Aisha Bushby signs with Egmont

Egmont has acquired two books by Aisha Bushby, one of the winners of the Stripes BAME anthology competition.

Bushby will pen two middle-grade titles for Egmont: A Pocketful of Stars, about a girl who finds out about her family in 1980s Kuwait, due for release in June 2019, and a second as yet untitled novel in 2020.

Fiction commissioning editor Liz Bankes bought world English language rights from Claire Wilson at Rogers, Coleridge & White.                       

“A Pocketful of Stars is funny, magical and heartbreaking – and its author is a future star of children’s books,” said Bankes. “We’re thrilled to be welcoming the ridiculously talented Aisha Bushby to Egmont. We know her voice will really connect widely with middle-grade readers, and represent the world they see around them (with an extra sprinkle of magic).”

Bushby was one of four new authors selected to write a story for A Change is Gonna Come, an anthology of stories by BAME writers published by Stripes last year. The anthology will be presented with a YA Book Prize Special Achievement Award by The Bookseller in May.