Sarah Aronson

Smart, funny, and with a great voice, this middle-grade story combines exciting soccer action with strong themes of friendship, forgiveness and trust.

It’s not exactly that Ari Fish is obsessive compulsive.  It’s just that he believes in luck. That’s why he recites American presidents (in order), always showers with his left hand, and talks to his poster of Wayne Timcoe (the greatest goalkeeper ever to graduate from Somerset Valley High) before he goes on to the soccer pitch.  Thomas Jefferson may have said that luck is all a matter of hard work, but Ari knows that sometimes luck is . . . luck. And to win at soccer you need it.

When Ari finds a rare Wayne Timcoe trading card, he knows his luck has changed.  Now he’s going to start in the net.  Mac MacDonald will learn to play nicely with Parker Llewellyn, the only girl on the team. And Ari’s fire-fighter brother will come home safely.  Right? But then Ari’s Timcoe card disappears. With his luck finally run out, what can Ari put in its place?

Sarah Aronson has been a personal trainer, a physical therapist, and even a school principal. In 2006 she earned an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College.  HEAD CASE, her first novel, was published by Roaring Brook Press in 2007 and was named a 2008 Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers.  Sarah lives in Hanover, New Hampshire with her family. http://www.saraharonson.com

Rights:  Greenhouse c/o Rights People

USA/Canada:  Dial (Penguin Putnam)

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Tami Lewis Brown

Two girls, one road trip - and a poignant contemporary middle-grade story with a nostalgic voice

Margie is twelve and growing up in claustrophobic, small-town Kentucky.  With her mother losing herself in a bizarre passion for poultry (’collectible chickens winked and grinned from every surface.  Chicken potholders and pitchers and platters.  Rooster teaspoons and chick salt-shakers.  Every wall and countertop wallowed in Kentucky-fried ecstasy’), Margie struggles to find her own place in the world.  Not easy, when she’s outshone, outloved, outmanoeuvred at every turn by her prodigious little sister, Peep.

When Mom disappears - presumably to that mecca of chicken-lovers, the Rooster Romp - Margie knows she must act.  Grabbing her father’s car keys (and her sister), Margie sets off on a road trip worthy of Thelma and Louise to find her missing mom. Narrowly avoiding arrest, death and - worst of all - despair, Margie makes her bid for family and freedom, only to discover that the most important journey is the one that leads to discovering her own courage and self-belief.

Tami Lewis Brown left a career as a trial lawyer to earn an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College.  She is a licensed pilot, and grew up on a horse farm in Kentucky. She lives with her family in one of the oldest houses in Washington DC. Her first picturebook - SOAR, ELINOR - will be published by FSG in 2010.  http://www.tamilewisbrown.com

Rights: Greenhouse c/o Rights People

USA/Canada:  Melanie Kroupa Books, Farrar, Straus & Giroux (Fall 2010)

For all other rights contact

Cindy Callaghan

A fun, magical story packed with ingredients that will delight middle-grade girls – and lots of fabulous food!

Kelly Quinn is thrilled to discover a collection of ancient recipes in the attic. Kelly’s loved to cook ever since she met celebrity chef Felice Foudini, and now it’s the perfect opportunity to form the Secret Cooking Club she’s always dreamed of. But the strangely titled recipes contain some weird ingredients, and as Kelly and her BFFs get cooking, mysterious events ensue. There’s ‘Keep ‘Em Quiet Cobbler’ that silences Kelly’s annoying little brother, Hexberry Tart that knocks catty Charlotte out of the soccer team – and Love Bug Juice that has a very strange effect on the Rusamano brothers.

Is it possible the recipes are magic? And if so, what kind of trouble are the girls stirring up for themselves?  Things are about to get a little too hot in Kelly Quinn’s kitchen . . .

Cindy Callaghan has an MBA and is a marketing communications strategist in the pharmaceutical industry. She lives in Delaware and spends a lot of time in the kitchen, both cooking (strictly to pre-packaged instructions) and cleaning up after her three budding chefs (aka kids). The inspiration for KELLY QUINN came from her eldest daughter, Ellie.

Rights:  Greenhouse c/o Rights People

USA/Canada:  Aladdin (Simon & Schuster) Fall 2010

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Sarwat Chadda

Fifteen-year-old Billi hates that her father, the Grandmaster, forced her into the modern-day remnant of the Knights Templar – the first-ever girl to join the Order.  Billi would much rather be a regular high-school student than a secret warrior out to defeat the Unholy.  When she meets thrilling, seductive Mike, Billi is dazzled.  But Michael is not just a heart-breaker, he’s an archangel with a terrifying agenda…

To follow:  THE DARK GODDESS will take Billi to Russia to rescue Vasalisa, a young girl Billi’s promised to protect.  To save her, Billi must defeat the werewolves that serve the witch Baba Yaga – and the Dark Goddess herself.  Betrayed and alone, Billi faces a final mighty battle in the abandoned ruins of Chernobyl.

Sarwat Chadda was brought up as a Muslim and is married to a church minister’s daughter. He was raised on stories of Saladin, Richard the Lion-Heart and the Crusades, viewed from both sides, and started out writing role-playing game scenarios. He was a senior engineer in a past life, but now writes full time. He lives in London with his family.  http://www.sarwatchadda.com

Rights: Greenhouse c/o Rights People

USA/Canada: Hyperion (September 2009)

UK/Commonwealth: Puffin Books (May 2009)

Germany: Random House

France: Pocket Jeunesse

Italy: Mondadori

Brazil: Editora Rocco

Indonesia: Serambi

Holland: Mynx
Japan: The Media Factory

For all other rights contact: 

Anne-Marie Conway

Discover a great new cast of characters in STARMAKERS, a commercial, middle-grade, girl-oriented series with a knack of delving into serious issues with the lightest of touches.

BOOK 1: PHOEBE FINDS HER VOICE

Things are not going well for Phoebe Franks (Shyest Person in the Whole, Entire Universe). Her mum and dad can’t stop arguing. Her best friend in the world has found a new best friend. And her arch enemy, Polly Carter, is doing her level best to make Phoebe’s life a total misery. But when Phoebe plucks up the courage to join Starmakers, a new out-of-school drama club run by her class teacher, Phoebe wonders if her luck might be about to change.

Practically too shy to speak at the first session, Phoebe is sure she’ll never be brave enough to join in with everyone else, let alone sing and dance. But as the group works towards its first production, The Dream Factory, Phoebe’s confidence starts to grow.  Will she ever be able to sing her solo? Will she find a way to stop Polly Carter being such a bully? And most importantly of all, will she manage to get her parents talking again in time to see her perform on the biggest night of her life?

To follow:  Book 2 – POLLY PLAYS HER PART:  Polly discovers a fantasy game on her computer where she can create a brand-new identity and pretend she’s just fine. But the more involved she gets in her virtual world, the more she withdraws from real life – school, friends, and finally drama.  Book 3 – SAM’S SECRET SISTER:  Sam’s always been a bit of a drama queen, but as the Starmakers work towards their production, Sam gets caught up in a real-life drama of her own - secret meetings, cryptic messages and buried photos. And she can’t tell anyone . . .

Anne-Marie Conway is a British primary school teacher specializing in drama; she also runs her own children’s theatre company, Full Circle. She lives in London with her husband, two young sons, and two eccentric cats, Betty and Boo! Anne-Marie has written a number of humorous sketches which have been performed by her theatre company, but her first novel (on which STARMAKERS is based) was shortlisted for the inaugural Times/Chicken House Fiction Competition.

Rights:  Greenhouse c/o Rights People

UK/Commonwealth/Europe:  Usborne (Book 1: Spring 2010)

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Alexandra Diaz

A pacy, addictive debut teen novel about three sixteen-year-old girls who’ve been friends forever.  Three perspectives, three rites of passage – and one love affair that changes everything.

It really was a stupid thing that Brent Staple did – doing it (so the rumour goes) with Chris Sanchez, one of the guy cheerleaders.  Who’d have thought that Brent, the school’s hottest jock, could be gay? But the doubt about Brent doesn’t just hurt Tara – it’s the beginning of the end for an inseparable trio of friends.  Tara’s training for the marathon, but also running from her father and her fear of ever being abandoned again. Beautiful Whitney Blaire’s got everything and nothing, because her parents have never had time for her.  And Pinkie has a compulsive need to mother everyone to make up for the mom she never stops missing.  The girls couldn’t be more different, but doesn’t that just prove the strength of their friendship?

Then new-girl Riley arrives in school, wafting her long black hair and a scent of lilacs. Suddenly, Tara starts to feel things she’s never felt before for a girl - and to reassess her feelings about Brent and what he may/may not have done. Is Tara gay – or does she just love Riley? And can the map of her deepest friendships ever be redrawn in a post-Riley world?

Alexandra Diaz grew up in a bilingual Spanish/English-speaking family in various parts of the US, but has also lived in Puerto Rico, Austria, and Britain where she’s currently based. She graduated in English and Communications at Lake Forest College in the US, but went on to receive her MA in Writing for Young People at Bath Spa University in England. Her writing has appeared in newspapers, literary magazines, children’s magazines, foreign-language magazines, websites, and anthologies. She has also written two one-act plays which have been performed at Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago Illinois and The Rondo Theatre in Bath, England. Although writing is the only career she ever wanted, Alexandra has worked as a nanny, teacher, web designer, financial administrator, and waitress to name but a few.

Rights: Greenhouse c/o Rights People

USA/Canada:  Egmont US (December 2009)

For all other rights contact:

Michael Ford

With shades of JANE EYRE and THE WOMAN IN BLACK, this is a chilling and atmospheric middle-grade murder mystery, set in Victorian England.

The year is 1856, and orphan Abigail Tamper lives below stairs in Greave Hall, a crumbling manor house in London. Lord Greave is plagued by madness, and with his son Samuel away fighting in the Crimea, the running of Greave Hall is left to Mrs Cotton, the tyrannical housekeeper. The only solace for the beleaguered staff is to frighten Mrs Cotton by pretending the house is haunted.

So when a real ghost makes an appearance - that of her beloved mother - no one is more surprised than Abi. But the spirit has a revelation that threatens to destroy Abi’s already fragile existence: she was murdered, and by someone under their very own roof. With Samuel returned to England badly wounded, it’s up to Abi to nurse him back to health, while trying to discover the identity of the killer in their midst. As the chilling truth dawns, Abi’s world is turned upside down . . .

Michael Ford was born in 1980 in the north of England, and studied Classics and English at Oxford University. He worked in a variety of publishing roles before becoming an editor of adult fiction. He has written several novels and non-fiction books for children, including the SPARTAN series for Bloomsbury UK. He lives with his wife in London.

Rights: US/Canada - Greenhouse

UK/Commonwealth/
Translation:  Bloomsbury Children’s UK (August 2010)

Harriet Goodwin

A quirky debut middle-grade novel that is adventurous, charming and poignant by turns, but which also focuses on the biggest issues of life and death.

Finn Oliver will never accept his father’s death, but he finds a few minutes of forgetting as he joy-rides over the moors in the beat-up family car.  Then the accident happens – and Finn hurtles through the wafer-thin divide between the living and the dead.  The Underworld is threatened by storms on the Other Side, and the ghosts who live there know their only hope is an ancient prophecy: that a mortal child and a child of the Underworld will together unlock the Firepearl from its elemental enchantments and save the dead from disaster. Now that moment has come, and Finn is about to embark on an extraordinary journey to the centre of the Earth!

Harriet Goodwin read Medieval English at Oxford University before training as a singer. She sang and toured with various internationally renowned ensembles before having her four children, but now focuses on oratorio and recitals.  She lives in a remote village in Staffordshire, England. http://www.harrietgoodwinbooks.com

Rights:Greenhouse c/o Rights People

UK/Commonwealth: Stripes Publishing (an imprint of Magi; Fall 2009)

For all other rights contact: 

Teresa Harris

Poignant, funny, and beautifully crafted, TREASURE IN THE PAST TENSE is a debut middle-grade novel that packs a fresh and emotional punch.

Treasure Daniels longs for a home.  A home with a mom and dad, lilac walls, and the smell of food cooking.  But Treasure hasn’t had a home in years, not since her father left and her mother started running - from bill collectors, landlords, her past and her present.

Then Grandma Celeste steps in.  Enough is enough - Treasure and her little sister are going to live with Great-aunt Grace until their mom finally sorts herself out.  But life in stifling Black Lake, Virginia, is even worse than Treasure had imagined.  Segregation still lingers, and Great-aunt Grace is a nightmare, with her cigarettes, her four-hour church services, and her rundown candy store where the girls are expected to work every day after school.

It’s not long before Treasure’s had enough.  But then she witnesses Grace standing up for her in a way she’d never imagined, and begins to see Black Lake in a different light.  After being on the run for so many years, Treasure has found a home where she’d least expected - a home that will change her, and her idea of what family really means, forever.

Teresa Harris wrote her first novel (23 pages long and about a pair of time-traveling cats!) when she was in fifth grade.  Since then, she has earned her Bachelor’s Degree in English from Columbia University, and an MFA in Writing for Children from Vermont College where she received numerous awards.  Teresa works in publishing and lives in Teaneck, New Jersey with her family. [photo by Gwendolyn Moore]

Rights:  Greenhouse c/o Rights People

USA/Canada:  Clarion Books (Spring 2010)

For all other rights contact

Lindsey Leavitt

A joyously funny, sharp and insightful debut novel for tween girls.

When a flawlessly dressed woman steps out of a giant bubble and wants to know NOW if you’d like to become a substitute princess, do you a) run b) faint c) say yes! For Desi, who’s been seeking some glamour in her life, the answer has to be c)!  As her new agent, Meredith, explains, Desi has a rare magical ability: when she applies some ancient Egyptian ‘royal rouge’ she can temporarily transform into the lookalike of any princess who needs a sub. Dream come true, right?

But Desi soon discovers that the job involves more than wearing a tiara and waving at cameras. Like, what do you do when tribal villagers turn up to watching you perform a ceremonial dance you don’t know? Or when a princess’s sweetheart turns up to break things off - and you’re sure she would want you to change his mind? Desi’s always dreamed of making an impact with her life and now she’s all set to do just that - one royal fiasco at a time!

To follow: Two more stories about Desi as she returns to life as a princess sub.  Boyfriends, beauty pageants and high school - easy.  An ex-best friend, an evil agent, and a kingdom in chaos - not so much!

USA/Canada: Hyperion (March 2010)

UK/Commonwealth:  Egmont UK (February 2010)

SEAN GRISWOLD’S HEAD

After discovering her father’s big Multiple Sclerosis secret, Payton Gritas’s structured life crumbles. So begin her excruciating ‘chats’ with Ms Callahan, a school counselor aiming to save Payton from drowning in denial by encouraging her to write Focus Exercises on any random object. Payton chooses Sean Griswold, her alphabetical connection since kindergarten. More specifically, she chooses his somewhat over-sized head.

As Payton’s research grows into something a little less scientific and a little more crush-like, it spawns more and more questions about Sean and his dome. Like what’s with the scar?  And why is a fifteen year old training to be the next Lance Armstrong? Payton finds answers to these questions by getting inside Sean’s head, while Sean somehow finds a way into her guarded heart. But when Payton realizes her Sean obsession won’t ultimately mend her battered relationship with her dad, she must shift her focus to the one person who can find the way forward - herself.

USA/Canada:  Bloomsbury Children’s US (Winter 2011)

UK/Commonwealth:  Scholastic UK (Spring 2011)

Lindsey Leavitt is a former elementary school teacher. She grew up in Las Vegas, married her high-school lab partner, and now lives in Birmingham, Alabama, with her husband and two small daughters.  She is a keen - and very popular - blogger. For more about Lindsey and her books see http://www.lindseyleavitt.com.

Rights in all titles by Lindsey Leavitt:  Greenhouse c/o Rights People; contact: 

Jon Mayhew

A wonderfully exciting, dark, and gruesomely gothic middle-grade chiller, set in Victorian London. Perfect and pacy entertainment for both girls and boys of 8+.

For orphan Josie, life is good with Cardamom, the great magician who took her in as a baby and with whom she now performs her astounding knife-throwing act. But then three mysterious ‘aunts’ turn up - taking over the house and transforming into vicious, giant crows, in thrall to evil Lord Corvis. With his dying breath, Cardamon tells Josie to ‘seek the Amarant - and Mortlock’.  So begins a terrifying quest for Josie and her newly discovered twin, Alfie, the undertaker’s mute, who soon realize that the legendary Amarant is a plant with power over life and death, which Cardamon, Corvis and Mortlock first discovered many years ago in Abyssinia.

But Cardamon had another secret. Mortlock was buried alive - with the Amarant - and now only the final destruction of the plant can quench Corvis’s growing powers and evil plans.  Braving a circus of the living dead, and a terrifying encounter with the Amarant in a graveyard where Mortlock certainly does not ‘rest in peace’, Josie and Alfie will need all their courage and skills to save themselves and the world.

Jon Mayhew is a man with a dark, cinematic imagination. He lives down on the marshes of Neston, between the ancient English cities of Chester and Liverpool.  An English teacher for twenty years, he now works as a specialist teacher for children with autism. He and his wife have four children, and when neither teaching nor writing Jon plays in ceilidh bands and runs marathons.  MORTLOCK is his first novel, to be followed by THE DEMON COLLECTOR.

Rights: Greenhouse c/o Rights People

UK/Commonwealth/Europe: Bloomsbury Children’s UK (Spring 2010)

For all other rights contact: 

Valerie Patterson

An exquisitely written debut novel from an evocative new voice. Han Nolan, National Book Award winner, says:  ‘Valerie Patterson is a born writer.  Her language feels so fresh, clean and spare.’

Fifteen-year-old Cyan was named after the colour blue by her artist mother.  And blue, in all its shades, is how it feels for Cyan to be back in the Caribbean one year after the loss of her father, drowned in an inexplicable sailing accident. Expected to play host to a potential new stepsister, Cyan’s past and future feel coloured by mystery. Did her mother drive her father away?  If he killed himself why didn’t he leave Cyan a note to help her understand? And most bafflingly, why did he sail to the horizon with an ice bucket and two champagne glasses on board?

Local rich-boy Mayur lures Cyan with promises that only he knows the truth. And now, with the anniversary of her father’s death approaching, and with a gulf as wide as the Caribbean between her mother and herself, Cyan must explore the depths of the colour blue - the blue of sadness, the ocean, the horizon, and ultimately herself - in this exquisitely told story of love, betrayal, and ultimately hope.

Valerie Patterson was raised in the Florida panhandle where the Gulf of Mexico inspired a love of blue and a fascination with the horizon and what lies beyond. An attorney in her day job, Valerie graduated in May 2008 with an MFA in Children’s Literature from Hollins University, where she twice received the Shirley Henn Award for Creative Scholarship. She has also won a Work-in-Progress Award from SCBWI.  Valerie lives with her husband in Leesburg, Virginia.

Rights:  Greenhouse c/o Rights People

USA/Canada:  Clarion Books (October 2009)

For all other rights contact: 

Brenna Yovanoff

Elegantly strange, darkly compelling, this truly original debut novel marks the arrival of a major new talent.  It features a brooding, bass-playing teen boy who is sure to resonate with all young-adult readers.

Mackie Doyle seems like everyone else in the perfect little town of Gentry, but he is living with a fatal secret - he is a Replacement, left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now the dark side wants him back, and Mackie must decide where he really belongs and what he really wants. 

A month ago, Mackie might have told the creatures beneath the hill to buzz off.  But now, with a budding relationship with tough, wounded, beautiful Tait, Mackie has too much to lose. Will love finally make him worthy of the human world?

Brenna Yovanoff holds an MFA in Fiction from Colorado State University and her work has appeared in various magazines. She lives with her husband in Denver, Colorado.

Rights:  Greenhouse c/o Rights People

USA/Canada:  Razorbill, Penguin Putnam (October 2010)

UK/Commonwealth/English-language Europe: Simon & Schuster (October 2010)

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