Scholastic signs YA tattoo trilogy

Scholastic UK has struck a three-book deal for a new YA trilogy by debut author Alice Broadway.

Genevieve Herr, commisioning editor, fiction, at Scholastic UK, acquired world rights from Jo Unwin at Jo Unwin Agency for the new trilogy beginning with Ink.

Ink is a story about "love, loyalty and the longing to live for ever" set in a world where "your every achievement, your every failing, your every significant moment, is tattooed onto your skin. When you die your skin is made into a book, so that your children and grandchildren can 'read' your life: a world where you will never be forgotten." Ink follows Leora, who is determined to see her father remembered for ever. She knows he deserves to have all his tattoos removed and made into a Skin Book to stand as a record of his good life. But when his book is confiscated and she discovers a dark secret, she wonders whether she ever knew him at all.

Herr said: “I was gripped by Ink from the first page. The idea is hugely, darkly compelling – a world where every action and deed is marked on your skin and nothing can go unnoticed. But it's Alice's execution that is extraordinary – her writing is so accomplished and beautiful, and her world is so rich, that we believe in it absolutely. I'm so excited to have acquired Ink and can't wait to work on it with Alice.”

Antonia Pelari, UK trade and rights director at Scholastic UK, who described the book as “YA perfection – beautifully written, overwhelmingly intense and utterly captivating", said the publisher "simply cannot wait to share Ink with our trade colleagues and international publishers at Bologna.”

Ink will be published in spring 2017.