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YA debut ‘What I Like About Me’ sold to US and France

Jacinta di Mase Management has sold US and Canadian rights to Jenna Guillaume’s YA debut What I Like About Me (Pan) to Peachtree Publishing, and French-language rights to Pocket Jeunesse.

The Rights Hive’s Natasha Solomun, who negotiated both deals on behalf of Jacinta di Mase Management, said that the US publisher was ‘immediately intrigued by the title since hearing about it at the Frankfurt Book Fair last year’. Peachtree Publishing is also the US publisher of Australian YA author Melissa Keil. US publication of What I Like About Me is scheduled for North American spring 2020.

Pocket Jeunesse has published fellow Australian Jessica Townsend’s ‘Nevermoor’ series, and is the French publisher of John Green and Rainbow Rowell. A French publication date is yet to be confirmed.

What I Like About Me is the first book from Guillaume, former editor-at-large for BuzzFeed Australia and a former editor of Girlfriend magazine. Written as the diary of 16-year-old Maisie Martin, the book follows Maisie through the summer holidays as she faces an unrequired crush and enters a beauty pageant to prove a point. It was shortlisted for this year’s Readings YA Prize.

 

Category: Junior Local news Rights and acquisitions