Read All About It: News, Deals and Cover Reveals from Amy Plum, Kimberly Derting, James Dawson, Susanne Winnacker & More!

Here's a round up of the latest book news, deals and some cover reveals that I've discovered over the past few weeks!  It's also basically a digest of all the exciting news stories that come my way and which I've mostly already posted on my twitter and Facebook feeds, so if you want up-to-the-minute book news and you don't want to have to wait around for me to type this up, you can follow me on those sites!

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After the End by Amy Plum || Release date: May 2014

"She’s searching for answers to her past. They’re hunting her to save their future."

World War III has left the world ravaged by nuclear radiation. A lucky few escaped to the Alaskan wilderness. They've survived for the last thirty years by living off the land, being one with nature, and hiding from whoever else might still be out there.

At least, this is what Juneau has been told her entire life.

When Juneau returns from a hunting trip to discover that everyone in her clan has vanished, she sets off to find them. Leaving the boundaries of their land for the very first time, she learns something horrifying: There never was a war. Cities were never destroyed. The world is intact. Everything was a lie.

Now Juneau is adrift in a modern-day world she never knew existed. But while she's trying to find a way to rescue her friends and family, someone else is looking for her. Someone who knows the extraordinary truth about the secrets of her past.

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The Taking by Kimberly Derting || Release date: April 2014

A flash of white light . . . and then . . . nothing.

When sixteen-year-old Kyra Agnew wakes up behind a Dumpster at the Gas ’n’ Sip, she has no memory of how she got there. With a terrible headache and a major case of déjà vu, she heads home only to discover that five years have passed . . . yet she hasn’t aged a day.

Everything else about Kyra’s old life is different. Her parents are divorced, her boyfriend, Austin, is in college and dating her best friend, and her dad has changed from an uptight neat-freak to a drunken conspiracy theorist who blames her five-year disappearance on little green men.

Confused and lost, Kyra isn’t sure how to move forward unless she uncovers the truth. With Austin gone, she turns to Tyler, Austin’s annoying kid brother, who is now seventeen and who she has a sudden undeniable attraction to. As Tyler and Kyra retrace her steps from the fateful night of her disappearance, they discover strange phenomena that no one can explain, and they begin to wonder if Kyra’s father is not as crazy as he seems. There are others like her who have been taken . . . and returned. Kyra races to find an explanation and reclaim the life she once had, but what if the life she wants back is not her own?

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Book Deals, Book Deals, Book Deals.... 

Book Adaptation for French Drama 'The Returned'  

Pan Macmillan has bought the rights to develop two books taking storylines from TV series "The Returned".
Tor UK editorial director Julie Crisp bought world rights in a six-figure deal from agent Ajda Vucicevic at Luigi Bonomi Associates, representing Zodiak Rights and Haut et Court TV.

The acquisition follows Pan Macmillan's publication of Scandinavian TV series "The Killing", developed by thriller writer David Hewson with screen writer Soren Sveistrup.

Macmillan Adult Books publisher Jeremy Trevathan said: "More and more the different areas of popular entertainment are drawing inspiration from each other and delivering wonderful experiences for readers, listeners and viewers. It's so exciting that we will be working with the creators of 'The Returned' to extend and adapt their amazingly compelling concept to turn TV gold into literary gold."

"The Returned" was aired by Channel 4 in the UK earlier this year, and has also been sold around the world include into Sweden, Turkey, Hong Kong, Australia and the US. The drama, set in a small Alpine village, sees a group of long-dead men and women attempting to return to the homes they left behind.

The novels will be adapted from the screenplays of the first two TV series by Pan Macmillan author Seth Patrick (author of Reviver). The first book will be published in autumn 2014, alongside the UK transmission of series two.

Captivating by Meredith Moore
 

Elizabeth Tingue at Razorbill has acquired Captivating, a debut YA novel by Meredith Moore, and a second novel. The first book tells the story of Vivian, who was raised with one goal: to exact vengeance on the man who broke her mother's heart two decades earlier. Vivian targets an innocent senior named Ben as part of the revenge plot, but as the plan is set into motion, she starts to uncover dark and deadly secrets. Alexandra Machinist at Janklow & Nesbit did the deal for world English rights.  
 

The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West

Sarah Landis at HarperTeen has bought Kasie West's The Fill-In Boyfriend, about a girl whose boyfriend dumps her in the parking lot on prom night, so she grabs a "fill-in" date in order to convince her friends her boyfriend is real. Publication is tentatively scheduled for summer 2015. Michelle Wolfson at Wolfson Literary Agency brokered the deal for North American rights. 

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More Book Covers of Awesome...

 

 Say Her Name by James Dawson || Release date: May 2014

Roberta 'Bobbie' Rowe is not the kind of person who believes in ghosts. A Halloween dare at her ridiculously spooky boarding school is no big deal, especially when her best friend Naya and cute local boy Caine agree to join in too. They are ordered to summon the legendary ghost of 'Bloody Mary': say her name five times in front of a candlelit mirror, and she shall appear... But, surprise surprise, nothing happens. Or does it?

Next morning, Bobbie finds a message on her bathroom mirror... five days... but what does it mean? And who left it there? Things get increasingly weird and more terrifying for Bobbie and Naya, until it becomes all too clear that Bloody Mary was indeed called from the afterlife that night, and she is definitely not a friendly ghost. Bobbie, Naya and Caine are now in a race against time before their five days are up and Mary comes for them, as she has come for countless others before... A truly spine-chilling yet witty horror from shortlisted 'Queen of Teen' author James Dawson.

*******

 Forget Me by K.A. Harrington** || Release date: August 2014

Morgan never minded her boyfriend Flynn’s dark and private nature. She found it mysterious and alluring. But now he’s dead, and she can’t move on. She feels much like her dying town, River’s End, with its overgrown amusement park and abandoned houses: once happy…now rotting away.

Hoping for some closure, Morgan uploads her only photo of Flynn to the social media site FriendShare along with a note to say good-bye. But she’s shocked when the facial recognition software suggests she tag him as Evan Murphy. She’s never heard of Evan. A quick search reveals that he lives in a nearby town and looks exactly like Flynn. Same eyes, nose, jawline. Only this boy is very much alive. Digging through layers of secrets, Morgan questions everything she thought she knew about her town, her boyfriend, and even her parents’ involvement in this massive web of lies.

Forget Me is a heart-pounding novel that draws you in and keeps you guessing until the very end.

**Kim Harrington (Clarity, The Dead and Buried) writing as K.A. Harrington

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 Welcome to the Dark House by Laurie Faria Stolarz || Release date: July 2014

What’s your worst nightmare?

For Ivy Jensen, it’s the eyes of a killer that haunt her nights. For Parker Bradley, it’s bloodthirsty sea serpents that slither in his dreams.

And for seven essay contestants, it’s their worst nightmares that win them an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at director Justin Blake’s latest, confidential project. Ivy doesn’t even like scary movies, but she’s ready to face her real-world fears. Parker’s sympathetic words and perfect smile help keep her spirits up. . . at least for now.

Not everyone is so charming, though. Horror-film fanatic Garth Vader wants to stir up trouble. It’s bad enough he has to stay in the middle of nowhere with this group—the girl who locks herself in her room; the know-it-all roommate; “Mister Sensitive”; and the one who’s too cheery for her own good. Someone has to make things interesting.

Except, things are already a little weird. The hostess is a serial-killer look-alike, the dream-stealing Nightmare Elf is lurking about, and the seventh member of the group is missing.

By the time Ivy and Parker realize what’s really at stake, it’s too late to wake up and run.

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(Don't You) Forget About Me by Kate Karyus Quinn || Release date: June 2014

Welcome to Gardnerville.

A place where no one gets sick. And no one ever dies.

Except...

There’s a price to pay for paradise. Every fourth year, the strange power that fuels the town exacts its payment by infecting teens with deadly urges. In a normal year in Gardnerville, teens might stop talking to their best friends. In a fourth year, they’d kill them.

Four years ago, Skylar’s sister, Piper, was locked away after leading sixteen of her classmates to a watery grave. Since then, Skylar has lived in a numb haze, struggling to forget her past and dull the pain of losing her sister. But the secrets and memories Piper left behind keep taunting Skylar—whispering that the only way to get her sister back is to stop Gardnerville’s murderous cycle once and for all.

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 Defector (Variants #2) by Susanne Winnacker || Release date: June 2014

(synopsis not included in case of spoilers. You can read it here) 

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Infinite Sky by C.J. Flood || Release date: May 2014

A truly beautiful book about the summer that changed one girl's life, as her mum leaves home, travellers set up camp in the family's field, her older brother goes off the rails, and she falls in love for the very first time. Opening with a funeral, Iris is mourning the boy in the casket - but who is it? Sam, her tearaway brother, or Trick, her tentative boyfriend? Over one long hot summer, we find out just how their three lives were turned upside-down.

UK Covers for Infinite Sky

Read My Review of Infinite Sky by C.J. Flood 

***** 

How freaky cool is the cover for Say Her Name by James Dawson? Along with Welcome to the Dark House, I think I've got my reading for Halloween 2014 sorted already! I'm also really looking forward to the next book in the Variants series by Susanne Winnacker - love the Dimitri/Rose type relationship that's going on there. And, of course, new books from Amy Plum and Kimberly Derting are always a source for excitement!

What do you think of the latest round up of book deals and cover reveals?  Let me know in comments!

Please note that book covers may not be final and may be subject to change.  Additional sources:  PW Children's Bookshelf and The Bookseller.