Is kidlit really becoming more diverse, or is diversity being treating like a trend? We’d really have to look at what’s published 2-3 years from now to know the difference that we’re making today. And, we can do that! I hope continue this as a regular feature that announces books 2-3 years out. I’ll come back to this page as more deals are announced for the month.

1 June

Grace Kendall at Farrar, Straus and Giroux has preempted a chapter book series by Debbi Michiko Florence, about headstrong eight-year-old Jasmine Toguchi and her Japanese-American family. The first book, Jasmine Toguchi, Mochi Queen, is about yearning to be part of a fun family tradition, even if it’s not something girls typically do. Publication begins in spring 2017; Tricia Lawrence at Erin Murphy Literary Agency brokered the four-book deal for world rights.

8 June

Mark Siegel at First Second has bought world rights to a YA graphic novel from Nidhi Chanani. Pashmina tells the story of an Indian-American girl who struggles to fit in at high school, then discovers more about her family’s history with the help of her mother’s magical pashmina. Publication is slated for 2017; Judy Hansen at Hansen Literary negotiated the deal.

Caitlin Dlouhy at S&S’s Caitlin Dlouhy Books has acquired Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely‘s All American Boys, a YA novel that follows two teenage boys – one white, one black – who offer dueling perspectives, told in alternating chapters, on an act of police brutality. The book has been fast-tracked by S&S for release in fall 2015 because of its timely subject matter. Elena Giovinazzo at Pippin Properties represented Reynolds and Rob Weisbach at Rob Weisbach Literary Management represented Kiely in the deal for North American rights.

Kelly Delaney at Knopf has bought Alice Pung‘s Lucy and Linh, a literaryMean Girls meets Fresh Off the Boat that follows Lucy as she tries to balance her life at home surrounded by her Chinese immigrant family, with her life at a pretentious private school. Publication is set for fall 2016; Sophy Williams at Black Inc. Books in Australia sold U.S. rights.

15 June

Stacy Whitman at Lee & Low’s Tu Books has acquired world rights to Pura Belpré Award winner Guadalupe Garcia McCall‘s Joaquin’s Rebellion, in a two-book deal. It’s a YA Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1915 Texas during the height of the Mexican revolution, about a Mexican-American teen trying to protect his family’s ranch and his sweetheart’s safety while caught between the Texas Rangers and Mexican revolutionaries. Publication is set for fall 2016, with a sequel,The Long Journey Home, scheduled for 2017. The deal was unagented.

Susan Van Metre at Abrams has acquired Sheela Chari‘s Find Me in Dobbs Ferry, a middle-grade mystery in which 12-year-old neighbors Myla and Peter search for clues surrounding the link between a coveted necklace and the disappearance of Peter’s brother. Along the graffiti-covered train lines north of New York City, the unlikely pair encounter parkour-performing thugs, cryptic street art, and missing diamonds before uncovering the family secret that started it all. Publication is set for spring 2017; Steven Malk did the deal for North American rights.

Catherine Onder at Bloomsbury has secured, in a pre-empt, Piggy in Love and a second book in the series by author-illustrator Trevor Lai, founder of Up, an animation and content studio in China. The picture book tells the story of a young pig who is eager to make a new friend. Publication is slated for December 2016; Jennifer Rofé at Andrea Brown Literary Agency negotiated the six-figure deal for world rights.

Caitlyn Dlouhy, for her eponymous imprint at S&S/Atheneum, has acquired debut novel Genesis Begins Again by Alicia Williams at auction. The middle-grade novel deals with family and body image, as 13-year-old Genesis struggles with the shade of her skin. Dlouhy also acquired a second, untitled novel by Williams. Publication is scheduled for winter 2017; Brenda Bowen of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates did the two-book deal for world English rights.

22 June

Nancy Paulsen at Penguin’s Nancy Paulsen Books has acquired Written in the Stars author Aisha Saeed‘s second novel, This Promise I Will Keep. In it, a Pakistani teenager enters indentured servitude to pay her family’s debts, and must choose between pursuing an education and freedom or the chance to save her village from a dangerous threat. Publication is scheduled for 2017; Taylor Martindale Kean at Full Circle Literary brokered the deal for world rights.

Liz Szabla at Feiwel and Friends has acquired I Wonder by Doyin Richards, the founder of the Daddy Doin’ Work blog. The picture book includes photos of his children and those of his fans alongside inspirational thoughts about fatherhood. Publication is scheduled for spring 2016; Frances Black of Literary Counsel negotiated the deal for world rights.

29 June

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