Piccadilly picks Peck's move into middle-grade fiction

Piccadilly Press has snapped a middle-grade fantasy title by author and illustrator Hannah Peck, her first book for older readers. 

Ruth Bennett, editorial director, acquired world all-language rights from Katie Blagden at The Bright Agency in The River Thief. The title is slated for an October 2024 launch. 

As an author/illustrator Peck has published three titles in her Katie on the Case series aimed at ages five to eight, also for Piccadilly. She has also been the illustrator on over 30 projects across picture books and middle-grade.   

The River Thief opens when Adderley discovers Ef – a being who seems part human and part fish – in the river by her home. She is then drawn into an adventure that "upturns everything she thought she knew about the world". Ef is searching for a special stone that they say has been stolen from their people. Could this be the key to the drought that is destroying Adderley’s home?” 

Peck said: “The River Thief was inspired by a folktale from near my hometown in Hampshire, in which a sailor is followed from the sea to his village by a revenge-seeking mermaid. Weaving together historical events with the fabled magic of the early 17th century, the book is a fundamentally human story of conflicting beliefs and desires, culminating in a reckoning with the past."

Bennett added: “Peck’s first foray into fiction for older readers establishes her as an outstanding new voice in middle-grade fiction, whose storytelling matches her incredible talent for illustration. The combination of the two will make this a truly beautiful package and a book that is guaranteed to make readers think.”