Frankenstein-inspired YA thriller to Scholastic

Scholastic UK has signed a "tense" YA psychological thriller inspired by Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and titled Shell.

Sophie Cashell, commissioning editor at Scholastic UK, struck the world rights deal for the novel and one further stand-alone title by Paula Rawsthorne with Clare Conville at the C+W Agency.

Publishing in 2018, the 200th anniversary year of Shelley’s Frankenstein, Shell is both a "tense" psychological YA thriller and a "thought-provoking exploration of identity and the extremes we go to for those we love", according to the publisher.

The blurb reads: "When Lucy, a teen diagnosed with terminal cancer wakes up cancer-free, it should be a dream come true. But faced with a life she didn’t choose and trapped in a new body, Lucy must face the biggest question of all... How far would you go to save the one you love?"

Rawsthorne said: "I hope that readers will find Shell gripping and thought-provoking and that, within a page-turning thriller, they will be taken on a visceral physical and psychological journey that explores the question of what makes us who we are."

Cashell said: "Paula’s writing is incredibly compelling – not only has she created a chillingly plausible thriller based on the idea that we are willing to do absolutely anything to save the ones we love, but she tackles the question of identity with great sensitivity."

Rawsthorne first found success when she won the BBC national Get Writing competition with her prize-winning story read by Bill Nighy on BBC Radio 4. She has also been a winner of SCBWI’s Undiscovered Voices. Her previous YA novels - The Truth About Celia Frost and Blood Tracks - were published by Usborne.

Scholastic will publish Shell in paperback in January 2018.