By Cecilia Cackley
This is a monthly series keeping track of the book deals announced by Latinx writers and illustrators. The purpose of this series is to celebrate book deals by authors and illustrators in our community and to advocate for more of them. If you are an agent and you have a Latinx client who just announced a deal, you can let me know on Twitter, @citymousedc. If you are a Latinx author or illustrator writing for children or young adults, and you just got a book deal, send me a message and we will celebrate with you! Here’s to many more wonderful books in the years to come.
November 30:
None.
November 28:
None.
November 21:
None.
November 16:
Claribel Ortega’s debut, based on Dominican folklore, in which a 12-year-old girl must save the ghosts of her lost loved ones, living as fireflies, with the help of her best friend and her witch grandmother before evil spirits haunting St. Augustine destroy them and the only home she’s ever known to Jeffery West at Scholastic, for publication in 2019. Author agent: Suzie Townsend at New Leaf Literary and Media.
November 14:
None.
November 9:
None.
November 7:
None.
November 2:
| Jill Santopolo and Beverly Horowitz at Penguin Random House’s Philomel and Delacorte imprints have acquired three books for young readers by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Philomel will publish the picture book autobiography Turning Pages: My Life Story, illustrated by Lulu Delacre, in which Justice Sotomayor follows the path of her life as it relates to the books she read along the way. Delacorte will publish The Beloved World of Sonia Sotomayor, a middle grade adaptation of her bestselling memoir, My Beloved World. Both books will be released in fall 2018; a second picture book about childhood differences will follow from Philomel in 2019, illustrated by Rafael López. Both Philomel and Delacorte editions will also be published in Spanish, with the picture books releasing simultaneously with the English editions, and the middle-grade title releasing in 2019. Agent: Amy Bernstein and Peter Bernstein of Bernstein Literary Agency. Illustrator agent Adriana Dominguez and Stefanie Von Borstel for Rafael López, Lulu Delacre unagented. |
| Beverly Horowitz at Delacorte has bought The Go-Between and Make It Messy co-author Veronica Chambers‘s new YA novel, in which she takes on issues of colorism. Living in a Latino–African-American community, a teenage girl follows a hard-fought path in search of self-awareness and self-acceptance. Publication is set for 2019. Author Agent: Kim Witherspoon at Inkwell Management. |
December 19:
| Tracy Mack at Scholastic Press has bought world rights to Charlotte Agell‘s (l.) picture book Maybe Tomorrow, about two friends who navigate friendship, loss, and healing. Pixar artist Ana Ramirez will illustrate; publication is planned for 2019. |
December 14:
| Namrata Tripathi at Dial has acquired North American rights, at auction, to William C. Morris Award-winning author Isabel Quintero‘s picture book, My Papi Has a Motorcycle, a father-daughter story of a father’s love portrayed through an evening motorcycle ride through the neighborhood. Zeke Peña will illustrate; publication is planned for late 2019. Agent: Peter Steinberg at Foundry Literary + Media. |
December 12:
| Nick Thomas at Scholastic/Levine has acquired Aida Salazar‘s debut novel, The Moon Within. The free verse middle grade novel tells the story of 11-year-old Cely, whose life swirls with questions about her changing body, her first attraction to a boy, her best friend’s exploration of what it means to be genderfluid, and her mother’s insistence she have a Chicana moon ceremony for her first menses. Publication is slated for spring 2019. Author agent: Marietta B. Zacker of the Gallt and Zacker Literary Agency. |
December 7:
| Clarissa Wong at HarperCollins has bought, at auction, world rights to Yamile Saied Méndez‘s (l.) Where Are You From?, illustrated by Jaime Kim, in which a girl who is asked where she’s really from turns to her abuelo for the answer. Publication is scheduled for summer 2019, with a second book to follow. Author agent: Linda Camacho at Gallt and Zacker Literary . Illustrator agent: Claire Easton at Painted Words. |
The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by Rafael López will be published in August 2018 by Nancy Paulsen Books-Penguin. Agent: Adriana Domínguez and Stephanie von Borstel of Full Circle Literary represented Rafael López.
December 5:
None.
Latinxs in Kid Lit 