Simon & Schuster Children’s Books (UK) today announced the acquisition of two very different fiction series from debut author, Candida Harper, in a deal that sees the writer bringing both humorous teen fiction and gritty dystopian thrillers to the list, for publication in 2013.
Jane Griffiths, Editor at S&S, bought world rights in four books, through two separate two-book deals, from Caroline Walsh at David Higham Associates.
Harper’s first novel, The Disappeared, begins a hard-hitting thriller series, set in a future where children are segregated into institutions that range from comfortable “Learning Communities” to prison-like “Academies”. Seventeen-year-old Jackson is an academic high flyer, living in a top Learning Community, but when he is sent on an errand with his best friend, the two boys are attacked, leaving Jackson badly beaten and his friend dead. Jackson returns to the Learning Community only to be dismissed by his teachers, who claim not to know him. He is sent to an Academy, and finds himself immersed in a harsh, violent, semi-articulate society where the students have created their own hierarchy based on fighting ability. Jackson starts to realize that his whole life has been based on half-truths, and as he builds alliances and begins to educate those closest to him, a plan for rebellion and escape gradually comes into shape. The Disappeared will be published under the name C.J. Harper and is scheduled for publication in February 2013, with a second book in the series to follow in 2014.
In contrast, the second series from Harper begins with Have a Little Faith. Being fourteen is a minefield: with fashion dilemmas, teacher trauma, embarrassing parents and boy drama, Faith is just hoping to make it through Year Ten without too many disasters. But when she and her best friend Megs sign up to take part in an inter-school choir with the local boys comprehensive, Faith’s life gets even more complicated. Just how is she supposed to concentrate on becoming the next Cheryl Cole when she’s trying to understand how teenage boys’ minds work? Have a Little Faith will be published in May 2013, under the name Candy Harper, with a second book to follow.
Candida Harper, the fourth of five sisters, grew up in Oxfordshire. She has worked as a bookseller and a teacher. A graduate of the Bath Spa MA in Creative Writing for Young People, she is married and has a daughter named after Philip Pullman’s Lyra.
Jane Griffiths said of the author: “Candida Harper is a rare find: an author who can write convincing and engaging novels in two very different genres. From the page-turning, atmospherically rich thriller, The Disappeared, which had everyone in the office gripped, to Have a Little Faith, a novel that makes you laugh out loud with its perfectly pitched teen angst, and which is bound to win the hearts of fans of Louise Rennison and Joanna Nadin. I’m really happy to have acquired two such fantastic titles from a brilliant debut author, and I know Candida is going to be a wonderful addition to the Simon & Schuster list.”