Puffin scoops 'brilliantly immersive' adventure from WriteNow graduate Ahmed Pathak

Puffin has scooped a “brilliantly immersive” middle-grade adventure in a two-book deal from WriteNow scheme graduate Nazneen Ahmed Pathak. 

Natalie Doherty bought world rights in two books from Louise Lamont at LBA. The acquisition was announced as part of the Penguin Random House Children’s Bologna Highlights Webinar. 

First book, City of Stolen Magic, will be published in June 2023. It follows Chompa who is living in Bengal in 1855. The synopsis says: “There are two kinds of magic in Chompa’s world. Her mother favours writing-magic, which anyone can do if they know how. Write a spell in Farsi, and wait. It’s calm, controlled, safe, says Ammi – but hot-headed Chompa finds it boring, frustrating, slow. Then there’s finger-magic, which only a very few are born with. Immediate, powerful – and forbidden, for every act of finger-magic comes at a price... 

“When Chompa defies Ammi and casts a finger-spell, a group of pale men attack their home soon after and snatch Ammi. Along with a crew of unlikely friends, a desperate Chompa must follow them across the ocean to the heart of the empire: London. In this vast grey city, the all-powerful Company are hunting down magical people like Chompa and Ammi for the most sinister purpose…” 

The author is a historian, poet and artist who was selected for PRH’s inaugural WriteNow mentorship scheme, which aims to support and publish underrepresented writers. 

She said: “I started writing City of Stolen Magic when my son was born in 2013, because there were no stories out there that represented his Indian and Bangladeshi heritage, the relationship between colonialism and migration, or South Asian traditions of magic. I am so excited that young readers like Roshan [her son] will now get a chance to read it and immerse themselves in Chompa’s unique magical world.  

“Since being selected for the first WriteNow scheme five years ago, working with the editors at Penguin on City of Stolen Magic has been an absolute joy and privilege. That my book will have a home at Penguin, whose books and authors I cherish, and have cherished since I learnt to read, is the realisation of a dream I first dreamt when I was four and held my first Ladybird book in my hand.” 

Doherty added: “The very earliest lines of Nazneen’s astonishing debut, which Nazneen shared with us as part of the application for our WriteNow scheme, made everyone at PRH sit up and take notice; it was clear already that she had such storytelling skill, and that we were about to read something very special. City of Stolen Magic is brilliantly immersive and evocative, a truly page-turning adventure starring a gorgeously strong-willed new heroine, and it shines an unflinching light on real colonial history that I’ve seen in very few books for children. We’re so proud to publish this book and to introduce Nazneen and Chompa to readers.”