Scholastic swept away by Lisa M Sylvan’s ‘deliciously dark’ YA novel

Scholastic has been swept away by Lisa M Sylvan’s “atmospheric” YA novel, Dangerous Girls. 

Fiction publisher Lauren Fortune acquired world rights from Silvia Molteni at PFD fpr publication in September 2025. 

Pitched for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Rory Power, Dangerous Girls follows the “undeniably strange” Imogen Brine, who can make poisonous flowers grow. Imogen is invited to a secret island off the coast of Scotland with other gifted girls, but when a deer is found dead with flowers growing from its corpse, Imogen is suspected. She must work quickly to find out what is causing a series of strange events on the island. 

Sylvan said: “Working on this book has been the most wild and fun and exciting experience, and I can’t wait for readers to meet these characters and go on this journey. Between my agent Silvia and everyone at Scholastic, I’m feeling very lucky with the team supporting me and my dangerous girls.” 

Fortune and Olivia Towers, assistant editor, added: “We are so excited for YA readers to devour Lisa M Sylvan’s deliciously dark and addictive gothic fantasy. It’s an eerie, beautifully written story to be swept up in: a stunning slow-burn romance, powerful girls with unique supernatural gifts and sizzling secrets, and a creepy murder mystery. Lisa is such a talent – the atmosphere she conjures will send a chill down your spine.”