The Bookseller

SIMON & SCHUSTER CHILDREN’S BOOKS, TOM PERCIVAL AND THE NATIONAL LITERACY TRUST ARE WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP TO EMPOWER CHILDREN FROM DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES TO CHANGE THEIR STORIES

ISBN: 9781398527126

9th May 2024 RRP: £12.99

• A £1 donation to the National Literacy Trust per HB copy sold of The Wrong Shoes

• Book donations to all National Literacy Trust Hubs

• National Literacy Trust Hub nationwide events with Tom Percival across the year, including a nationally streamed public event

• National press and events highlighting the message of The Wrong Shoes and the work of the National Literacy Trust

Hub nationwide events s the a d event s y Trust uding ook for

• Major retail partnerships including independent booksellers free book for school libraries

‘When I was young, my family didn’t have much money and life could often be challenging. The reasons for this are complex, which is usually the case. There are countless reasons why a family might face a difficult financial situation and their lives be thrown into turmoil, but one thing is certain: it is NEVER a child’s fault. This is what I’m exploring in this book – the inequality of a situation that many children are facing today. This is a story about Will’s struggle to keep afloat in a system that is stacked against him; to try to choose hope in the face of some very difficult circumstances.’

Bologna Children’s Book Fair Backing Bologna

The auguries look good as the Bologna Children’s Book Fair rolls into its 2024 edition

When the chroniclers write The Tale of the Clash of the Book Fairs 2024, it will be noted that London blinked first. After the Bologna Children’s Book Fair (BCBF) announced last spring that its 61st edition was to take place 7th-11th April this year—which would put it a mere four days before LBF’s long-scheduled slot—it was the British side who ended up switching dates, much to the utter delight of LBF boss Gareth Rapley. Though the earlier London was at first grudgingly embraced by deal-makers, it proved a good move, with last week’s LBF (12th–14th March) generally hailed as a roaring success by fair-goers with it feeling more like a pre-pandemic show.

So over to you, Bologna. But the auguries are positive for the world’s preeminent children’s book fair as it starts from a solid base: it actually had more exhibitors at last year’s event (1,456) than it did at the final pre-Covid edition in 2019 (1,442), a feat neither LBF or Frankfurt’s 2023 editions could match. Meanwhile, with nearly 29,000 people walking through the doors last year, attendance was 35% up on 2022 (that figure includes the general public as well as trade visitors).

A chunk of the exhibitor and visitor numbers were achieved on the back of its new and new-ish strands such as its adult-focused BolognaBooksPlus, which guest director Jacks Thomas (see pp10–12) says is “steadily growing” as it enters its fourth year (third as an “in real life” offering). Whether those in the children’s sector want these adult publishing interlopers coming to their fair is another issue (my recent, very unscientific straw poll canvassing kids’ agents and publishers came back with a resounding “no” on that question).

One of the major themes coming out of

LBF 2024 was the uptick in books to screen agents at the fair; perhaps anticipating this is Bologna launching a TV/Film Rights Centre which promises to matchmake producers with publishers. And provide those who sign up to the centre with a free coffee service, which may be worth whatever price Bologna is asking, given the usual queues. Hollywood types have obviously been coming to the Fiere for decades so it may seem odd to introduce a bespoke area for them, but under Elena Pasoli’s directorship BCBF has not been shy about rolling out initiatives and building partnerships both at the flagship event and throughout the year to try and expand the fair’s traditional base.

Some of these new streams have worked a charm—the BCBF Comics Corner, launched

Bologna has not been shy about rolling out initiatives and building partnerships to expand the fair’s traditional base

in 2022, has been a hit and will have more than 50 exhibitors in 2024. Some have not done as well; the New York Rights Fair, which was run in concert with Book Expo America, petered out after BEA was “retired indefinitely” by owners Reed Exhibitions in 2020. Still, in a sector which has been hit by a global plague and the challenge from remote working technology, it speaks well of BCBF that it keeps innovating to try to ensure it survives another 61 years.

Tom Tivnan @tomtivnan

BOOKS Bologna Preview

Interview: Claire Wilson

Nibbies Literary Agent of the Year Wilson on the state of the UK children’s market

Claire Wilson is enjoying a remarkable purple patch, with her own clients flying high—and she now has wider influence as the newly minted president of the Association of Authors’ Agents

Tom Tivnan @tomtivnan

here are good runs, then there are good runs. Claire Wilson is having the italicised kind: she is the reigning British Book Awards (aka the Nibbies) Agent of the Year, saluted for shepherding clients— including Alice Oseman, Katherine Rundell and Hannah Gold—to prize podiums and the top of bestsellers lists. And though she did not put her hat in the ring for 2024’s awards, she probably had a better 12 months since she was crowned the Nibbies champ. On a pan-industry level, she has just stepped up as president of the Association of Authors’ Agents (AAA). Meanwhile her agency RCW recently acquired the Caroline Sheldon Literary Agency (CSLA) adding to the fold the world’s biggest picture book star, Julia Donaldson (among many others), while launching a new illustrated children’s book division, which Wilson oversees.

The CSLA buy was not really eyebrow-raising in this era of agency acquisition; maybe the only mild surprise was that it was not some big Hollywood player swooping for another British outpost. While not wanting to speak for Sheldon, Wilson suggests the cultural fit might have won the day for RCW.

In the UK we are often guilty of not taking books for children seriously, not recognising the defining place that they hold in our cultural landscape

She says: “[Sheldon] has been a defining figure in the children’s publishing landscape, and also I’ve known her as a friend who’s always been there with advice and wisdom, jokes, and warmth and generosity. So when an opportunity arose to talk about the future of her brilliant company and clients, it felt like a huge privilege. Her choosing RCW was a confirmation that our two companies have similar values and that we put our authors above anything else.”

The addition of Sheldon and CSLA’s Millie van Grutten (who was promoted to full agent with the deal) to the roster enabled the launch of the illustrated arm. We should note that it is not just Donaldson but a raft of other creators including Waterstones Children’s Laureate Joseph Coelho, Roald

Dahl Funny Prize winner Jim Field and author/illustrator Yuval Zommer. But it was a sector RCW had not really been in, as its agents with children’s authors—Wilson, Sam Copeland (whose list includes Holly Jackson and A F Steadman) and Georgia Garrett (who reps David Baddiel)—operate largely in YA and children’s fiction. Wilson says: “It was an obvious area of growth as historically we have done much less on the younger, illustrated side. Plus, it is so difficult to get into from a standing start as picture books require a whole different skill set and level of expertise, and with Caroline and Millie we now have this rich and busy list.”

Wilson and I speak shortly post-London Book Fair—at first over-ambitiously scheduled on the day after Olympia turned off the lights on its 2024 edition. Though somewhat fatigued from LBF, Wilson is energised by the upcoming Bologna Children’s Book Fair. “It’s vital,” she says. “A gathering of some of the most clever, creative and interesting people in the world who are all taking books for children completely seriously. But who don’t forget how fun it all is—I like the slight absurdity of us knowing we are doing something that matters, but we might be having our serious meetings under a giant picture of a hedgehog.”

The child zone

Wilson, incidentally, is in the “keep Bologna for kids” camp, not on board with BCBF’s move into the adult side: “I can understand the reasons for [the expansion out of children’s]. And the people who run Bologna do a brilliant job, and are extremely nice to deal with: I wish them well in all their endeavours. But I would be sad to lose this place that is all about books for children and young people. We, especially in the UK, are so often guilty of not taking books for children seriously, not recognising the defining place that they hold in our cultural landscape. Any opportunity to foster discussion of children’s books and bring people together who care about them is something we should protect.”

Wilson’s client Rundell famously has gone on a campaign over the past few years about Britain’s need to take kids’ books more seriously. Is the climate changing? “There have been positive steps,” Wilson says. “But it’s

Wilson on… Access to books for children

The stats are going in the wrong direction post-lockdown: last year, it was found one in five children in the UK don’t own a single book of their own. One in seven schools don’t have a library—so those children who are never going to own their own book, also do not have the opportunity to access a book at school. This is taking away the potential for a life-changing way of opening doors. It’s been proven again and again that literacy and, in particular, being able to read for enjoyment is the single most important factor in terms of positive future outcomes for children across all backgrounds.

The National Literacy Trust’s Libraries for Primaries campaign, which it has done with publishers and authors, aims to get a library in every school. It has done 1,000 so far, which is phenomenal, but we should all be celebrating them and shouting about it—and

striking that our biggest commercial brands for children are largely 20 to 30 years old. That lack of movement, and the spaces we see on supermarket and airport shelves, is still a reflection of the fact that we don’t have a really active conversation around writing for children.

“Part of this is parents buying books that might seem familiar. But we need more cultural discussions, prizes, review space to find ways of breaking out new names so that the market can feel broader.”

Wilson was made AAA president in February this year, and while we are not here particularly for her to be speaking ex cathedra in her new role, wider industry issues will be talking points in the aisles of the Fiere. So, she has some views. On Artificial Intelligence (AI), Wilson is not necessarily clamouring for new legislation to safeguard authors’ works from being mined without compensation by AI firms: “We don’t need new laws, what we need is enforcement of copyright law. We believe the law is very clear: an author’s copyright is already protected. But in the absence of any intervention, some tech companies are operating in what they see as a no man’s land.”

The creative force

The courts are one battlefield in the AI war, but big tech has deep pockets and judgments may take years. Creators have other means at their disposal, however, Wilson says: “The voices of authors, artists, musicians and academics are important and we have heard anecdotally that the AI companies do not welcome the bad press that can be created by public figures speaking up. So we encourage authors, agents and publishers to keep on talking about it.”

about itand continuing to talk about how important that work is. away, com point She ha 2015. We (al versus a c discuss R the intern

Wilson grew up in Oxfordshire, studied German and Spanish at Leeds and Royal Holloway and moved into publishing as a translation rights assistant selling non-fiction at New Holland. In 2007 she decided to become an agent, but the children’s side was not necessarily on the cards: “To be honest, there was a vacancy at RCW and I just went for it.” But she says she came in at a time when there was “an extraordinary wealth” in children’s. She read Meg Rosoff, Marcus Sedgwick, David Almond’s Skellig “and they just blew me away, completely changed my preconceptions. From that point on, I knew this was where I wanted to be”.

a new ge M

She has been at RCW ever since, a director since 2015. We began our interview around the issue of big, global (almost exclusively US-headquartered) firms versus a company of RCW’s size. We return to this as we discuss RCW in the round: the growing children’s side; the international division under Laurence Laluyaux; a new generation of agents such as van Grutten, Matt Turner, Matthew Marland and Safae El-Ouahabi; the “pretty exceptional record” in adaptations such as “Heartstopper”, “Poor Things”, “American Fiction” and the upcoming “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” and reboot of Ian Rankin’s Rebus.

e “Hear and an a r aut

Willson concludes: “So it’s not about size and scale mattering. It’s about excellence, and being the best in the field, working with and representing the most successful and brilliant authors across every genre.”

KATHERINE RUNDELL AND ALICE OSEMAN BELOW ARE AMONG WILSON’S CLIENTS

BOOKS Bologna Preview Author Interview

Twenty years after his first ‘boy and the penguin’ bestseller, Oliver Jeffers is back with a surprise new entry in the series

Julie Vuong @julesvuong

Twenty years feels like nothing, but it’s also a lifetime ago.” Oliver Jeffers offers this brief moment of reflection, but doesn’t dwell. “Throughout my whole career I have tended not to look backwards. When a book comes out, I’m already working on the next thing, and my head and heart are deeply involved with something else.”

This onwards energy offers some explanation as to why Jeffers previously declared he would never make another “boy and the penguin” book, a children’s picture book series that started with How to Catch a Star in 2004. Together with successors Lost and Found (2005), The Way Back Home (2007) and Up and Down (2010), they have sold by the bucketload, shifting a combined 1.2 million copies in the UK alone. Dreamed up way back when Jeffers was at art school at Ulster University, the loveable duo—the boy in his striped red-and-white sweater and woolly hat and his best buddy penguin—are firm family favourites. It’s hard to imagine a child, or adult for that matter, who is unfamiliar with their distinctive watercolour profiles. Now, 10 years after their last appearance, the two friends

Jeffers’ top five

are back. “I’ve sort of learned to say never say never,” Jeffers playfully admits.

I just started outwardly suggesting my politics but always in a way that’s not just about anger or presenting a problem

A change of heart marks a new adventure this autumn: Where to Hide a Star. It’s a continuation of Jeffers’ trademark storytelling (poignant without ever being preachy) and a return to his compelling characters. “I could barely remember how to paint the boy and the penguin,” he reveals, “but once my watercolours were dusted off for the first time since these characters were last painted, the colour combinations, techniques and brushstrokes all came back to me like a forgotten part of myself.” Where to Hide a Star represents a joyous moment for Jeffers and his publisher HarperCollins Children’s Books (HCCB), which has represented the author from the start after discovering his work in a pile of unsolicited manuscripts. HCCB says the latest story is a chance to bring “renewed focus” to the series and introduce his “much-loved backlist to a new generation of readers”.

2020, and illustrated the vinyl cover (a drawing of Nelson Mandela) for the 2013 U2 song “Ordinary Love”. “I feel like a sort of observer, translator and creative,” he says. “With each project, I consider the best way to articulate the idea and what would fit that mould best.”

These ventures include exhibiting original artwork at the Brooklyn Museum in New York, the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, the National Portrait Gallery in London, and the Palais Auersperg in Vienna. Over the years, as work took him further away from the boy and the penguin, he believed the twosome were behind him altogether, telling himself: “I’m not the sort of person who makes those books anymore.” Even on the picture book page, he had moved on from telling simple tales to tackling more weighty topics, such as the environmental crisis, colonialism and power. “For the past decade, I’ve taken a tangent towards books such as The Fate of Fausto (2019), Here We Are (2017) and last year’s Begin Again, which are not really stories but more like observations on modern life.”

And it’s the reason Jeffers, who was born in Australia and raised in Northern Ireland, is heading back to Bologna. For a career spanning two decades, and with 18 million copies sold worldwide across all his picture books, which includes The Incredible Book Eating Boy (2006) and The Hueys series, it’s surprising to learn that Jeffers has been to the fair only twice, averaging once per decade.

He points out that an interest in activism was always there. “It’s not like I became political,” he says. “I suppose I just started outwardly suggesting my politics but always in a way that’s not just about anger or presenting a problem. There are so many people who point out what’s wrong, right?” In a way, then, Where to Hide a Star served as an inviting break from the big stuff. “I suppose I was craving that simplicity,” he says, “the sheer joy of storytelling and being back in that world.”

His first Bologna came when his inaugural book deal was struck. He recalls being “overwhelmed” by the sheer number of books on show that might never see the light of day. It was also memorable in other ways. “I was invited to a dinner in Quentin Blake’s honour, and I got a few minutes with him,” he explains. “I think he pretended he knew who I was, which was nice of him.” He admits that although his itinerary for the upcoming fair is confirmed, his current busyness hasn’t allowed him to focus on anything beyond the now. He’s certain only that “it’s more about the art and connectivity than the business”.

Metadata

Additionally, as with so many stories of recent times, the pandemic had a hand in this. In 2020, Jeffers was living in New York but Covid sent him and his family packing, back across the Atlantic. “My dad got sick so we decided to stick around and help look after him,” he says. “My two children discovered the benefit of having family around, so we settled, and a new work studio was created.” Out of storage came Jeffers’ old flat files, drawings and pieces of equipment from his earlier works, including Lost and Found. “It all came back: the familiarity and the emotional resonance, and so maybe being surrounded by all the ephemera got me craving classic storytelling again.”

I give Jeffers some credit for his current ignorance of his Bologna schedule; his life lately has been “chaotic”. World Book Day has just taken place, and I’m offered a glimpse of Jeffers’ popularity via my son’s class, during which three children dressed up as crayons in honour of The Day the Crayons Quit. Written by American author Drew Daywalt, the picture book’s protesting protagonists were anthropomorphised (and immortalised) by Jeffers. He has also recently returned to Belfast from New York, where he keeps a studio and where he and his family lived for 15 years until Covid brought them back to Northern Ireland.

Simple storytelling

Writing and illustrating picture books is one strand of Jeffers’ career as a visual artist. “There are many different parts to what I do. Books are one of them,” he confirms. For example, he has delivered a TED Talk called “An Ode to Living on Earth”, which was released on Earth Day

Publication 10.10.24

Format HB

ISBN 9780008579685 Rights World except US (HarperCollins Children’s), US (Penguin Young Readers)

After Bologna, Jeffers has a busy to-do list to be getting on with. He’s working on another book with fellow artist Sam Winston, a follow-up to A Child of Books (2016, Walker Books), and will start working on another solo art show. A stage version of How to Catch a Star is set to run at the Polka Theatre in London in the summer. After that, he says, “I’m not entirely sure what the next book is.” What to expect is anyone’s guess. “My projects blossom organically from a natural thought process and turn into whatever it is they turn into.”

Smith prepares to launch ‘audience-first’ children’s imprint

First Ink at Bologna

Macmillan Children’s Books’ Samantha Smith is set to introduce her new list to the world at BolognaFiere, an audience-focused Young Adult imprint celebrating coming-of-age stories

Samantha Smith is doubly looking forward to this Bologna Children’s Book Fair. First, because the Macmillan Children’s Books publisher for fiction, non-fiction and picture books missed London Book Fair with a nasty chest infection which she is now over, but a touch lingers—at one point in our chat she apologises and turns away as: “I’m about to cough like an old woman with emphysema.”

Foremost, because at Bologna she will be launching First Ink, MCB’s new “audience-first” Young Adult imprint that centres around coming-of-age stories featuring “first loves, first experiences, first time finding your voice and your place in the world”. Essentially, the First Ink titles sit in the BookTok realm with the launch list featuring established and up-and-coming stars in this space such as Elle McNicoll, Harry Trevaldwyn and Dustin Thao.

Tom Tivnan @tomtivnan

Pinning the imprint around a wider, experiential theme rather than at something more specific is the core of that audience-first strategy. Smith explains: “Right now, our audience is really connecting with rom-coms—especially those with a bit of a speculative twist—romantasy and fantasy. But when the audience moves, we want to move with them. So First Ink is about the readers, it’s not about narrowly defined genres.”

The list is also, surprisingly, the first YA imprint MCB has launched. It is an interesting time for YA and not just because sales are booming thanks to the aforementioned BookTok but because the target reader is looser and more pliable than ever. Smith says: “That’s part of the reason we wanted to launch First Ink in a thoughtful and meaningful way. I don’t think it’s enough to say ‘this is YA’, because that’s age bracketing and so simplistic. We are in the midst of a huge demographic shift— and we are seeing this in submissions, what our new generation of commissioning editors are connecting with and what our audience is responding to. There are something like five million adults [in the UK] still living at their parents’ home, the average age for first-time buyers for houses is 34. All those big milestones that used to happen in your 20s are happening later. So adulthood and young adulthood is really stretching as a concept.”

The demographic shift, Smith notes, is also that BookTok has made reading more of a community event than an individual one. “And that’s a beautiful thing,” she says. “But we were thinking with these shifts that the audience wasn’t being served as well as it could be by the traditional way of slicing up publishing genres. So there was space to celebrate these coming of ages that weren’t tied to them happening at 16, because they might not happen so early any more and our audience needs a broader tent for books about when people are going through those experiences.”

Old heads

I note that the design of the First Ink titles do seem more adult than your average YA. That’s deliberate, says Smith. “Sophisticated was what we were going for. To a certain extent, YA has always been very aspirational. One of my first jobs in publishing was at Little, Brown [during the Stephenie Meyer Twilight boom] and those covers were incredibly sophisticated. A 47-year-old woman would think nothing of holding New Moon on the tube. I think there has been something about YA that’s always been reaching up. And I guess now we’re not so much reaching up as reaching out.”

Some First Ink authors have been with MCB before, such as Thao whose You’ve Reached Sam was the bestselling YA début of 2021. But Waterstones Children’s Book Prize winner McNicoll has moved to MCB for her first YA, Some Like it Cold; while new writers include Emily Varga, whose “The Count of Monte Cristo meets Pakistani myth in a revenge romantasy” For She is Wrath is out in November.

It is immediately noticeable that the launch list is incredibly diverse with characters (and writers) from a wide range of cultures and backgrounds, and the books taking in themes such as queer love stories and neurodivergence. Smith argues that this is, in part, due to the wants and needs of BookTok. She says: “What is so encouraging about this generation coming through is that they are responding to and actually really pulling in books that show a larger breadth of experience than they have been given before. It’s also partly the acquiring team as we have editors that want to see queer stories, because they wanted them growing up but didn’t have them. So it’s a nice mix of what our team, and the audience, is responding to.”

A new key driver of sales in the space First Ink is publishing into, particularly for new and early career authors, is subscription boxes. I suggest that the jury may still be out about the long-term benefits for authors selected for a subscription box promotion but Smith demurs. She says: “The story of publishing has always been one of discoverability, hasn’t it? And the sub boxes have tremendously talented buying teams that are so plugged in to what their readers are interested in and want. There have been some real successes of books that they’ve picked which have had longer lives through the Total Consumer Market. Talent does rise to the top. And we’ve lived through those periods where people are saying the book is dead and we will all be reading digitally. So the celebration of the book as a beautiful object is being done by the sub boxes in a really wonderful way.”

Smith was born in “the New York City side of New Jersey’’ and remains a Yankees fan. A voracious reader as a kid, she went to George Washington University in the US and later did a Masters at the London Business School, and “the greatest moment was when I realised you could actually have a job working in books”. Her Masters in London coincided with currency fluctuation when £1 would get you $2 so “I was the skintest of skint students”. She had previously worked at Little, Brown US, and needing a job in Britain, so asked her former L,B colleagues to put her in touch with the UK office. Smith then spent what must have been a fun-filled year digitising the publisher’s contracts database. She stayed on in London publishing, joining L,B’s Orbit and Atom imprints, later moving to Scholastic where she was publisher for fiction and picture books before arriving at her current role in 2019.

First Ink’s initial year will have 15 titles and the plan is for expansion of the list but at a “considered, audienceled” rate: “We will grow, but organically. We’ve seen other areas of the children’s market stagnating or getting a bit smaller but [in the First Ink space] there is genuine growth and more and more people coming into it. It’s exciting.”

First Ink launch titles

Dustin Thao When Haru Was Here First Ink, £8.99, pb, 3rd September, 9781035008971

Elle McNicoll Some Like it Cold First Ink, £8.99, pb, 3rd October, 9781035027842

Sher Lee Legend of the White Snake First Ink, £14.99, hb, 17th October, 9781035053971

Emily Varga For She Is Wrath First Ink, £14.99, hb, 7th November, 9781035053988

Harry Trevaldwyn The Romantic Tragedies of a Drama King First Ink, £8.99, pb, 6th February 2025, 9781035049202

ELLE MCNICOLL HARRY TREVALDWYN

IN BRIEF Bologna Preview

Q&A: Jacks Thomas

Jacks Thomas Guest director of BolognaBooksPlus

After launching three years ago, the director of BBPlus reflects on its beginnings, its targets, going on tour, and where the edition sits within the wider Bologna fair

Reporting Tom Tivnan

01 Could you sketch out this edition of BolognaBooksPlus (BBPlus): what are the highlights? It’s looking good! We have exhibitors from Italy to India, UK to Ukraine, UAE to the US and points in between. Our popular training courses are back—those who wish to become proficient in rights, agenting, scouting, selfpublishing and creative writing can do so over the Bologna week.

02 Can you give some numbers and a sense of the size?

In basic numbers: there will be 50 exhibitors from 19 countries specifically within BBPlus—that obviously sits within the context of the wider Bologna which, of course, boasts 1,500 exhibitors

from more than 100 countries. We are also really pleased that the newly opened Rights Centre (formerly the Literary Agents Centre) is a sell-out and welcomes rights professionals in both general and children’s. As ever, book fairs are more than four days—we have taken BBPlus on tour this year as part of the wider Bologna “grand tour”, with events in New York, London and Delhi.

03 Can you reflect on the first three years of BBPlus? How has it developed, what have you learned and, crucially, is the stream where you thought it would be at this stage?

The first thing is how we all learned so much about pandemics and post-pandemic behaviour.

IN BRIEF Bologna Preview

Q&A: Jacks Thomas

No industry has stood still and I am fascinated by the fundamental changes in working life and practices across the globe. One of the things that struck me most forcibly is how much people in the book industry want to meet in-person. From our postpandemic book fairs, whether those were Frankfurt, Sharjah, London or Bologna to name but a few, it was a cause for optimism that people still travelled to meet their peers.

04 Is there a target to how big the programme can expand to be?

How long is a piece of string?

The Fiere is comfortingly large and the city is one that welcomes visitors in their droves throughout the year. So, to answer your question, Bologna has immense capacity, which is perhaps best demonstrated in exhibition terms by some of the huge exhibitions, such as CosmoProf, that take place just before or after the book fair each year. For two years we have partnered with Bologna and Johns Hopkins universities to run events for the academic audience in the city. Each initiative has been really fulfilling and we plan to do more as Bologna the city really embraces its book fair.

05 Related to that, can you give me a sense of who is exhibiting at BBP this year? Are you receiving interest from particular territories/sectors?

I would say that we have really pleasing interest from Europe to Africa to India and the Far East. We are still building but I am particularly pleased with the presence from India as a territory and audio as a sector.

06 How do you see the landscape in general for book fairs now, post-pandemic? Are we nearing a pre-Covid climate? Have fairs changed irrevocably? What innovations have come about in the past few years?

That’s a big question, which I will take in bite-sized chunks. The formula, I guess, is to assess

What’s on BBPlus’ Audio

A half-day, audio-focused seminar will run in the BBPlus Theatre in Hall 29 on 10th April; highlights include:

14.25

In conversation with Amanda D’Acierno

An interview with the president and publisher of Penguin Random House US’ audio division

15:05

Podcasts: Adaption to Audio... and Back

A panel that includes the US

Audio Publishers Association director Michele Cobb and Carla Herbertson, founder of a children’s audio consultancy and production company, will discuss the relationship between podcasts and audiobooks

16:30

Understanding Listener Behaviours Via Data

Giulia Lo Monaco, audio manager of digital distribution and solutions firm Bookwire, gives a deep dive into consumer behaviour

industr y needs and challenges as well as gaps in the market. There wasn’t, for example, a rights training course for children’s publishing. Now, I know you are going to say that BBPlus is for general publishing—which I would heartily agree with! But within our team we have experience of putting together training courses and we couldn’t bear to let the opportunity go. Additionally, we know that there wasn’t a training course on how to be a literary agent, so we launched one.

Self-publishing in Italy is at a different stage from its Englishlanguage peers, so we were delighted to bring a course to life within the book fair, but with a Bologna twist, as we launched the best self-published jacket-design award. Audio is obviously the hot topic—still—and it was timely to team up with Nathan Hull and BEAT Technology to create a fabulous forum and exhibiting opportunity.

One of the things that struck me is just how much people in the book industry want to meet in person

Translation and the business of it is as relevant and crucial to book fairs as ever. I could go on. Content at a book fair such as Bologna, which is so steeped in the tradition of the visual aspect of publishing, is a wonderful addition to the nuts and bolts of rights-trading that underpins the general publishing arena.

Post-pandemic, there certainly seems to be a place in people’s calendars for book fairs, and I am delighted by the success of the major players over the past two post-pandemic years. It was wonderful to visit Shanghai last November and I cannot wait to see our Chinese exhibitors back in Bologna this year.

Regarding innovation: certainly the digital connectivity and opportunity in general has been fantastic. Online showcasing and rights-trading is wonderfully demonstrated by the Global Rights Exchange that Bologna launched during lockdown. Social media certainly amplifies what goes on at book fairs and great online communities have been born of the need and the desire for the global village of publishing to remain connected.

So yes, I think that at last we are getting to a pre-Covid climate. Book fairs remain an intriguing mix of relentless and serious trading, the serendipity of the chance meeting, the passion of a much-anticipated launch and the gratification of the big acquisition. What’s not to like?

Jacks Thomas has been guest director of BBPlus since 2020, after previously running the London Book Fair for eight years. Prior to joining LBF, she was co-c.e.o of Midas Public Relations.

Forum

BOOKS

Bologna Preview Agents’ hotlists

Agents’ Hotlists

The books agencies are backing to soar at Bologna

A M Heath

Twice Upon a Time

Michelle Harrison

Middle-grade featuring twin sisters who can stop time…but can they solve a murder?

Agent Julia Churchill Rights UK (Simon & Schuster)

Where the Heart Should Be

Sarah Crossan

The bestselling YA author’s newest is a “powerful” love story set during the Great Hunger.

Agent Julia Churchill Rights UK (Simon & Schuster), US (Greenwillow), Iran (Houpaa), France (Rageot), Estonia (Varrak)

My Teeth in Your Heart

Joanna Nadin

A “sweeping” YA romance dealing with the fallout of armed conflict in 1970s Cyprus and the small wars fought between mothers and daughters over three generations.

Agent Julia Churchill Rights UK (UCLan)

Nine Times I Nearly Died

Benedict Allan

Nine riveting true stories about survival, adventure and nature for 9+ from the famous explorer.

Agent Julia Churchill

Food Glorious Food: Our Sacred Relationship with Food and How to Protect It

Isa Robinson

A guide to help young people, especially young women, develop a strong, happy and healthy relationship with food.

Agent Julia Churchill

Andrew Nurnberg Associates

The Game of the Salamander

Davide Longo

“Along the lines of ‘The Good Doctor’ and ‘Atypical’,” the first in a YA crime series by one of Italy’s most loved writers.

Agent Barbara Barbieri Rights Italy (Mondadori)

Luis & Dima: Forever

Our Beginning

Kai Spellmeier Set in a quaint and quirky

town, this friends-tolovers queer YA romance explores themes of first love, sexuality and masculinity.

Agent Gyamfia Osei Rights German (Bastei Lübbe)

A Ship in the Dark

Yarrow Townsend

The Map of Leaves author’s newest has Anna and her friend Mina travelling the high seas, guided by migrating birds and the song of whales, in the hope of proving her father’s innocence.

Agent Jenny Savill Rights World English (Chicken House)

Hilda Hasenherz (Hilda Honeyheart)

Tobias Goldfarb

A “wonderful” new 6+ adventure story from bestselling German author Goldfarb, featuring Hilda, the fearless rabbit.

Agent Sabine Pfannenstiel Rights German (HarperCollins)

Diez Lunas para una Espera (Ten Moons)

Velia Vidal

“Enchanting” illustrated book celebrating motherhood, which collects beautiful lullabies, one for each lunar cycle that takes place during pregnancy, inspired by Afro-Colombian traditions and folklore.

Agent Juliana Galvis Rights Spanish (PRH Colombia)

ASH Literary Flying Out

Casper Manning

Début YA graphic novel that is “ ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ with a gender dysphoria lens, following Mac over the summer before they head to college as they return to their home town.

Agent Alice Sutherland-Hawes Rights World English (Random House Graphic)

Girls of Dark Divine E V Woods

Début YA fantasy, a loose retelling of “The Phantom of the Opera”, following teen dancer Emberlyn as she tries to break herself and her sisters free from a curse that sucks their life force before killing them.

Agent Alice Sutherland-Hawes Rights UK and Commonwealth (Usborne), North American (Delacorte)

This Feast of a Life Cynthia So

The Waterstones Children’s Prize shortlistee’s newest is a “heartfelt and tender” YA story of two people brought together by a shared love of food as they figure out themselves and each other.

Agent Alice Sutherland-Hawes Rights World English (Little Tiger), option in Poland

You’d Be Better Off Dead

Tess James-Mackey

Desperate to reunite with her sister, 17-year-old Lacy takes a lifeguard job at a North Wales caravan park and is forced to grapple with hostile co-workers and supernatural encounters, which leaves her wondering if a malevolent force is protecting her…or targeting her.

Agent Saffron Dodd

The Girl Who Talks to Flowers

Adina Glickman

A middle-grade début about a girl, struggling to deal with her mother’s death, who stands up a little too forcefully to a bully at school and seeks solace in her grandfather’s greenhouse, where the flowers share

stories that encourage her to reach out to the people around her—and revisit her mother’s memory.

Agent Paula Weiman

The Bent Agency

The Notorious Virtues

Alwyn Hamilton

From the internationally bestselling author comes a “thrilling” new tale of magic, glamour, rebellion…and love.

Agent Molly Ker Hawn Rights US (Viking Children’s), UK (Faber Children’s)

Empty Heaven

Freddie Kölsch

A queer “YA ‘Wicker Man’” set in a spookily perfect New England village whose scarecrow deity isn’t just superstition, he’s terrifyingly real, and he’s coming for Darian and her friends…

Agent Molly Ker Hawn, Martha Perotto-Wills Rights US (Union Square), UK (Farshore)

Of Earthly Delights

Goldy Moldavsky

New Yorker Rose moves to Connecticut and falls in love with Hart, who lives on an estate with a mysterious magical garden. When Rose tragically dies, Hart breaks all the rules of the garden to try to bring her back to life, but that has consequences…

ISABELLA HARCOURT

Adultish: The Body Image Book for Life £15.99 | 9781009228961 | Sept 2024

The Body Image Book for Girls: Love Yourself and Grow Up Fearless £9.99 | 9781108718776

Coming soon The Autumn/ Winter 2024 Buyer’s Guides

The Bookseller Buyer’s Guides, published biannually and covering spring/summer and autumn/winter, list thousands of titles scheduled for publication across the UK and Ireland.

In order for your titles to be included in the guides, publication information must be uploaded to the Buyer’s Guide database by 26th April 2024.

Don’t miss out

Being You: The Body Image Book for Boys £9.99 | 9781108949378

Submissions for the July Buyer’s Guides, covering titles published from August 2024 to January 2025, open on 25th March

To sign up and be informed as soon as the Buyer’s Guide database opens, visit thebookseller.com/BGNotify

BOOKS Bologna Preview Agents’ hotlists

Agent Jenny Bent Rights US (Henry Holt)

The Scorpion Queen

Mina Fears

Aminata, the youngest daughter of a wealthy merchant, is banished and forced to work as a chambermaid for Emperor Keita’s daughter—but a mysterious discovery sends her on a perilous journey through the desert to a magical tomb.

Agent Jenny Bent Rights US (Flatiron), UK (Macmillan Children’s)

Windy Creek Stables

Kaitlyn Sage Patterson

New series featuring a diverse cast of young equestrians as they navigate friendships, rivalries and independence.

Agent Molly Ker Hawn

Rights World English (Feiwel & Friends)

Bird Literary Agency

Brush Caryl Lewis

Multiple award-winner

Lewis’s newest YA is set in a dystopian world without bees where girls are forced to pollinate crops with brushes. But, paintbrush in hand, can one girl stoke a revolution?

Agent Anwen Hooson

Places You Can Take Your Grown-Up

Colette Hiller

In this new picture book, acclaimed writer and arts producer Hiller celebrates children’s imaginations (and the wonders of a sailing trip on a sofa-boat).

Agent Anwen Hooson

the bks Agency

Nina J: The Recipe

Thief

Howard Shooter; Catarina Ferraira (illus) Latest “captivating” children’s spy thriller that mixes gripping suspense, humour, friendship and a wonderful journey exploring the food and culture of beautiful countries.

Agent Morwenna Loughman

The Gathering

Wallace Ames

First in a “sweeping” dystopian YA series— “perfect for fans of The Hunger Games and Divergent”—where 17-year-old Ara Storm is furious she has to spend her summer at the mysterious Middle Hall in the Scottish Highlands, only to discover that her fellow students aren’t what they seem. And neither, it turns out, is she.

Agent Jessica Killingley

The Mummy Glue Tee Dobinson

A concept keeping mums and their kids connected, wherever they are, near or far. “A powerful book with a simple story for all families”.

Agent Jason Bartholomew

It’s Okay to Embrace your Body

Danielle Sherman-Lazar; Vicky Kuhn (illus)

Sophia is worried about going to the pool party because she doesn’t feel confident in her swimsuit, but with the the help of Sophia’s teddy bears, her mother reminds her that our bodies come in all shapes and sizes—and they can do so many amazing things.

Agent Joanna Kaliszewska (on behalf of Trigger Publishing)

Rights UK (Trigger)

The Blair Partnership

You Vs.

Josh Hicks

A genre-bending chooseyour-own adventure series by established graphic novelist Josh Hicks, “perfect for young Murdle fans”.

Agent Rachel Petty Rights Under offer in the UK

Glimmerweb

Zoya Kooper “Grounded” fantasy middle-grade adventure featuring a magical sweetshop and a girl with “emotional hair”.

Agent Rachel Petty

Fiasco

Lola Ren

Teen romance about two best friends who go on a crime spree and fall in love with one another, “for fans of Georgia Nicolson and Lottie Brooks”.

Agent Rachel Petty

Ploppy

Hazel Gardner “Hilarious” illustrated young fiction series about a girl who falls into a sewer and is adopted by the stinky community who live there.

Agent Rachel Petty

Seeds of Vengeance

J J Arcanjo

Young adult dystopia about a teen girl seeking revenge for her brother’s death, set in a “Mad Max” -inspired world where oxygen is currency.

“laugh-out-loud” middlegrade series pitched as “Matilda meets ‘The Mighty Boosh’ ”, about a little girl’s attempted escape from her three horrible aunts.

Agent Rachel Mann Rights Under offer in the UK

Darkly

Marisha Pessl

The bestselling author’s latest revolves around a seemingly ordinary high school student, a mysterious summer internship and a legendary game designer now dead.

Agent Amanda Urban, Hillary Jacobson Rights US (Delacorte), Italian (Bompiani)

Heir

Sabaa Tahir Tahir returns with an “action-packed, ruthless and romantic” new fantasy that takes in love, legacy—and vengeance.

Agent Alexandra Machinist Rights UK (Atom), US (Razorbill), Czech (Host), French (Bragelonne), German (cbj), Spanish (Urano)

By Invitation Only

Alexandra Brown Chang

YA romance and wish fulfilment in a world of glamour inspired by the author’s real-life debutante debacle: “will appeal to fans of American Royals and Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch with a touch of ‘The Princess Diaries’”.

Agent Mollie Glick, Alex Rice Rights US (Margaret K McElderry)

Curtis Brown

Agent Rachel Petty

CAA

The Last Tiger

Julia and Brad Riew

Inspired by Korean mythology and the love story of the authors’ grandparents, a comingof-age tale about the power of love to liberate and bring us back to ourselves.

Agent Cindy Uh Rights US (Kokila)

Melanda Notwitch

Gary Panton

The first in a

infects the home and family of 13-year-old Gwen, who has to fight to protect what she loves and face everything she’s been running from in a series of escalating horrors: middle-grade “Coraline for a modern readership with lots of chills and heart”.

Agent Savanna Wicks Rights UK (Rock the Boat), US (Viking), Brazil (Record), Italian (Il Castoro), French (Pocket Jeunesse)

The Temptation of Magic Megan Scott “Serpent and Dove meets A Discovery of Witches” in a début YA trilogy that delves into the forbidden, magical realm of the Empyreal: steeped in mythology, forbidden romance and conspiracy.

Agent Stephanie Thwaites Rights UK (Magpie), US (Inkyard), Spanish (Hidra), French (Hugo)

Plein-Ciel (Sky-High)

Siècle Vaëlban

“Magnificently rich and baroque” novel from French author Vaëlban featuring “ribbon-tamer” Ivory swept up by the Sky-High Opera, filled with the frantic pace of backstage life, courtly intrigue, scandalous rumours and secretly circulated pamphlets.

Agent Roxane Edouard Rights France (Bragelonne)

Shadowstitch

Cari Thomas

The second in Thomas’ Threadneedle series promises to have Anna’s destiny “weaving its spell, drawing you deeper into her magical world”.

Super Unicorn Princess

Mike Hartigan “Powerpuff Girls meets Superman” in this middlegrade graphic novel that follows the adventures of Super Unicorn Princess as she fights to keep Horizon City “totally awesome”. First part of a three-book series.

Agent Davinia Andrew-Lynch Rights UK (Simon & Schuster), Dutch (De Fontein), Spanish (Planeta Comic)

Gloam

Jack Mackay A sinister babysitter

Agent Alice Lutyens Rights UK and US (HarperCollins), Spanish (Urano), Polish (Wydawnictwo Zysk i S-ka), Romanian (Bookzone), Russian (Azbooka-Atticus)

Darley Anderson Children’s Book Agency

Silver

Olivia Levez “John Green meets Spielberg with a literary edge” in a YA love story that is a “heart-rending exploration of what it is to be human, and

DEE BENSON

SKYE MCKENNA

Photography: Ahmani Vidal

BOOKS

Bologna Preview Agents’ hotlists

how altering and worldshaking real love can be”.

Agent Clare Wallace Rights UK and Commonwealth (Hot Key)

Eli and the Premonitions Bureau

Rachel Morrisroe

Picture book star

Morrisroe moves into middle-grade with an “epic, imaginative and immersive” title centring around Eli, whose visions brand him a troublemaker at school—but at the Premonitions Bureau, they can save the world.

Agent Lydia Silver

The Thread that Connects Us

Ayaan Mohamud

Critically acclaimed Mohamud’s latest YA has stepsisters Halima and Safiya meeting at school—and it’s hate at first sight. But in the wake of shocking family secrets, is the key to their problems actually sisterhood?

Agent Clare Wallace Rights UK and Commonwealth (Usborne)

April Falls

Gina Blaxill

Everyone thinks beautiful influencer April fell, her friend Florence knows she was pushed: “twisty, Hitchcockian” contemporary YA thriller set in the delusional and shadowy world of incels.

Agent Lydia Silver Rights UK and Commonwealth (Puffin), North America (Scholastic)

David Higham Associates

Tasty Tales

Anna Lena Feunekes

“Travel the world on a plate” in a highly illustrated non-fiction title, sharing stories about our worldwide love of food.

Agent Christabel McKinley Rights UK and Commonwealth (UCLan)

Star of the Show

Jacqueline Wilson

The superstar returns in a  new historical adventure for middlegrade readers: Hetty Feather meets Lily Alone meets Diamond

Agent Caroline Walsh Rights World English (Puffin)

The Secret Society for Very Important Post

Alexandra Page

Second title in Page’s “Borrowers-infused” world of the Sorters, stalwart deliverers of Lost Letters.

Agent Christabel McKinley Rights UK and Commonwealth (Bloomsbury), Romanian (ART)

Eve White Literary Agency

Skylar and the K-Pop Headteacher

Luan Goldie

First in a series of a “hilarious” middle-grade body-swap novels, which takes in K-pop, fandom and self-acceptance.

Agent Eve White Rights UK (Walker)

Your Time Is Up

Sarah Naughton

A real-time exam thriller “you’ll struggle to put down” from the Costashortlisted author of You Better Watch Out

Agent Eve White Rights UK (Scholastic)

Cecily Sawyer: How to Be a Spy

Iona Rangeley

A “thrilling, mysterious and very, very funny” new adventure series from the award-winning author of Einstein the Penguin

Agent Eve White Rights UK (HarperCollins Children’s)

Pick a Story: A Monster Princess Shark Adventure

Sarah Coyle The fourth book in the “pick your own” picture book series, which has sold more than 20,000 copies through Nielsen and into four territories.

Agent Eve White Rights UK (Farshore)

Crossing the Line

Tia Fisher

A Carnegie- and Branford Boase-longlisted narrative verse YA novel about a young boy’s escape from County Lines drug dealing.

Agent Eve White Rights UK (Hot Key Books)

Felicity Bryan Associates

The Falling Boy

David Almond

A boy, a dog and the new girl in town transform the legend of The Falling Boy and the Chapel of Doom and bring together a community during one long hot summer in the latest from the YA and middle-grade superstar.

Agent Catherine Clarke Rights World English (Hodder Children’s)

Ghostlines

Katya Balen “Sea-soaked” story of friendship, community and discovering what it means to carry home in your heart, from Carnegie Medal-winner Balen.

Agent Catherine Clarke Rights World (Bloomsbury)

The Secret of Golden Island

Natasha Farrant Costa-winner Farrant’s newest has bullied Skylar and displaced Yakov forming a friendship and together finding the courage to beat their fears and face an exciting adventure.

Agent Catherine Clarke Rights World (Faber)

Songs for Ghosts

Clara Kumagai Catfish Rolling author Kumagai returns with this story of Adam, who is having a terrible summer until he discovers the diary of a young woman written in Nagasaki in 1911: a “haunting” retelling of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” with a modern ghostly twist.

Agent Angelique Tran

Van Sang Rights World (Head of Zeus)

Almost Nothing Happens

Meg Rosoff

Rosoff returns with this story of 17-year-old Callum embarking on a whirlwind journey over 48 hours in Paris in a hilariously chaotic story of heartbreak, mystery, adventure and thievery.

Agent Catherine Clarke

Rights UK (Bloomsbury), Italy (Rizzoli), Netherlands (Luitingh-Sijthoff)

Hannah Sheppard Literary Agency

Inkbound: Meticulous Jones and the Skull Tattoo

Philippa Leathley

Ten-year-old Meticulous Jones’ magical tattoo reveals she’s fated to be a murderer…but who is she destined to kill and is a “fating” ever wrong? “For fans of The Swifts and Nevermoor.”

Agent Hannah Sheppard Rights UK and US (HarperCollins), Dutch, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese

Work it, Lara Bloom!

Dee Benson

Second in the Branford Boase-longlisted series, featuring more teenage catastrophes documented in Lara Bloom’s hilarious diary.

Agent Hannah Sheppard Rights World English (Bonnier)

A Werewolf Ate

My Homework

Emily Snape

Nobody believes Asher when he says that his soon-to-be stepbrother is a werewolf...How can he prove Luca isn’t what he seems? “Funny, illustrated fiction: Jeff Kinney meets Pamela Butchart.”

Agent Hannah Sheppard

Luigi Bonomi Associates

Diary of a Big Bad Wolf Ben Miller

Latest from Miller has the Big Bad Wolf trying to fulfil his destiny and trick Little Red Riding Hood, but instead he finds himself being tricked by a whole host of fairytale characters.

Agent Luigi Bonomi Rights UK (Simon & Schuster)

Clem Fatale

Eve Wersocki Morris

In 1950s London, Clem Fatale is the toughest gangster girl in town—but when her dad is snatched in the middle of a heist, Clem must work out who is friend and who is foe… starting with Gilbert, the boy she’s accidentally just taken hostage. First in a new series.

Agent Louise Lamont Rights World English (Little Tiger)

The Exes Anam Iqbal “‘Gossip Girl’ meets ‘Crazy Rich Asians’” as two teens from opposite sides of the tracks collide at a high-society London party—and have to work out just how far they’re willing to go to give their love a chance.

Flora Stormer and the Golden Lotus

Isabella Harcourt

First in a magical new children’s adventure series featuring Flora Stormer, a talented young artist with Tourette’s Syndrome, who travels the globe with her explorer father, and the friends she makes along the way.

Agent Hannah Schofield Rights World (Hachette Children’s)

Madeleine Milburn

Weavingshaw

Heba Al-Wasity Enemies-to-lovers YA romantasy “for fans of Six of Crows and Belladonna”.

Agent Chloe Seager

Wildheart

Bec Manser Epic, magical middlegrade fantasy about sisterly bonds, freedom and discovering the right environment to grow into your true self; “perfect for fans of Greenwild and The Whisperwicks”.

Agent Chloe Seager

Agent Hannah Schofield Rights UK and Commonwealth (Penguin Children’s)

The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones

Lex Croucher Satirical, magical crossover that “sits on a shelf somewhere between The Secret History and Her Majesty’s Royal Coven”, featuring friends-to-lovers and enemies-to-lovers romance, dark academia, spells, boarding school fun “and Lex’s signature wit”.

Agent Chloe Seager Rights UK & Commonwealth (Gollancz), North American (Wednesday), Italian (Ne/oN), under offer in Czechia

Beckett Lane Must Perish

Nashae Jones

“ ‘John Tucker Must Die’ for a modern YA audience, for fans of Michelle Quach, Joya Goffney and Ali Hazelwood.

Agent Chloe Seager Rights UK & Commonwealth (Penguin Random House Children’s), North American ( Aladdin)

The Majorly Awkward BFF Dramas of Lottie Brooks

Katie Kirby

The latest in Kirby’s

EVE WERSOCKI MORRIS

Photography: Yellowbelly

BOOKS Bologna Preview Agents’ hotlists

bestselling middle-grade Lottie Brooks series filled with “friendship, embarrassing moments and plenty of lols”.

Agent Chloe Seager Rights UK and Commonwealth (Puffin), Dutch (Gottmer), Polish (Znak), options in 14 territories

Northbank Talent

A Better Nightmare

Megan Freeman

“Spectacular YA romantasy début set in a world where magic isn’t a gift but a disease.” Confined to a correctional school for afflicted children, Emily Emerson is drawn to nonconforming Emir and secret society The Cure.

Agent Elizabeth Counsell

Rights World English (Chicken House), Italian (Rizzoli)

The Book of Heartbreak

Ova Ceren

“Sparkling” YA début from BookTok and Instagram creator Ceren about 17-year-old Sare who, after her mother’s death, is cursed to die when she suffers a broken heart.

Agent Elizabeth Counsell

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know

About Mental Health

Sam Delaney “Funny, engaging and useful” guide to mental health aimed at young people, combining expert advice, scientific evidence and insights from young people themselves, from journalist and broadcaster Delaney.

Agent Elizabeth Counsell

PFD

The Afterdark

E Latimer At a secluded boarding school in the Canadian wilderness, Holland finds herself falling for the new student, Evie. But the girls soon find themselves piecing together the mystery of the surrounding forest, which transforms into a nightmarish landscape at sunset.

Agent Silvia Molteni Rights US and Canada (Tundra Books)

The Undying Tower

Melissa Welliver

The first in a “daring” YA dystopian trilogy descends into the dark side of immortality and champions fighting for what’s right, especially when the world is against you: “for fans of Ben Oliver and Josh Silver”.

Agent Lucy Irvine Rights UK and Commonwealth excluding Canada (UCLan)

The Lost Saint Rachael Craw “Voice-led, compulsive” romantasy that follows Ana’s quest to find the legendary mystic everyone calls “The Saint”, who is said to have the power to send Ana home, while surviving a perilous journey through a forest, escaping a superstitious mob, and the Northmen who hunt her.

Agent Silvia Molteni Rights US and Canada (8th Note), ANZ (Walker), audio (Bolinda)

The Time Travelling Misadventures of the 7th Son

Iqbal Hussain Middle-grade family love story with a time travel twist. When Zubair discovers his ability to revisit events from the past, he uses it to try to “fix” his family, with unexpected consequences.

Agent Silvia Molteni, Lucy Irvine

The Babylon Sisterhood Lerah Mae Barcenilla A sapphic romantasy with a dark academia twist draws on Philippine mythology and is a highstakes mystery centred around the disappearance of students from a magical university. “For fans of Rin Chupeco and Olivie Blake”.

Agent Lucy Irvine

RCW

Evenfall: The Golden Linnet

Alexander Armstrong Magic, intrigue, danger and glory in a “thrilling modern classic” following 13-year-old Sam as he discovers that he is part of an ancient, secret society—one that once

protected the world, but is now in danger of being wiped out entirely unless he can unlock his powers.

Agent Claire Wilson Rights UK (Farshore)

The Dagger and the Flame

Catherine Doyle

Two rival assassins are pitted against each other in a deadly game of revenge and love by The Storm Keeper’s Island writer and co-author of the Twin Crown series.

Agent Claire Wilson Rights UK and US (Simon & Schuster), France (Bayard), Netherlands (HarperCollins), Russia (MIF), Spain (Hidra), Ukraine (Old Lion)

I am Rebel

Ross Montgomery

“Beautiful, heartwarming” middle-grade adventure about the unbreakable bond between a dog and his human from the twice Costa-shortlisted Ross Montgomery.

Agent Claire Wilson

Rights UK (Walker)

Thorn Season

Kiera Azar

“Irresistibly sexy, dangerous and compelling” romantasy début following the wealthy daughter of a dynasty riven by secrets,

terrifying world called the Stillness, where three teen protagonists are trapped between life and death. They hatch a plan to escape but evil Jonah is on their tail.

Agent Kate Shaw Rights World English (Scholastic)

The World Between the Rain

Susan Cahill

“Beautiful” middle-grade novel set in wild, coastal Ireland and a world beyond the rain, full of wonder, wisdom and consolation, about the magic everyone carries inside themselves. “For fans of Catherine Doyle and Katya Balen”.

Agent Kate Shaw Rights UK (Everything With Words)

Boop!

Marie Basting

not least that of her own forbidden powers. When a thief threatens to betray her, beginning a chain of deadly deceptions, Alissa sets out to win her freedom, to unleash her most hidden desires—and to take revenge…

Agent Claire Wilson

The Shaw Agency

The Lucium Crown Vashti Hardy

First instalment of an epic YA romantasy series from the Blue Peter Award-winning author of Brightstorm. “Fourth Wing meets ‘Romeo and Juliet’ ”.

Agent Kate Shaw

Police Witch: Spelling Out the Law

Mark Powers

Brand new series from the Spy Toys and Space Detectives author. Every 10-year-old witch and warlock in the city of Murkchester must spend a year with the Magical Police, fighting supernatural crime. Meet rookie police witch Cherry Worm.

Agent Kate Shaw

Find Me After A Connors Part-horror, part-thriller, part-YA love story, set in a

Canada (Hachette), Brazil (Faro Editorial Eireli), Slovakia (Ikar), Germany (Ravensburger)

Tidespeaker

Sadie Turner

“Atmospheric” YA fantasy début loosely inspired by Mansfield Park, set in a world where the nobility is served by those with elemental powers. Orith—unlucky enough to speak to water—is assigned to serve House Shearwater on a remote, wave-battered island.

Agent Marina de Pass

The Bell Witches

Lindsey Kelk

A playful picture book text that harnesses the craze for booping cute noses, which is also a “guess the animal” game.

Agent Kate Shaw

The Soho Agency

Witchlore

Emma Hinds

Début YA romantasy with a non-binary twist. Orlando is a shapeshifter who has no control over their body changes. After their girlfriend dies in a spell gone wrong, Orlando teams up with a new transfer student, Bastian, to try to bring her back.

Agent Philippa Milnes-Smith Rights UK and Commonwealth (Usborne), North America (St Martin’s Press), UK and Commonwealth excluding Canada audio (W F Howes)

Seawitch

Skye McKenna Third in McKenna’s Hedgewitch series has Cassie and her friends travel to a seaside town in Cornwall, where the barrier between the faerie and human worlds has grown thin. Magical forces begin to break through and Cassie finds herself in a new confrontation with the Erl King…

Agent Philippa Milnes-Smith Rights UK and Commonwealth excluding

After Emily’s father dies, she goes to live with relatives in Savannah, Georgia. But all is not what it seems with the Bell family as they’re hiding a magical secret. Then Emily meets Wyn, taking her away from her family, but if blood is always thicker than water, there is no bond greater than magic...

Agent Rowan Lawton Rights World English (Magpie)

Susanna Lea Associates

The Girl who Dreamed in Magic

Maria Kuzniar “Snowy” middle-grade fantasy adventure “full of friendship and heart”, which follows the magical journey of Saga and her bear Björn, who have to battle a clan of mountain trolls to rescue her captured grandfather.

Agent Thérèse Coen Rights UK and Commonwealth (Puffin)

The Glorious Race of Magical Beasts

Alex Bell

“Thrilling” standalone middle-grade adventure in which librarian apprentice and unlikely adventurer Eli goes on a quest with his moon tortoise Humphrey to win the most perilous race in the world in order to save his ill grandmother.

Agent Thérèse Coen Rights World English (Faber Children’s)

The Hunt for the Cursed Unicorn

SADIE TURNER

Photography: Anita Parry

BOOKS Bologna Preview Agents’ hotlists

Alex Bell

Second novel in the magical middle-grade series, which sees Bess and her friends board the Train of Dark Wonders once again to join a perilous rescue mission in the Land of Cursed Creatures.

Agent Thérèse Coen Rights World English (Rock the Boat)

Stormcliff

Justin Davies

Middle-grade “with a sting in its tentacles”, which follows jellyfish-loving Tally Smuck as she sets out to find the glowing creatures, which failed to appear for the annual Firebloom Festival.

Agent Thérèse Coen Rights World English (Floris)

Ellie Pillai is Not Done Yet

Christine Pillainayagam Third in the prize-winning YA series, in which Ellie has decided to be a better friend, daughter, future sister and all-round Better Person, which means trying to help and sometimes doing the exact opposite.

Agent Thérèse Coen Rights UK and Commonwealth (Faber Children’s)

Storymix

H.E.I.S.T. (Heroic Emancipation and Imperial System Termination)

Soraya Lawal

A thrilling YA blend of “romance, ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ glamour and the social insight of ‘Black Panther’” spotlighting a crew of covert, highly trained teens who reclaim stolen artefacts from major institutions and repatriate them.

Agent Jasmine Richards

Stablehart

Nicci Johnson

“Heartwarming and affirming” story of 11-year-old Pres, who is navigating foster care, finding belonging, and healing through horse riding in the heart of the city at an urban equestrian centre called Stablehart.

Agent Jasmine Richards

United Agents

Cascabel Gray: A Murder of Rogues

Joe Heap

A queer historical adventure and first YA novel from the winner of the Katie Fforde Debut Romantic Novel Award from the Romantic Novelists’ Association— a “brilliant” Regency romp full of “intrigue, dark academia, secret societies and bisexual panic”.

Agent Molly Jamieson Rights World (Scholastic)

Juniper James and the Rogue Knights Patrick Neate

“Funny, exciting and beautifully plotted” first in a planned middle-grade series that is “‘Alex Rider’ meets ‘The Princess Diaries’, with a touch of ‘Enola Holmes’ thrown in” as Juniper suddenly finds herself living in 10 Downing Street when her mother is unexpectedly elected as prime minister and becomes caught up in a net of intrigue.

Agent Anna Webber

Richard the Third Kev Sutherland

“Horrible Histories meets Dog Man” in a graphic novel reimagining of Shakespeare’s play for ages 8-12 with “all the characters you’ll know and love but an extra dollop of silliness, laughout-loud illustrations and a few unexpected twists”.

Agent Emily Talbot

The Tall Man

Mary Cathleen Brown

Middle-grade time slip with a touch of horror as Tom has moved into an eerie house and hears a boy in the cellar, but the cellar is empty. He knows that the boy is real and is convinced that he’s trapped in a brutal past and is the Tall Man’s prisoner.

Agent Jane Willis (for Everything With Words) Rights UK (Everything With Words)

The Others

Sarah Merrett Historical middle-grade science fiction with an epic battle between extraterrestrials and an evil professor. Reuben lives

in an observatory with his astronomer grandmother who is determined to communicate with extraterrestrials, but she has a competitor: the evil professor Pinfield, who wants to capture an alien and put it in a cage.

Agent Jane Willis (for Everything With Words) Rights UK (Everything With Words)

Watson, Littleitle

Totally Chaotic History

Greg Jenner

The first in a “fantastically funny” history series from bestselling author and podcaster Jenner begins with a “whirlwind tour” of Egypt and includes contributions from Egyptologist Dr Campbell Price as well as “sidesplitting” illustrations from Rikin Parekh.

Agent Donald Winchester

Rights UK and Commonwealth (Walker)

Shadow of the Wolf

T K Hall

“Stunning” reimagining of Robin Hood, filled with timely themes of environmentalism, the power of myths and myth-making, dynasty

is about the unlikely friendship between Rory, a dragon outcast who likes to eat bicycles, and Flora, a plucky princess who loves to ride them.

Agent Rachel Richardson Rights UK and Commonwealth (Little Door)

Writers House

Perla

Isabel Allende; Sandy Rodriguez (illus)

The first children’s book written by international literary superstar Allende has the titular dog teaching her human brother, Nico, how to use his superpowers to stand up to a bully.

Agent Johanna Castillo (Allende), Rebecca Sherman (Rodriguez)

Candle Island

and inheritance…and the clash of the ancient natural world with modern industry.

Agent James Wills

Rights World English (David Fickling) Breaks Vol Two

Emma Vieceli

Adapted from Vieceli’s hugely popular webcomic, this is the story of two young men discovering “who they were, who they are, and who they will become. It’s a love story ... but a bit broken”.

Agent James Wills Rights World English (Orbit)

Kevin the Orange

Alan Windram; Olla Meyzinger (illus)

A picture book about uniqueness and Kevin the orange, “the orangiest orange ever”. Kevin isn’t happy, he is tired of being orange and wants to be a totally different colour.

Agent Rachel Richardson Rights UK and Commonwealth (Little Door)

Rory and the Snack Dragon

Louisa MacDougall; Giulia Cregut (illus) “Funny, magical” early reader from début author Louisa MacDougall

Rights US (Philomel/), UK and ANZ (Bloomsbury), Brazilian Portuguese (Record), Bulgarian (Colibri), Catalan (Penguin Random House), Dutch (Wereldbibliotheek), French (Michel Lafon), German (Suhrkamp), Greek (Psichogios), Italian (Feltrinelli) Portuguese (Porto Editora), Romanian (Humanitas), Spanish (Penguin Random House), Turkish (Epsilon), Ukrainian (ArtBooks)

The Eyes and the Impossible Dave Eggers; Shawn Harris (illus) Eggers’ latest children’s novel is an “enthralling” middle-grade told from the viewpoint of a uniquely endearing dog— with illustrations by Caldecott honoree and 2023 Newberry winner Harris.

Agent Steve Malk Rights US (Knopf/PRH), Complex Chinese (Rye Field), Dutch (Leopold), German (Atlantis), Italian (Feltrinelli), Korean (Wisdom House), Polish (Widnokrag), Romanian (Art), Simplified Chinese (Booky), Spanish (Editorial Planeta Mexicana), under offer in Turkey

Until we Shatter

Kate Dylan “Action-packed, epic” YA heist fantasy, “perfect for fans of Six of Crows, Master of One and Bone Crier’s Dawn”.

Agent Andrea Morrison Rights UK and ANZ (Hodder), French (Bayard), German (Harper)

Lauren Wolk Newbery-winner Wolk’s new middle-grade novel— with an “unforgettable setting and a complex web of relationships old and new”, Candle Island is a reverie on the transforming power of artistic expression.

Agent Jodi Reamer Rights US (Dutton)

Dreamslinger Graci Kim “X-Men meets Pokémon” in an “endlessly inventive” middle-grade series from bestseller Kim that asks: “What if Professor X was a Korean king, and magic literally came from our dreams?”

Agent Jodi Reamer Rights US (Hyperion)

The Wylie Agency

Woodfinger

Rana Dasgupta

An ecological fairytale for readers of 8+ in which a poor young girl transforms into a flowering tree, whose flowers bring her family riches but at untold personal and environmental cost.

Agent Charles Buchan

Ten Little Rabbits

Maurice Sendak Previously unpublished counting book from the Where the Wild Things Are author.

Agent Luke Ingram Rights UK (Penguin Random House Children’s), US HarperCollins, Czechia (Meander), France (L’école des loisirs), Germany (Atlantis), Greece (Papadopoulos), Israel (Keter), Italy (Adelphi), Spain (Kalandraka)

O Primeiro Barco

José Saramago; Amanda Mijangos (illus)

A picture book about the profound power of the sea, with a text from Nobel Laureate Saramago combined with new illustrations by Mijangos.

Agent Luke Ingram Rights US (Seven Stories), Brazil (Companhia das Letrinhas), Portugal (Porto), Spain (Beascoa)

PHILIPPA LEATHLEY