World rights to Ryerson Journalism professor and author of BROWN, Kamal Al-Solaylee’s RETURN: WHY WE GO BACK TO WHERE WE CAME FROM, exploring the longing to return home, including stories from Basque, Irish, Taiwanese, Jamaican and Ghanian immigrants, and his own conflicted return to his Middle Eastern homelands, to Jim Gifford at HarperCollins Canada by John Pearce at Westwood Creative Artists for publication in Fall 2021.
Community activist, film director, world traveller Cheuk Kwan draws out a global narrative of the Chinese Diaspora by linking together personal stories of chefs, entrepreneurs, laborers and dreamers who populate Chinese kitchens world-wide in HAVE YOU EATEN YET, sold to Douglas & McIntyre by Chris Casuccio at Westwood Creative Artists for publication in February 2022. North America.
Katie Scott at Kids Can Press has acquired World rights to PUFFIN VS. PENGUIN, a graphic novel written by Helaine Becker and illustrated by Kevin Sylvester, about friendship and collaboration. Kevin Sylvester is represented by Michael Levine of Westwood Creative Artists, and Helaine Becker by Susan Schulman at Susan Schulman Literary Agency.
Sutherland House has acquired Lawrence Stevenson’s CYPRUS: HOSTAGE TO PARALYSIS, an extended essay on the geopolitical realities and future of the country from the perspective of a peacekeeper. The deal was arranged by Michael Levine at Westwood Creative Artists for World rights for publication in Spring 2022.
Optimum Publishing International has acquired Sam Cooper’s WILLFUL BLINDNESS, an in-depth look into Chinese organized crime infiltration into Canada over the past 25 years. The deal was arranged for English North American rights, English rights in Australia/New Zealand, South Africa, Taiwan, Japan, and complex Chinese language rights in Taiwan. Michael Levine at Westwood Creative Artists represents the author. This is scheduled for publication in Spring 2022.
Flanker Press has acquired Leo Furey’s THE GOOD THIEF, about a Newfoundland teenager who is forced to hide from the law when his father passes away and inherits the family auto-repair shop, a cover for a counterfeit business modeled after Robin Hood, taking from the rich and giving to the poor. The deal was arranged by Michael Levine at Westwood Creative Artists for Canadian rights for publication in Spring 2021.
Author of THE COLONY OF UNREQUITED DREAMS Wayne Johnston’s THE MYSTERY OF RIGHT AND WRONG, moving from Newfoundland to Cape Town, Amsterdam, and Bergen-Belsen to chart the unravelling of one mythomaniacal, increasingly dysfunctional family, and crack open secret atrocities, to Anne Collins at Knopf Canada, for publication in fall 2021, by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists (Canada English).
Award-winning children’s author Caroline Adderson’s SUNNY DAYS INSIDE, a funny and compassionate celebration of the ingenuity and resilience of children, following the interconnected lives of a group of kids whose families are sheltering in place in their apartment building during the pandemic, to Karen Li at Groundwood Books, for publication in August 2021, by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists (World).
THE SCOOTER TWINS, by Dorothy Ellen Palmer, to Karen Li at Groundwood Books, by Emmy Nordstrom Higdon at Westwood Creative Artists.
Tantor Audio senior acquisitions editor Kim Budnick has acquired audio rights to Canadian author Adam Pottle’s novella, THE BUS. Based on true events, Pottle painstakingly researched and unflinchingly rendered this fictionalized account of a shocking moment in our collective past. THE BUS is a powerful #OwnVoices literary historical novella that offers a rare glimpse into the experiences of the mentally ill in Nazi Germany. The deal was arranged by Emmy Nordstrom Higdon at Westwood Creative Artists.