Some mighty interesting books...

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION/DEBUT:

Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani's I DO NOT COME TO YOU BY CHANCE, the story of a Nigerian family descending into poverty -- focusing on an earnestly ambitious son and his prideful, cautious mother -- who are drawn into Nigeria's 419 email scam industry, with its implications on their personal lives and on Nigerian society at large, to Zareen Jaffrey at Hyperion, by Daniel Lazar at Writers House (NA).

Irete Lazo's THE ACCIDENTAL SANTERA, the story of a Latina scientist's unlikely journey into Santeria, the ancient and often-misunderstood religion brought to the New World by Yoruba slaves, to Toni Plummer at Thomas Dunne Books, by Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency (World).

MYSTERY/CRIME:

Author of Dead Connection, Alafair Burke's LAST CALL, continuing with Detective Ellie Hatcher, pitting her against a serial killer targeting the Manhattan bar scene, moving with Jennifer Barth to Harper, for two books, for publication beginning in fall 2008, by Philip Spitzer at Philip Spitzer Literary Agency (world, excl. UK).
Translation rights: sandy.hodgman@harpercollins.com

Mehmet Murat Somer's THE KISS MURDER and THE PROPHET MURDERS, the first in a mystery series set in Istanbul starring a transvestite nightclub owner who is a Thai kickboxing expert, has a fondness for the chic style of Audrey Hepburn, and is drawn into solving crimes of passion, blackmail, and sexual intrigue, to Alexis Washam at Penguin, in a pre-empt, by George Lucas at Inkwell Management on behalf of Serpent's Tail (NA).

GENERAL/OTHER:
Thrity Umrigar's THE WEIGHT OF HEAVEN, the story of a young American couple who travel to India to heal from the grief of the death of their son and while there decide to adopt a child, but are forced to face with their own cultural imperialism, again to Claire Wachtel at Harper, by Marly Rusoff at Marly Rusoff & Associates (world; excl. Germany).

Seth Greenland's SHINING CITY, a satire of contemporary life, in which an average guy inherits a dry-cleaning business from his estranged brother, discovers it's a front for a call-girl service, and must come to terms with his new life as a pimp, to Colin Dickerman at Bloomsbury, by Henry Dunow at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner (NA).

CHILDREN'S/YOUNG ADULT:

Sarah Ockler's debut TWENTY BOY SUMMER, pitched as in the tradition of Ann Brashares and Sarah Dessen, following a sixteen-year-old girl with a life-shattering secret as she navigates the unfamiliar landscape of changing friendships, burgeoning sexuality, loss, and the meaning of true love, to Jennifer Hunt at Little, Brown, in a pre-empt, for two books, by Ted Malawer at Firebrand Literary.
ted@firebrandliterary.com

BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:

THE SMART COOKIES' GUIDE TO MAKING MORE DOUGH, recounting five women's personal stories of their financial mishaps and strategies for paying down debt as quickly and painlessly as possible, to Danielle Perez at Bantam Dell, and Canadian rights to Anne Collins at Random House Canada, by Pilar Queen and Richard Pine at Inkwell Management.

HEALTH:

Dr. Robert Kaplan's DO NO HARM: The Disturbing Phenomenon of Medical Murder, exploring the dark side of the doctor's compulsion to take responsibility for human life - the potential for unbalanced or sychopathic physicians to take responsibility for death, and how the medical system has often let them get away with it, to Peter Ginna at Bloomsbury, by Martin Kaplan (World).

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Guardian China correspondent Jonathan Watts's WHEN A BILLION CHINESE JUMP, a ground-up exploration of the stark choice facing China: become either the world's first green superpower or an agent of global ecological disaster, to Colin Robinson at Scribner, and Henry Volans at Faber UK, by David Fugate at LaunchBooks Literary Agency.
david@launchbooks.com

Exiled former prime minister of Pakistan (back in the news for a possible return to power) Benazir Bhutto's RECONCILIATION: Islam, Democracy and the West, part memoir and part political book, offering a "look at the mistakes we've made in the region and what we can do to correct them - as well as what the consequences will be if we don't," to Tim Duggan at Harper, for publication in spring 2008, by Andrew Wylie at The Wylie Agency.

HUMOR:
GOLDIE'S LOX AND THE THREE BAGELS authors Jeffrey Dubinsky and Lila Dubinsky's A FISTFUL OF DREIDELS AND OTHER YIDDISH TALES OF THE OLD WEST, short western stories with a Jewish twist, such as Gunfight At The Oy Vey Corral; The Good, The Bad, and The Meshugah; Have Gelt, Will Travel; and My Darling Clemenstein, to Gary Goldstein at Citadel, in a nice deal, for publication in Fall 2008 (World).

MEMOIR:

Andy Taylor's WILD BOY: MY LIFE WITH DURAN DURAN, the memoir from the former member of Duran Duran that charts his 25 years in the music world and sheds light on its key players from the inside, and how his 20-plus year marriage has endured against all odds, to Karen Kosztolnyik at Grand Central, by Diane Banks of Diane Banks Associates (US).

Pulitzer Prize-winning music critic Tim Page's PARALLEL PLAY, a memoir based on his New Yorker article about growing up gifted and unknowingly struggling with Asperger's Syndrome, to Karyn Marcus at Doubleday, in a pre-empt, for publication in fall 2009, by Melanie Jackson at the Melanie Jackson Agency.

SCIENCE:

NBCC finalist Jason Roberts' EVERY LIVING THING, about the audacious, often-fatal program launched by scientist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), to compile a catalog of all life by sending acolytes to every corner of the globe (billed as "The Right Stuff of the 1700s"), to Starling Lawrence at Norton, in a pre-empt, for publication in 2009, by Michael Carlisle at Inkwell Management (US).

Canadian rights to Doubleday Canada, in a pre-empt.

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