Hodder Children’s acquires new Taran Matharu series

Hodder Children’s Books, part of Hachette Children’s Group (HCG), has bought the UK and Commonwealth rights to a new series by YA author Taran Matharu.

The ‘Contender’ series is about a juvenile delinquent called Cade and Victorian cat-burglar Harriet who live in different eras. One day they are both transported to another world and are forced to become contenders in an “endless, brutal” tournament.

Hodder struck the deal for three books with Juliet Mushens at Caskie Mushens and will publish the first book in hardback in May 2019.

The publisher is also releasing several books in Matharu’s previous series ‘The Summoner’, with Summoner: The Battlemage paperback, a World Book Day edition of Summoner: The Novice, and a new hardback prequel called Summoner: The Outcast, all coming this year. The whole series is set to undergo a rejacket, starting with the World Book Day title and followed by the rest of the series in January 2019.

In addition, Hodder has bought UK and Commonwealth rights to gift book, entitled The Summoner’s Handbook, that will be published in October.

Naomi Greenwood, senior commissioning editor at Hodder Children’s Books, said: “We are thrilled to announce new publishing with the uber-talented Taran who is an international star on the Hodder Children’s list. It is incredibly exciting and rewarding working with an author who can bring the most unique of worlds to life with such depth and imaginative scope. Fans can expect more of Taran’s trademark world-building and epic adventures in his new series, Contender, and The Summoner’s Handbook is an exciting opportunity to expand and explore the complex world of the Summoner series in a beautiful gift edition.”