Amy Poehler buys film rights to Hodder's feminist YA novel

Hodder Children’s Books, part of the Hachette Children’s Group, has acquired Moxie, a "timely and empowering" feminist YA novel from US author Jennifer Mathieu.

UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) were acquired by Naomi Greenwood, senior commissioning editor at Hodder Children’s Books. The deal was brokered with Ben Fowler at Abner Stein on behalf of Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency. Moxie will publish in September 2017.

Film rights have been sold to Amy Poehler’s production company, Paper Kite Productions. Poehler is best known for TV shows "Saturday Night Live" and "Parks and Recreation". Poehler said: "Moxie is sweet, funny and fierce. Read this and then join the fight."

Moxie tells the story of an unlikely teenager who stands up to sexism in her high school and unwittingly starts a feminist revolution that "rocks her whole town".

The blurb reads: "Vivian Carter is fed up of the everyday sexism that plagues her school halls. Viv's mum was a tough-as-nails, punk rock Riot Grrrl in the '90s, inspiring Viv to create Moxie, a feminist zine that she distributes anonymously to her classmates. She's just blowing off steam, but other girls respond and begin to spread the Moxie message. As Viv forges friendships with other young women across the divides of cliques and popularity rankings, she realises that what she has started is nothing short of a girl revolution… It's time to fight like a girl."

Greenwood said: "Now, more than ever, teenage girls want to read, and need to read, books that overtly talk about feminist issues. Hodder Children’s Books is proud to be publishing a title as important as Moxie; a story that deserves to be told. We’re absolutely thrilled to have Amy Poehler bringing the story to life on the big screen, and we can’t wait to spread the Moxie message far and wide."

Fowler at Abner Stein said: "Jennifer Mathieu’s Moxie is a page-turning read with a strong feminist message that will inspire a young generation. We’re delighted to be working with Hodder Children’s Books on a story as significant as Moxie."