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Hodder buys 'inspirational' teen novel from Almond
Hodder Children’s Books will publish a new teen novel from bestselling author David Almond in May next year.
The Hachette Children’s Group will publish “inspirational and beautiful” The Colour of the Sun as a stand-alone novel in hardback.
Anne McNeil, senior publisher for Hodder Children’s Books, secured world English Language rights from Catherine Clarke of Felicity Bryan Associates.
The book follows Davie whose familiar Tyneside home is turned upside down one day after an older boy is murdered. Davie thinks he knows who the murderer is and embarks on a “string of dramas and encounters”.
A Hodder Children’s Books spokesperson said: “It is a powerful and original story which explores territory from Almond’s earlier work to create something entirely new.”
Almond, who lives in the North East of England, said: “I think this book expresses much about who I am, what I’m learning as a person and as a writer. It explores what excites and mystifies me about the nature of being young, and dramatizes the joys and excitements of growing up.”
He described the book as embodying his “constant astonishment at being alive in this beautiful, weird, extraordinary world”.
McNeil said that in the new book, Almond “reaches out to readers and to writers in a unique way”. She added: “He gifts us his imagination, to do with what we will. It is uniquely personal in its telling.”
Almond has written 20 books since his debut Skelling was published two decades ago.
Clarke said: “In the 20 years since Skellig took the world by storm, David Almond has constantly stretched his own imagination as a writer and storyteller of the highest order. The Colour of the Sun feels like a bringing together of all that is best in his writing, an outstanding novel full of warmth and light.”
Almond’s previous books include the bestselling Skellig - for which he won the CILIP Carnegie Medal and a Whitbread Award - and A Song for Ella Grey (both Hodder Children’s Books). His work has been translated into more than 40 languages, and is widely adapted for stage and screen.
Altogether he has sold 804,687 copies amassing £3.8m.
