Mann goes overboard with double deal for Bath Spa graduates

Rachel Mann of the Jo Unwin Literary Agency has struck deals with Macmillan Children’s Books (MCB) and Walker Books for Bath Spa MA graduates Wibke Brueggemann and Lucy Cuthew.

MCB secured world English language rights to Hormonal Horror by Brueggemann (pictured), a love story described as “Georgia Nicolson for Generation Z”, after a five-publisher auction. Editorial director Rachel Petty said the book was “an extraordinarily accomplished début that is wickedly funny and profoundly touching”.

French rights were pre-empted by Gallimard Jeunesse and Spanish rights were pre-empted by Puck, the YA imprint of Ediciones Urano. Multiple auctions are ongoing, said Mann.

Cuthew’s Blood Moon, meanwhile, has been acquired by Walker. Denise Johnstone-Burt pre-empted world English language rghts to the YA verse novel, which is about a girl who is the victim of a viral shaming attack after getting her period during a formative sexual experience. C+W is managing translation rights for both titles.

Mann said: “These titles, in different ways and forms, address what it is to be a teen today. Both are ‘content-heavy’ but sex-positive, reflective of the true experiences and concerns of young people.”