusses the proposed

Nine-book series: rescue of a Norwegian poet from the terrible Black Castle. The Rescuers; Miss Bianca; Miss Bianca, the pet white mouse belonging to the The Turret; Miss Bianca in Ambassador’s son, is sent to Norway on a mission to the Salt Mines; Miss Bianca recruit the bravest Norwegian mouse she can find. She in the Orient; Miss Bianca finds Nils, and brings him back triumphantly. Then she, in the Antarctic; Miss Nils, and Bernard, a pantry mouse who falls in love with Bianca and the Bridesmaid; her, set off for the Black Castle. Bernard the Brave; Bernard into Battle They set up home in a mouse-hole in the Chief Jailer’s room, and narrowly avoid the jaws of Mamelouk, the cruel Publication: June 2016 Persian cat. Eventually, they trick the cat and the jailer, and

get into the prisoner’s cell. First publication: 1959

Page extent: 176 A dramatic rescue via an underground river, and they are all free – and the Nils and Miss Bianca medal for bravery is Age: 7+ struck in the mice’s honour!

Genre: Adventure

Rights sold: Japanese (Iwanami Shotep) Margery Sharp was born in 1905, and died in 1991. She is best known for her books for children, but she also wrote for adults. She was a prolific writer in her long career: twenty-six novels for adults, fourteen stories for children, four plays, two mysteries, as well as numerous short stories.

CHILDREN’S FICTION

FOLLYFOOT by Monica Dickens

A popular TV series in the early 1970s that formed the basis for the subsequent beloved series of children’s books.

‘This will be greeted with delight by pony-loving children who are starved of well-written horse stories’ The Bookseller

‘A pony lovers dream - this heart-warming story stands the test of time brilliantly’ Julia Eccleshare Agent: Giulia Bernabe ‘A welcome reissue of the nineteen-seventies classic UK publisher: Andersen proves that it hasn't dated at all: good stories, wonderful Press characters and some animals you'll love. Definitely recommended’ Sue Magee Five—book series: Follyfoot, Dora at Follyfoot, Follyfoot Farm is a retirement home for old or unwanted The Horses of Follyfoot, Strangers at Follyfoot, horses, invariably horses rescued from a cruel fate or cruel Cobbler’s Dream owners.

Publication: December It's run by the Colonel who is helped by his stepdaughter, 2019 Callie, and two stable-hands, Dora and Steve.

First publication: 1971 These three youngsters have plenty to do at the stables, but can always find time to get involved in the mysteries Page extent: 192 pages and adventures that abound at Follyfoot.

Age: 7+

Genre: Adventure Monica Dickens was born in London and was the great- Rights sold: granddaughter of Charles Dickens. While her father and Large Print UK (Ulverscroft) grandfather pursued the legal profession which was also Russian (Abris Books) Charles Dickens’ first career, his great-granddaughter followed in his literary steps. Disillusioned with the world she was brought up in, she decided to go into domestic service despite coming from the privileged class; her experiences as a cook and general servant would form the nucleus of her first book, One Pair Of Hands in 1939.

CHILDREN’S FICTION

MY FRIEND FLICKA by Mary O’Hara

A much-loved classic and firm favourite with horse lovers for over sixty years, and made into a major motion picture in 1943, featuring young Roddy McDowall, and in 2006, featuring Alison Lohman.

A stirring tale of the American plains and one boy’s belief in a horse.

Ken was entranced to watch Flicka - the speed of her, the power, the wildness - she led the band. Ken loves Agent: Giulia Bernabe riding on the ranch in Wyoming.

UK publisher: Egmont All he wants is a colt of his very own. Horses are the family’s livelihood, and Dad can’t afford to waste a Publication: 2007 valuable animal on a dreamer like Ken.

Three-book series: My Friend Flicka (1941), Will Ken ever get to own the horse of his dreams? Thunderhead (1943), Green Grass of Wyoming (1946)

Page extent: 288; 383; 368

Age: 9+

Rights sold: Danish (Bechs Forlag) French (Callman-Levy) German (Ullstein) Mary O'Hara (1885—1980) was born in Cape May Point, New Jersey. She grew up in Brooklyn Heights, New York. In 1905 she married Kent Kane Parrot and moved to California where she became a screenwriter during the silent film era. Her second marriage to Heige Sture-Vasa, in 1922, took her to Wyoming, and there she wrote the three classics about the range country: My Friend Flicka, Thunderhead and Green Grass of Wyoming.

CONTACT

Silvia Molteni International Rights Agent Email: [email protected]

Peters, Fraser + Dunlop 55 New Oxford Street London, WC1A 1BS Tel: + 44 (0)2073441000