A snapshot of what’s on the horizon from authors of color or Native Americans, originally appearing in Publishers Weekly.

Little, Brown has bought at auction Emily X.R. Pan‘s debut YA novel The Astonishing Color of After, plus an a second untitled standalone YA novel. In the first, a girl is convinced that her mother has transformed into a bird after committing suicide, and attempts to find her in Taiwan. Spring 2018.

Atheneum has bought Carole Boston Weatherford‘s In Your Hands, to be illustrated by Brian Pinkney, a picture book prayer that speaks of a black mother’s hopes for her son. Fall 2017.

Julia Maguire at Knopf has bought world rights to Potato Kingby Tonya Bolden, illustrated by Don Tate, a picture book about the life of Junius George Groves, a former slave who started a potato empire. Spring 2018.

S&S’s Salaam Reads has preempted world rights to Saints, Misfits, Monster and Mayhem, the debut YA novel by teacher and artist Sajidah Kutty. The novel follows 15-year-old Janna Yusuf, daughter of the only divorced mother at the mosque, as she examines her faith and relationships in the wake of an assault. The book will be Salaam’s first YA novel. Summer 2017.

FSG has acquired The Big Bed, written by Bunmi Laditan, a blogger, author, and humorist also known as The Honest Toddler. The book features a clever little girl who tries to interest her father in his own big bed so she can sleep in her parents’ bed with her mother. Tom Knight is on board to illustrate. Winter 2018.

Michelle Meadows and illustrated by Ebony Glenn. It’s a picture book biography of Janet Collins, regarded as the true first black ballerina to dance for a classical ballet company and an inspiration to others that followed. Winter 2018.

Atheneum has bought Carole Boston Weatherford‘s How Sweet the Sound: The Story of Amazing Grace, to be illustrated by Frank Morrison, a picture book about the history and legacy of the hymn “Amazing Grace.” Summer 2018.

Amazon/Two Lions has acquired the latest collaboration by Anna Kang and Chris Weyant, the Geisel-winning team behind You Are (Not) Small. Their new book is the untitled story of an eraser who finds herself at the center of a desktop drama. Fall 2018.

Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine Books has bought Front Desk, a middle-grade novel from debut author Kelly Yang. Based on the author’s life, the story follows Mia, the daughter of recent Chinese immigrants; as she helps her parents manage the Caliheim Motel, Mia must keep many secrets from her classmates and the motel’s mean owner – including the truth about the fellow immigrants her father’s hiding. 2018.

Scholastic has bought, in an exclusive submission, Flora Ahn‘ Pugling Rivalry, an illustrated chapter book depiction of the fictional life of the author-illustrator’s pugs Sunny and Rosy, based on her popular pug blog Bah Humpug. Spring 2018, with the second book to follow in fall.

Henry Holt has acquired world rights toRuby’s Chinese New Year, a debut picture book written by Vickie Lee and illustrated by Joey Chou. The story follows a girl who delivers a gift to her grandmother with help from the animals of the Chinese zodiac. Winter 2018.