Orion Children’s Books buys two from Unsworth

Orion Children's Books has acquired two novels by Tania Unsworth, her first for children, with plans to publish in spring 2014 in the UK.

Managing director and publisher for Orion Children's Books Fiona Kennedy bought world rights, excluding USA, in Unsworth's novels from Rebecca Carter at Janklow and Nesbit.

The first title, The One Safe Place, is set in the near future, where the gulf between the technology-owning rich and the technology-lacking poor is immense.

Kennedy said: "The One Safe Place is one of those scripts that I really could not put down - a measured, beautifully imagined novel, rich and insightful. It has characters easy to warm to and care about, an extraordinary sense of place and a truly page turning plot. It's suspenseful, thrilling, disconcerting and uplifting. We are thrilled to be working with Tania and look forward to publishing her impressive children's debut."

Unsworth has previously published two novels for adults with Viking/Fig Tree, and is the daughter of the late author Barry Unsworth.