Scholastic buys YA set in ‘deadly circus’

Scholastic will this summer publish a YA novel set in a deadly circus, where the children of immigrants are forced to perform in a travelling circus.

Show Stopper, by teacher and debut novelist Hayley Barker, is about a ruling class of people called the Pures, who visit the circus to “experience entertainment with a brutal, bloodthirsty edge”. One ‘Pure’ called Ben, who is the teenage son of a government minister, falls in love with Hoshiko, a tightrope walker and the star attraction.

Lauren Fortune, editorial director at Scholastic UK, struck a two-book deal for world rights with Madeleine Milburn Agency.

Fortune said: “Show Stopper is by turns dazzling and dark, heartbreaking and heart-racing. It gripped me from the first page – the story is a thrilling tightrope walk between adventure and romance, with astonishing action set-pieces in the circus and danger at every turn. Hayley is a writer to watch and we’re very excited to be publishing her.”

Publication is set for June 2017.