Forever or Never!
A year and a half ago, on my very last day as a Scholastic marketing peep, my friend and Captain of Awesome David Levithan said, “I think you have a middle grader in you”. So offensive, right? Who is he to call me immature?!
Luckily before I could [stand on a chair and] give him a noogie, I realized he’d really said, “I think you have a middle grade in you” as in, a middle grade book. And then I gasped dramatically, as I’m wont to do, because I really, really wanted to write a middle grade, and I really, really wanted to write it for Scholastic.
And now I am so grateful, because I now have the chance! Here are the deets:
Lisa Sandell at Scholastic Press has acquiredForever or Never, a debut middle-grade novel by Adrienne Maria Vrettos. After 11-year-old Hattie witnesses a public defriending in the school cafeteria, she convinces her three best friends to sign a loyalty pact. But when Hattie unwittingly breaks it, the pact’s magic causes her friends to forget who she is. Publication is scheduled for 2014; Tracey Adams at Adams Literary negotiated the deal for world rights.
And did you see who the editor is?? Lisa Sandell!! LISA [obscenity redacted because sometimes my Grandma googles – Hi Grandma!] SANDELL! Holy McYAY!
Oh, and did you see the OTHER Lisa Sandell announcement? The one where she is editing a new series by Jennifer A. Nielsen, of The False Prince awesomeness? How exciting is that?!
As for Forever or Never, writing it has been a total blast*
*this is will be 100% true once I’m done. Right now, in the midst of writing, it’s like maybe 60% total blast and 40% total panic
Come on, 2014!
xoxo
AMV