Writer and filmmaker Keele Burgin’s debut (W)HOLY UNRAVELED, sharing her story of growing up in and escaping a Catholic cult, only to find herself chasing adrenaline and drugs in hopes of finding a shred of self-worth before finally landing in a remote community where she would live in silence, quiet the demons of her past, and find the courage to love herself, to Erin Calligan-Mooney at Little A, for publication in 2019.
The next two books in Frank Cole’s middle-grade POTION MASTERS series, featuring more humorous adventures of a young potion-maker-in-training and his friends.
NYU professor Ruvanee Vilhauer’s debut DEVIL’S REMEDY, in which a journalist’s death at a Sri Lankan boarding school reunion leads a group of classmates to unravel a conspiracy involving the pharmaceutical industry, devil dancing rituals, and the power of cultural identity and belief, to Vivian Lee at Little A.
Author of IN 27 DAYS Alison Gervais’ young adult novel THE SILENCE BETWEEN US, an #ownvoices story of a Deaf teen who must navigate a new life, and love, when she attends a hearing school, to Jillian Manning at Blink/HarperCollins.
Dusti Bowling’s new middle-grade novel TWENTY-FOUR HOURS IN NOWHERE, pitched as inspired by The Goonies, in which a diverse group of kids from the poor desert town of Nowhere, Arizona hunt for treasure in a cursed mine, to Christina Pulles at Sterling Children’s, for publication in 2018.
Carrie Callaghan’s debut novel A LIGHT OF HER OWN, based on the life of 17th century artist Judith Leyster, who struggles to be the first woman to paint alongside the greats of the Dutch Golden Age, and whose ambition threatens not only a conspiracy of powerful men but even those she loves.
Ingrid Palmer’s debut YA novel ALL OUT OF PRETTY, in which a teen girl finds beauty a liability, and must discover an inner strength she never knew she had, after her troubled mother shows up and delivers her into the clutches of a drug dealer in the backwoods of Ohio.
Frank L. Cole’s THE SECRETS OF B.R.E.W., a middle-grade series in which a twelve year-old “Dram,” or potion-maker-in-training, must move beyond pranks and bizarre concoctions in his basement to lead his friends in a high stakes potion war against a crazy group of anarchists, for publication in 2018.
Documentary-maker, BBC broadcaster, and National Geographic correspondent Tim Samuel’s WHO STOLE MY SPEAR?: HOW TO BE A MAN IN THE 21st CENTURY, a humorous and thoughtful exploration of modern masculinity, with advice for men, and the women who want to understand them, for publication in the U.S. in 2018.
Jennie Liu’s young adult debut GIRLS ON THE LINE, in which a teen pregnancy puts two orphan girls in contemporary China on a collision course with factory bosses, family planning regulators, and a bride trafficker.