Bumper Publishing Deals Post

Publishers Weekly listed some new publishing deals back in December. So a bit belatedly - here are the YA ones:

HarperCollins pre-empted world English rights, in a six-figure three-book deal, to a new zombie series by debut author Amy Huntington. The first book, Sleepwalking, follows a 16-year-old who, after losing her parents, is cast off from her Brooklyn life to live with grandparents in Paris. There she meets, and falls for, a French teen named Vincent, who just happens to be a zombie. Dystel & Goderich's Stacey Glick, who sold the book, said the series introduces a new kind of zombie mythology in which the undead are “re-animated humans”—they look just like us—and don't feast on brains but, instead, carry out special missions. She said the Hollywood pitch for the book would be: “Twilight...in Paris...with zombies.” HC is planning Sleepwalking for summer 2011.

Stimola Literary Studio, sold, in a six figure pre-empt, North American rights to a four-book YA series by 2008 Harvard grads Lauren Kunze and Rina Onur to HarperCollins's Greenwillow Books. The first book, The Ivy, is set to drop in fall 2010. The series follows the travails of Callie Andrews, a Harvard frosh who arrives at the storied university only to discover she's ill-equipped to handle the romantic and social challenges awaiting her.

Lisa McMann (Wake and Fade) has signed a four-book deal with Simon & Schuster's Pulse and Aladdin imprints. The deal is for world rights to two YA titles (Pulse) and two middle grade novels (Aladdin). The first title from Pulse, Dead to You, which is slated for spring 2012, follows a teenage boy who, after being abducted, returns to his family nine years later—it's psychological suspense. Aladdin is set to drop the dystopian fantasy, The Unwanteds, in fall 2011; the book follows a group of kids who, after showing sparks of creativity, are banished to a secret world where they're trained to hone their abilities.

ICM sold U.S. rights to a debut YA thriller called Flip to Wendy Lamb at her eponymous Random House imprint. The book, part of a two-title deal Wexler closed at auction for Brit Martyn Bedford, is a psychological thriller about a boy who wakes up in another kid's body and must fight against the clock to avoid being trapped, literally, in someone else's shoes forever. Flip is slated for fall 2010.