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September 21, 2015
THE CHUDNEY AGENCY
2015 Rights List
Beaufrand, Mary Jane
Useless, Teen Novel. Sold to Abrams—New Deal
Marilyn Monroe “Pixie” Gray is the youngest of five quintuplets who lives on Useless Bay on an island in Washington State. Her siblings are all boys. Her family is poor, and they are friends with the Shepherd family, who is not. One dark evening Henry Shepherd, Pixie’s long-time crush, and his father come to the door and say that Henry’s little brother, Grant Shepherd, is missing. The last time anyone saw Grant, one of the brothers (no one’s sure which) took him out on a rowboat. As the families search for Grant, they’ll uncover the body of his mother, expose dangerous lies closely kept for more than a decade, and reveal a killer who’s been waiting for the perfect storm of an opportunity to get their way.
Manuscript: January 2016
Foreign Language /Audio Rights: Chudney AgencyWorld English: Abrams
Publication Date: May 2016
The Rise & Fall of the Gallivanters, Teen Novel. Sold to Abrams
Girlsare disappearing. Noah is a teen with a dark past, becomes obsessed with where they’ve gone—he’s convinced their disappearance has something to so with the creepy owners of a local beer brewery. Noah worries about the girls as a way of avoiding the fact that something’s wrong with his best friend, Evan. Could it be the same evil force pulling them all down? When the brewery hosts a battle of the bands, Noah reunites the Gallivanters back together in order to get to the bottom of the mystery with a new addition to the band: a possibly hallucinatory David Bowie look-alike named Ziggy. Now secrets other than where the bodies are buried will be revealed—in a story that gets to the heart of grief and loss while also being funny, fast-paced, and heartbreaking.
Manuscript: available
Foreign Language /Audio Rights: Chudney AgencyWorld English: Abrams
Publication Date: May 2015
The River, Teen Novel/Mystery. Sold to Little, Brown
Moving to a new town with her chef mother and attorney father hasn’t been easy, Ronnie is making the best of things. She enjoys the babysitting little Karen Armstrong. But when Karen is found dead in the river, everything changes. Ronnie can’t let go of the feeling that something is suspicious. When her friend Gretchen begins to act strangely and lose weight, Ronnie discovers she’s been using serious drugs, and begins to connect the dots as she investigates the drowning. What happened to little Karen?
Foreign Language /UK /Audio Rights: Chudney Agency
Publication Date: February 2010
***Foreign Deals: Germany (Coppenrath)
***Nominated for 2011 Edgar Award Best Mystery Teen Novel
Biren, Sara
The Last Thing You Said, Young Adult. Sold to Abrams—New Deal.
For months, Lucy and Ben have circled each other in their grief and their guilt.
Everything changed for them the day Lucy’s best friend Trixie – Ben’s sister – died. Ben has pushed Lucy away and suffocates his feelings with meaningless relationships; he can’t wait to leave town and with all the constant reminders of how he couldn’t save his sister. Lucy has reached a breaking point, too, burdened by family problems and the loss of both her best friend and the only boy she’s ever loved.When money becomes tight, Lucy’s lake home is rented out for the summer to a family – whose son, Simon, just might be able to help Lucy move on. As Lucy and Simon grow closer and the first anniversary of Trixie’s death approaches, Ben finds he can no longer stifle his emotions, including his feelings for Lucy. They can’t change what happened the day they lost Trixie, but this summer might finally bring them closer to healing – and to each other.
Manuscript: October 2017
Foreign Language: Chudney AgencyWorld English: Abrams
Publication Date: May 2017
Bonk, John
MADhattan Mystery, Middle Grade. Sold to Walker/Bloomsbury
Lexi and her younger brother are spending a few weeks in New York City with their actress aunt while their father is away on his honeymoon with his new wife. While waiting for their aunt in the Grand Central train station’s famousWhispering Gallery, Lexi overhears aconversationabout a big jewel heist. Once the kids meet Kim Ling Levine in the building, bold and all knowing, she urges them to ditch day camp and dig into the more excitingmystery Alexi overheard in Grand Central--even though mostlikelyit was probably a unlikely jewel heist.This is a wonderful novel set in NY, withmanyNY locations, quirky characters, mystery & humor.
Books: available
Foreign Language /UK /Audio Rights: Chudney Agency
Publication Date: May 2012
***Foreign Deals: Germany (DTV)
Bundy, Tamara
Walking Miss Millie, Middle Grade. Sold to Nancy Paulsen / Penguin. New Deal.
After Alice’s parents separate, she moves with her family to Georgia. Alice is not looking forward to summer at all. Luckily, it’s only temporary, as Alice hopesher dad will rejoin the family soon. To make matters worse, when her mothercatches Alicespying on an elderly neighbor lady, she insists Alice apologize for her rudeness and directs her to help the neighbor with some chore. Miss Millie is 92 and needs help walking her fussy dog, Clarence. But when the dog only walks when Miss Millie accompanies them, their walks become a daily lesson in walking in someone else’s shoes as Millie shares with Alice what it was like to be black in the racially divided South.
Manuscript: October 2015
Foreign Language: Chudney AgencyWorld English: Penguin
Publication Date: May 2017
Butler, Emily
The Drollery Letters, Middle Grade. Sold to Egmont USA—2-book Deal
Josephine Drollery is a 12-year-old detective trying to solve the mystery of her beloved parents' deaths. Sadly, she is hindered by the fact that she, herself, is a ghost.
After Josephine's mother hosts a party, inviting a number of close family friends to enjoy a magic show and a little musician who has performed in the royal courts ofEurope.After playing a few songs on his harp, the party is suddenly over.So is life as Josephine knows it, for when she wakes up, she’s dead. And she’s not the only one: her beloved parents are also dead, as well as most of the servants and the guests who attended the party. Josephine suspects treachery. Josephine learns she’s being pursued by some ruthless government agents from the Department of Research and Phantasmology. Will Josephine discover what happened to herself and her family?
Manuscript: Available
Foreign Language/UK/Audio Rights: Chudney Agency
Publication Date: to be determined
Chapman, Elsie
Divided, Teen Novel. Sold to Random House. Sequel to Dualed.
West Grayer is done killing. She defeated her Alternate, a twin raised by another family, and proved she’s worthy of a future. She’s ready to move on with her life. The Board has other plans. They want her to kill one more time, and offer her a deal worth killing for. But when West recognizes her target as a ghost from her past, she realizes she’s in over her head. The Board is lying, and West will have to uncover the truth of the past to secure her future. How far will the Board go to keep their secrets safe? And how far will West go to save those she loves? With nonstop action and surprising twists, this sequel to Dualed reveals everything.
Books: available
Foreign Language/UK/Audio Rights: Chudney Agency
Publication Date: April 2014
***Foreign Deals: France (Lumen), Korea (Bookscent)
Dualed, Teen Novel. Sold to Random House
An Alternate. West Grayer has one, just like everyone else in the world. A double, a virtual twin in every way. Chances are they would never have even met, except for the fact that she is the one person West has to kill, before her Alt kills her. West is haunted by guilt over the hand she played in her brother Luc’s death, and is torn by her feelings for his best friend Chord--who has demons of his own regarding how Luc died. Terrified of what she has to face--West runs. To escape, she works as a Striker, a hired assassin for other people’s Alternates. Each target, each contract, numbs her that much more. But as events come to a head, West must find her way back home--not only to save Chord from the danger that threatens his life, but to save herself…in every way that counts.
Books: available
Foreign Language/UK/Audio Rights: Chudney Agency
Publication Date: February 2013
***Foreign Deals: Germany (Droemer), France (Lumen), Korea (Bookscent)
Cirrone, Dorian
The First Last Day, Middle grade. Sold to Aladdin / S&S. New Deal.
After Haleigh Adams finds a mysterious set of paints in her backpack, she paints a picture of her last day at the New Jersey Shore. The next morning, she finds that her wish for an endless summer with her new best friend Kevin has come true.At first she’s thrilled, but as the time loop continues, Haleigh learns that staying in one place comes with a price. And when she realizes her parents have been keeping a secret, she has to make a choice: do nothing and miss out on the good things about growing up or find the secret of the time loop and face some of theinevitablerealitiesof moving on. As sheand Kevin set out to find the source of the magic paints, Haleigh worries it could be too late. Or worse: she might be making the biggest mistake of her life.
Manuscript: available
Foreign Language: Chudney AgencyWorld English: S&S
Publication Date: Summer 2016
English, Karen
On Montego Drive, Middle grade. Sold to Clarion/Houghton Mifflin New Deal.
In this coming of age novel, Sophie and her family find themselves the first black family on Montego Drive, where smart and precocious Sophie loves to observe the world around her: her new white friend, the unfriendly other white kids on the block, her parents difficult marriage. But Sophie is especially preoccupied with her older teenaged sister Lily who takes a job at a boutique while passing as white and Jewish and Lili’s political boyfriend – all this set against the backdrop of the Watts riots of Los Angeles, 1968.
Manuscript: April 2015
UK / Foreign Language: Chudney Agency
Publication Date: Summer 2017
Estby Dagg, Carole
Sweet Home Alaska. Middle Grade. Sold to Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin. New Deal.
When Trip’s out-of-work father volunteers their family in one of President Roosevelt’s daring social experiments, Trip is whisked away from the world of indoor plumbing and electricity to live the life of a rugged pioneer in Palmer, Alaska. Trip is excited. She’s dreamed about being a pioneer like Laura Ingalls Wilder. But whenwinter arrives, Trip's family is still in a tent; not so much fun anymore. But despite snow, monster mosquitoes, and other challenges, the family comes to love Alaska. Trip’s mother, however, still misses her old life in the city and wants to return. It’s up to Trip to do something to stay make her mother happy and keep the family in Alaska.
Manuscript: available
Foreign Language: Chudney AgencyWorld English: Penguin
Publication Date: Summer 2016
Davis, Tanita
Peas & Carrots, Teen novel. Sold to Knopf/Random House
Hope is not having the best first day of school: her family is now joined by yet another foster child, Dess, the older sister of baby Austin whose been with the family for a while. Dess has been in foster care—while her mother is doing time for drugs—and after testifying against her father, a violent gang member. Dess is a tough girl, while Hope is sweet and nurturing. There's no way these two will get along, and no way this blended family could possibly succeed. Dess is white and Hope is black. Dess is horrified at her new practically vegetarian "rich" foster family and all she wants to do is to bide her time until she can take her brother and leave them. Eventually, Dess realizes that blood might be thicker than anything, but family is where you find home.
Manuscript: April 2015
Foreign Language/UK/Audio Rights: Chudney Agency
Publication Date: February 2016
Happy Families, Teen Novel. Sold to Knopf / RH
A teenage brother and sister spend Spring Break with their father in an effort to come to terms with his newly exposed gender identity lifestyle while struggling through individual challenges, prejudices and fears to trust the love that once made them a happy family. Insightful, dignified, well written.
Books: available
Foreign Language/UK/Audio Rights: Chudney Agency
Publication Date: May 2012
Mare’s War, Teen Novel. Sold to Knopf / RH
Mare's Waris the story of how a young, poor, African American girl in the 1940s manages to escape her terrible life on the family farm who lies about her age in order to enlist in the army during World War II and eventually gets shipped of to England and Paris for her service. This was unusualenoughfor any woman tohavedoneso in those days, but for African American women--even more so. Mare's voiceis exceptional, and the novel is told in alternating periods: back during the War, and some present day chapters when we see Mare take her 2 granddaughters on a car trip to tell them her story.
Books:available
Foreign Language/UK/Audio Rights: Chudney Agency
Publication Date: May 2009
***Coretta S. King Honor novel / Selection of the Junior Library Guild
Fischer, Debbie Reed
This is Not the Abby Show, Middle Grade. Sold to Delacorte/Random House.New Deal
Abby is a jokester, a funny girl, a regular cut-up—the problem is she doesn't know when to stop sometimes. Maybe it's part of her ADHD condition (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), or maybe she just loves the limelight—after all, she wants to be some sort of entertainer one day. But after forgetting to take her medicine, and after bruising people's feelings, and especially after a silly prank goesreallywrong—well, Abby knows she has to turn over a new leaf.
Manuscript: available
Foreign Language/UK: Chudney Agency Audio Rights: RH
Publication Date:Fall 2016
Flores-Scott, Patrick
American Road Trip, Teen Novel. Sold to Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt—New Deal
Seventeen-year-old, Teodoro “T” Avila finds himself sleepwalking through life after his once happy family is torn apart by the stresses of the Recession and the return of his damaged big brother, Manny from the Iraq War. When T falls hard for the beautiful and brilliant, Wendy Martinez, he fights to escape his family’s drama in order to turn his life around, to get into college and to win her heart. However, there is no escape as big sister—in a desperate attempt to fix Manny and to bring T back into the fold—coerces her brothers into the ill-advised road trip that will force T to make the choice between family and love.
Manuscript: January 2016
Foreign Language/UK/Audio Rights: Chudney Agency
Publication Date:Fall 2017
Jumped In, Teen Novel. Sold to Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt
Sam's life sucks. Dumped at his grandparents after his mom leaves him to “find herself,” Sam disappears under his sweatshirt hood. But then he finds his life altered when Luis, one of the school’s bad boys is seated next to him--for every single one of his classes. Soon Sam is forced by Luis to team up for the tenth grade poetry jam--which terrifies Sam. Over time the boys become friendly, a friendship both have needed. When Luis disappears on the day of the festival, Sam revels in success, alone, but not fully fulfilled--and then embarks on a journey to find the real Luis, his missing new friend.
Books: available
Foreign Language/UK/Audio Rights: Chudney Agency
Publication Date:Fall 2013
Hammel, Sara
The Underdogs.Middle Grade Novel. Sold to Farrar, Straus & Giroux. New Deal
Who killed Annabel Harper?Regulars at the local health and tennis club are haunted by the death of the beautiful teenager. The list of suspects among thetennis players, coaches, members and staff is as deep as the Club's Olympic-sized pool.12-year-old plump Evie and her best and only friend Chelsea jump on the opportunity to investigate, especially as Annabelwas one of the few people who was nice to her. All summer Evie spends her time watching the tennis prodigies train, fending off boys who tease her—while her very special friendship with Chelsea—who has a big secret of her own—is the only thing keeping her going.As they learn secrets about the Club's regulars, they discover a disturbing truth that will test their special friendship and prompt an act of heroism that will change them both forever. Evie eventually discovers a powerful gift within herself that will alter her life. The end is uplifting, moving, and beautiful—and is a portrait of a pure, true and sweet friendship.