Piccadilly signs more from Mark Lowery

Piccadilly Press, part of Bonnier Zaffre, has acquired a new middle-grade standalone novel, entitled Leaping Dolphin, from Mark Lowery.

The book is about a boy who goes on an epic journey with his younger brother when he decides they should run away back to the seaside to try and see a dolphin one more time.

Senior commissioning editor Matilda Johnson struck a deal for world English language rights in a two-book deal from Gillie Russell at Aitken Alexander Associates.

Rights have also sold to Rowohlt in Germany, Van Goor in Holland, Pocket Jeunesse in France, de Agostini in Italy and Planeta in Spain.

Lowery is also the author of the Roman Garstang Disaster series, published by Piccadilly, which includes the books The Jam Doughnut that Ruined my Life and The Chicken Nugget Ambush, as well as two titles scheduled for 2017.

Johnson said: “I immediately fell under the spell of the characters in Leaping Dolphin and Mark’s writing is wonderfully confident, warm and affecting. The Roman Garstang Disasters are pitch-perfect comedies, and this new story confirms Mark’s talent as a very special writer indeed.”

Piccadilly Press will publish Leaping Dolphin as a paperback original in 2017.