Susanne Alexander and Matthew Halliday at Goose Lane Editions have acquired Canadian Rights (English and French) to ocean journalist Laura Trethewey’s IMPERILED OCEAN: Human Stories from a Changing Sea; a deeply-reported work of narrative journalism that follows people as they head out to sea, showing that what they discover holds both inspiring and dire implications for the life of the ocean and for all of us back on land. The deal was arranged by John Pearce at Westwood Creative Artists in association with Chris Casuccio on behalf of Suzy Evans at Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
Professor and poet Madhur Anand’s THE ASYMMETRIC HEART, an intergenerational memoir which weaves stories of her family’s move from pre-Partition Punjab to Canada with the physical manifestations of separation and symmetry, to Haley Cullingham at Strange Light, for publication in spring 2020, by Hilary McMahon at Westwood Creative Artists (world English).
World English rights to Hannah Mary McKinnon’s domestic suspense novel THE OTHER SISTER have sold to MIRA. The deal was arranged by Carolyn Forde of Westwood Creative Artists. Publication is planned for 2020.
Spanish rights to Darrel Bricker and John Ibbitson’s EMPTY PLANET, about the decline of the world’s population, have been acquired by Ediciones B. Deals have also been concluded in China, Japan, Korea, the US and the UK. The Spanish sale was arranged by the Sandra Bruna Literary Agency and Carolyn Forde of Westwood Creative Artists on behalf of John Pearce of Westwood Creative Artists.
Italian rights to Karma Brown’s next novel, the domestic noir RECIPE FOR A PERFECT WIFE, have been acquired by DeAPlaneta. The deal was arranged by The Italian Agency on behalf of Carolyn Forde at Westwood Creative Artists. Viking will publish in Canada and Dutton in the US, with publication set for 2020.
Discovery Channel host and award-winning author Jay Ingram’s third installment in the bestselling pop science series, THE SCIENCE OF WHY 3: ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ABOUT SCIENCE MYTHS, MYSTERIES, AND MARVELS, full of browsable science facts that will amuse and fascinate readers of all ages, to Nita Pronovost and Brendan May at Simon & Schuster Canada, for publication in November 2018, by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists (North American English).
Ann Kelley at Random House/Schwartz & Wade has acquired world rights to BC poet (and author of Tree Song) Tiffany Stone‘s picture book SILLI’S SHEEP, about a man named Silli who resourcefully arranges his sturdy sheep (actually rocks) into a little hut, and is finally sheltered from the wind. Publication is scheduled for summer 2020; Hilary McMahon at Westwood Creative Artists inked the deal.
World rights to Catherine Gildiner’s (Too Close to the Falls) GOOD MORNING, MONSTER, recounting the inspirational stories of psychological heroes that Gildiner encountered during her twenty-five years as a psychologist, have been acquired by Penguin publishing director Diane Turbide, for publication by Penguin Random House in fall 2019. Gildiner was represented by Hilary McMahon at Westwood Creative Artists.
Penguin publishing director Diane Turbide has acquired Canadian English rights to DON’T CALL IT A CULT, an account of the secretive NXIVM organization and its recently arrested founder Keith Raniere. VICE senior writer Sarah Berman explores how an expensive self-help training program grew into an international enterprise that involved a shocking “sorority” that branded, blackmailed, and enslaved female followers. The deal was arranged by Carolyn Forde at Westwood Creative Artists, with publication by Penguin Random House Canada is planned for late 2019.
Susan Rich at Little, Brown Children’s has bought ENCOUNTER by Brittany Luby (Anishinaabe) with art by Michaela Goade (Tlingit.) Based on notes kept by French explorer Jacques Cartier, Encounter imagines a first meeting between a French sailor and a Stadaconan fisher as they observe their differences, while the natural world around them offers evidence of their commonality. Publication is planned for Fall 2019; Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists represented the author in the deal for World rights excluding Canada, and Kirsten Hall at Catbird Agency represented the illustrator. Canadian rights acquired by Tara Walker at Tundra Books.
Award winning author of Falling, Anne Simpson’s new novel, SPEECHLESS, about a young journalist working in Nigeria who has a fatwa issued against her after she writes a newspaper article about a teenage girl charged with adultery, to Kelsey Attard at Freehand Books, for publication in Spring 2020, by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists (World).
Karma Brown‘s RECIPE FOR A PERFECT WIFE, told in dual narratives in which a woman finds a cookbook buried in an old box in the basement of her new home and becomes captivated with the cookbook’s previous owner, a 1950s housewife; dissatisfied with her own life and losing her grip on reality one retro recipe at a time, she will decide how far she’s willing to go to get the life she wants, to Maya Ziv at Dutton, by Carolyn Forde at Westwood Creative Artists (US).
Reka Simonsen at Atheneum made a six-figure, two-book pre-empt for THE VERY, VERY FAR NORTH by Dan Bar-el, author of Audrey (Cow). The middle grade novel features a charming polar bear named Duane finding his place in the world, illustrating how friendship both overcomes and celebrates differences, akin to a contemporary Winnie-the-Pooh. Publication of the first volume is planned for fall 2019: Hilary McMahon at Westwood Creative Artists brokered the deal for world rights on behalf of the author; Abigail Samoun at Red Fox Literary negotiated on behalf of Kelly Pousette, who will illustrate.
Kyo Maclear and illustrator Rashin Kheiriyeh’s STORY BOAT, a lyrical picture book about a girl and her younger sibling who try to figure out where and what home is as they make the journey to their new country, to Tara Walker at Tundra Books, for publication in January 2020, by Jackie Kaiser of Westwood Creative Artists (World).
An imaginative new picture book collaboration between author Sara O’Leary and illustrator Rosie Winstead, MARIGOLD AND THE GIANT GIRL, about a doll whose life changes when a little girl becomes the new owner of her dollhouse, to Tara Walker at Tundra Books, for publication in Fall 2019, by Jackie Kaiser of Westwood Creative Artists, (World).
Winner of the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing and author of Walls, Marcello Di Cintio’s Pay No Heed to the Rockets, a political-literary travelogue that reveals a more complex story to the Palestinian experience as seen through the lens of authors, books, and literature, once again to Dan Smetanka at Counterpoint, for publication in September 2018, by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists. Canadian rights previously to Susanne Alexander at Goose Lane, for publication in April 2018, by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists. UK & Commonwealth (excl. Canada) rights to Elizabeth Briggs at Saqi, for publication in May 2018, by Carolyn Forde on behalf of Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists.
Antonio Michael Downing’s BECOMING JOHN ORPHEUS, a memoir of radical creativity, about a young Trinidadian boy who lands in a remote Northern Ontario town and navigates his beguiling new world as an orphan, immigrant and minority by using music and performance to dramatically transform himself, to Penguin Publishing Director Diane Turbide at Penguin Random House Canada, in a pre-empt, by John Pearce at Westwood Creative Artists in association with Chris Casuccio (Canada English).
Julie Matysik at Running Press Kids has acquired Troy Wilson’s LITTLE RED READING HOOD AND THE MISREAD WOLF, a celebration of the love of reading and a reminder you can’t judge a book – er, wolf – by its cover. Ilaria Campana will illustrate. Publication is scheduled for July 2019. Hilary McMahon at Westwood Creative Artists brokered the deal for World rights for the author and Aurora Meyer at Astound Us brokered the deal for the illustrator.
Poet and screenwriter Esta Spalding’s SHOUT OUT FOR THE FITZGERALD-TROUTS, the much-anticipated third book in a Dahl-esque middle-grade series featuring a band of loosely related self-reliant siblings who live alone in their car on a tropical island, for publication in Summer 2019, and an untitled middle grade fiction book, to Tara Walker and Lynne Missen at Tundra Books, by Jackie Kaiser of Westwood Creative Artists (World). Film and TV rights previously optioned by Argent Pictures and 3311 Productions and Semi Chellas (Mad Men, The Romanoffs, Ophelia), by Jerry Kalajian of the Intellectual Property Group on behalf of Jackie Kaiser of Westwood Creative Artists.
From the author and illustrator team of Sakura’s Cherry Blossoms, Robert Paul Weston and Misa Saburi NATSUMI’S SONG OF SUMMER, a new tanka poem picture book that celebrates the special pleasures of summertime and of reunions with faraway family and friends, to Jessica Burgess at Tundra Books, for publication in Summer 2020, by Jackie Kaiser of Westwood Creative Artists (World).
Acclaimed novelist Ann Y K Choi’s debut picture book, ONCE UPON AN HOUR, draws on the traditional Korean practice of timekeeping, in which the twelve animals of the zodiac are assigned to two-hour sections of the 24-hour clock, to show how we can make all the difference in the world if we work together, illustrated by Soyeon Kim, to Liz Kemp at Orca Books, for publication in Fall 2020, by Jackie Kaiser of Westwood Creative Artists (World).
Award-winning author David A. Robertson’s GHOSTS, the third book in The Reckoner series, a supernatural YA mystery set in the northern community of Wounded Sky First Nation, to Catherine Gerbasi at HighWater Press (imprint of Portage & Main Press), for publication in October 2019, by Jackie Kaiser of Westwood Creative Artists (World).
From the authors and illustrator of the internationally bestselling, Caldecott Medal-winning picture book Finding Winnie, Lindsay Mattick and Josh Greenhut’s WINNIE’S GREAT WAR, with art by Sophie Blackall, based on the true, remarkable wartime adventures undertaken by the extraordinary bear who inspired Winnie-the-Pooh, to Suzanne Sutherland at HarperCollins Canada for publication in Fall 2018, by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists and Kim Witherspoon at Inkwell Management for the authors, and Nancy Gallt at Gallt and Zacker Literary Agency for the illustrator (Canada English).
A taut literary thriller by the author of The Dark Virgin, Oakland Ross’s SWIMMING WITH HORSES intertwines the stories of a solitary Canadian teenager and a blue-eyed, gun-toting South African bad girl who spends the summer of 1963 in southern Ontario horse country, to Scott Fraser at Dundurn, for publication in February 2019, by Jackie Kaiser of Westwood Creative Artists (World).
From the author of the Giller Award-winning novel Late Nights on Air, Elizabeth Hay’s ALL THINGS CONSOLED: A DAUGHTER’S MEMOIR, a startling and beautiful memoir about the drama of her parents’ end, and the longer drama of being their daughter, pitched as for fans of Roz Chast’s Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant and Helen Macdonald’s H is for Hawk, to Martha Kanya-Forstner at McClelland & Stewart for publication in September 18, 2018 by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists (Canada English). UK & Commonwealth excluding Canada to Christopher MacLehose at MacLehose Press, an imprint of Quercus, for publication in 2019 by Carolyn Forde on behalf of Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists.
From the acclaimed novelist of Brother, David Chariandy’s I’VE BEEN MEANING TO TELL YOU: A LETTER TO MY DAUGHTER is an intimate and profoundly beautiful meditation on the politics of race today, pitched as in the tradition of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions, to Martha Kanya-Forstner at McClelland & Stewart for publication May 29, 2018 by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists (Canada English). World English excluding Canada to Alexa von Hirschberg at Bloomsbury UK & US for publication in April 2019 by Carolyn Forde on behalf of Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists.
Two years ago Doug Pepper at Signal/McClelland & Stewart acquired Canadian rights to co-authors of The Big Shift Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson’s EMPTY PLANET: The Shock of Global Population Decline from John Pearce at Westwood Creative Artists. The book was researched on six continents and predicts a surprising decline in the world’s population with major consequences for individual countries and for the planet as a whole, US rights have been sold to Emma Berry at Crown/Penguin Random House by John Pearce; UK & Commonwealth excluding Canada rights have been sold to Tom Asker at Robinson/Piatkus, Constable & Robinson/Little, Brown; Chinese rights to Beijing Huazhong; Japanese rights to Bungeishunju; and Korean rights to Eulyoo,. The UK and foreign sales were made by Carolyn Forde on behalf of John Pearce at Westwood Creative Artists. EMPTY PLANET will be published simultaneously in Canada, the US and the UK, in February 2019.