Tuesday, March 24, 2009

The Latest Books Coming Out....

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION....

DEBUT:

Adrienne McDonnell's debut THE DOCTOR AND THE DIVA, about a young, Harvard-educated obstetrician in Boston who imperils his promising career when he becomes attracted to one of his patients, a beautiful opera singer who has struggled for years to get pregnant -- inspired by the author's ancestor and based on family letters and memories of elderly relatives who have long been haunted by the secret, to Pamela Dorman at Pamela Dorman Books, in a pre-empt, for publication in summer 2010, by Lisa Bankoff at ICM (NA).

WOMEN'S/ROMANCE:

Tessa Dare's next three historical romances (tentatively titled the Stud Club trilogy), in which a duke, a warrior, and a scoundrel are united by chance, divided by suspicion, and brought to their knees by love, to Kate Collins at Ballantine, for publication in 2010, by Helen Breitwieser at Cornerstone Literary (world).

GENERAL/OTHER:

Masha Hamilton's 31 HOURS, counting the hours preceding a terrorist attack in the New York City subway from the perspectives of characters who are connected to the looming tragedy including a Saudi graduate student, a highly idealistic, American student whom the student has recruited, the American's girlfriend, and his divorced parents who are brought back together in their search for their missing son, to Fred Ramey at Unbridled Books, by Marly Rusoff of Marly Rusoff & Associates (NA).

Adam Langer's THE THIEVES OF MANHATTAN, about a fake memoir that reveals the theft of a priceless ancient manuscript from a most unusual library and the down-on-his-luck writer who becomes embroiled in what turns out to be an elaborate confidence game designed to scam the publishing world, to Cindy Spiegel at Spiegel & Grau, by Marly Rusoff of Marly Rusoff & Associates (NA).

Tish Cohen's third novel, THE SATURDAY DAUGHTER, in which a sister and brother discover that the mother they thought abandoned them as children has actually been searching for them, and that their father, whose memory is decaying from Alzheimer's, had kidnapped them away years ago, to Jeanette Perez at Harper Perennial and Jennifer Lambert at Harper Canada, by Daniel Lazar at Writers House (NA).

Author of MISTRESS SHAKESPEARE and THE LAST BOLEYN, Karen Harper's Kat Ashley novel, a novel in the form of a memoir by Katharine Ashley, Queen Elizabeth I's faithful governess and lady-in-waiting, to Rachel Kahan at Putnam, for publication in 2010, by Meg Ruley at Jane Rotrosen Agency (NA.)

CHILDREN'S/MIDDLE GRADE:

Jon Voelkel and Pamela Voelkel's JAGUAR STONES trilogy, beginning with MIDDLEWORLD, about a 14-year-old who follows his parents down to South America after they disappear on an archaeological dig, and begins a wild adventure through the Mayan underworld against a background of haunted temples, zombie armies and human sacrifice (a previously published edition already sold 10,000 copies), to Elizabeth Law at Egmont, for three books, at auction, by Daniel Lazar at Writers House.

CHILDREN'S/YOUNG ADULT:

Rachel Hartman's SERAPHINA, pitched "in the vein of Gail Carson Levine and Tamora Pierce," about a teenage girl coming of age in a world where dragons can take human form, set against a series of magical secrets, royal scandals, family loyalties, moving to Jim Thomas at Random House (originally sold to Atheneum), for two books, at auction, by Daniel Lazar at Writers House (world English).

NON-FICTION....

BIOGRAPHY:

Mother of Mattie J.T. Stepanek, the NYT bestselling author and humanitarian who died of Dysautonomic Mitochrondrial Myopathy at age 13, Jeni Stepanek's MESSENGER: The Legacy of Mattie J.T. Stepanek and Heartsongs, telling of the years before Mattie got sick, how he handled losing his older brother when he was three to the same disease, his decision to dedicate himself to helping people embrace peace and hope, and how, when he became a celebrity, Jeni helped to keep him grounded, including previously unpublished material from Mattie (poetry, excerpts from his essays, and email correspondence with some of his famous friends), and a foreword by Maya Angelou, to Carrie Thornton at Dutton, in a pre-empt, for publication in November 2009, by Dan Strone at Trident Media Group (world).

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:

Taras Grescoe's STRAPHANGER, a narrative look at the end of the golden age of the car, as visionary designers and urban planners in cities around the world develop innovative alternatives to urban sprawl and congestion to create the inconceivable: a car-free urban world, to Webster Younce at Holt, in a pre-empt, by Michelle Tessler at Tessler Literary Agency (World).
Nicole.dewey@hholt.com

Obamanomics author and former LBO expert at Goldman Sachs John Talbott's THE 86 BIGGEST LIES ON WALL STREET, knowing the players and how the game is played, to Dan Simon at Seven Stories, for publication in June 2009 (World).

HUMOR:

Maxime Valette and Guillaume Passaglia's F MY LIFE, based on the website (and the original French website and book), telling horrible, horrific, and humorous anecdotes of others' misfortune, now with never-before-seen-entries and illustrations, to Ryan Doherty at Villard, for July publication, by Elsa Lafon at Michel Lafon Publishing (world English).

MEMOIR:

Former President George W. Bush's memoir DECISION POINTS, about a dozen personal and presidential choices, such as his choice of Dick Cheney as VP and sending troops to Iraq, his religious faith and his criticized response to Hurricane Katrina, to Stephen Rubin at Crown, with Sean Desmond editing, in a major deal, reportedly for $7 million (Lynn Sher in the Daily Beast), for publication in fall 2010, by Robert Barnett of Williams & Connolly.

Pat Conroy's THE DEATH OF SANTINI, about his often abusive and complicated father's final days, and Pat's coming to terms with him (a Marine fighter pilot who inspired the novel The Great Santini, remembered by many for Robert Duvall's Oscar-nominated film portrayal of him), to Stephen Rubin and Nan Talese at Doubleday, by Marly Rusoff at Marly Rusoff & Associates (world).

Twesigye Jackson Kaguri with Susan Urbanek Linville's THE PRICE OF STONES: Building a School in Africa, the inspiring story of the author's struggle to found a school for AIDS orphans in his home village in Uganda, to Carolyn Carlson at Viking Penguin, in a pre-empt, by Caitlin Blasdell at Liza Dawson Associates (World).

POP CULTURE:

NBCC-nominated New Yorker critic Richard Brody's NEW WAVE IS NOW, an argument that the French New Wave heritage is not just highly influential, but is actually stifling contemporary filmmaking, to Riva Hocherman at Metropolitan, for publication in 2013, by Anna Stein at Irene Skolnick Agency (NA).

Wrap...

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