A Short Selection of Unusual Books....

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION/DEBUT:

Nana Ekua-Brew Hammond's POWDER NECKLACE, a coming-of-age novel about a girl who was forced to move from London to Ghana at the age of nine to "give her mum a break" who returns to London after five years only to learn that even at home she can still feel like an outsider, to Malaika Adero at Atria, by Elizabeth Jote at Objective Entertainment (world).

GENERAL/OTHER:

A.W. Hill's NOWHERE-LAND, in which an L.A. cult investigator tracks a kidnapping victim across the globe and into a network of assassins using an alternate reality game to recruit its young footsoldiers, to Charlie Winton at Counterpoint, for publication in June 2009, by Kimberley Cameron at Reece Halsey North (world).

Iowa Workshop teaching-writing fellow Nic Brown's FLOODMARKERS, a collection of humorous linked short stories that all take place the day of Hurricane Hugo's arrival in the quirky small town of Lystra, NC, and DOUBLES, a love story about a recently retired tennis professional trying to get his game back, both on the court and off, to Jack Shoemaker at Counterpoint, by Nathaniel Jacks of Inkwell Management (world English).

CHILDREN'S/YOUNG ADULT:

Debut author Rachel Hawkins' paranormal YA trilogy starting with DEMONGLASS, about a sixteen-year-old witch shipped off to a boarding school for witches, shapeshifters, and faeries, where the traumas of mortal high school are nothing compared to the goings on at "Freak High," for publication in winter 2010, to Jennifer Besser at Hyperion, at auction, in a three-book deal, by Holly Root at Waxman Literary Agency (NA).

BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:

Duke University basketball coaching legend and US men's Olympic basketball coach Mike (Coach K) Krzyzewski's book on basketball and on management techniques, about the leadership skills that he used to unify a diverse group of NBA superstars and win the gold medal in Beijing, co-written with his daughter, Jamie K. Spatola, to Rick Wolff at Business Plus, for publication in Spring 2009, by sports agent David Falk.

MEMOIR:

MFA grad married to Weezer bassist Scott Shriner, Jillian Lauren's memoir SOME GIRLS, a coming-of-age story about identity, adoption, and the two years she spent in the harem of Prince Jefri of Brunei, and her debut novel, PRETTY, which chronicles a young woman's last 72 hours in a state-sponsored beauty school, to Signe Pike at Plume, for publication as a trade paperback original in winter 2010, by Alexandra Machinist at Linda Chester Literary Agency (NA).

Screenwriter Amy Ferris's 3:00 A.M.: Musings from a Middle of the Night Life Crisis, about everything from the author's Jewish mother (the one with a crush on Jesus Christ), to ex-boyfriends, to posh vacation destinations she'll never go to, will resonate for anyone who has lain awake in the wee hours and wondered how their basement (and their head) got so ridiculously cluttered, to Krista Lyons-Gould at Seal Press, by Jane Dystel at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (NA).

Wrap....