Short list of books coming out....

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

GENERAL/OTHER:

The Last Boleyn and the Elizabeth I mysteries author Karen Harper's WILL'S OTHER WIFE, the story of a Anne Whateley of Stratford, who married Shakespeare in secret less than a week before his shotgun wedding to Anne Hathaway, and who lived with him in London when his career was at its height, to Rachel Kahan at Putnam and Ellen Edwards at NAL, in a pre-empt, by Meg Ruley at Jane Rotrosen Agency (NA).

Beneath a Marble Sky author John Shors's THE POET MAKERS, set in the South Pacific during WWII after a torpedo sinks a U.S. hospital ship and nine survivors manage to swim to a nearby island threatened by the traitor among them, by hurricanes and by the imminent arrival of the Japanese navy, again to Kara Cesare at NAL, in a two-book deal, by Laura Dail at Laura Dail Literary Agency (World English).

CHILDREN'S/MIDDLE GRADE:

Ridley Pearson and Dave Barry's SCIENCE FAIR, a humorous thriller that makes fun of science fairs, obsessive parents, obnoxious kids, countries with no vowels, and middle school in general, to Wendy Lefkon at Disney Children's, by Amy Berkower at Writers House (NA).

UK FICTION:

Costa (aka Whitbread) biography award winner Brian Thompson's mysteries series set in fin de siecle London, about a writer whose craft gets her involved in real-life mysteries, to Angus McKinnon at Atlantic Books, in a two-book deal, by David Miller at Rogers, Coleridge & White.

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:

Globe and Mail journalist Doug Saunders' look at the demographic shift in the world's cities and its ramifications, focused on the Great Migration in which a third of the globe's population is on the move, as the last of the rural societies abandon agriculture and move to urban areas, to Michael Schellenberg at Knopf Canada, for publication in 2010, by John Pearce at Westwood Creative Artists (world).

Knopf has sold rights in an "international partnership" including Andrew Miller, Sonny Mehta and Dan Frank at Knopf/Pantheon, Jason Arthur at William Heinemann in the UK, Tilo Eckardt at Karl Blessing in Germany, and Miguel Aguilar at Debate/Mondadori in Spain, with more deals on the way at the fair.

Paul Alexander's untitled book on Karl Rove, about the decline and inevitable fall of the influential senior advisor to the President, based on new research and interviews with insiders who have previously remained silent, to Leigh Haber at Modern Times/Rodale, by Lisa Bankoff at ICM (NA).

Wrap...