Scholastic picks up Owen's 'tantalising' YA debut

Scholastic UK has signed up two titles from Morgan Owen, including her "tantalising and compelling" YA debut, The Girl With No Soul. 

Commissioning editors Sophie Cashell and Yasmin Morrissey acquired world rights from Hannah Sheppard at DHH Literary Agency. Publication of Owen's debut  is slated for March 2022. 

The synopsis reads: "Prepare to immerse yourself in a world unlike any other. Iris has a deadly secret ... she is a hollow, a person with no soul. In Providence, where the Order use soul-casting lanterns to ensure the five elements of the soul are in balance, it’s the worst crime you can commit. Iris must hide from the Order at all costs. But when Iris is sent to steal a ring from a lady of nobility, she is reunited with her Spark – one of the five parts of her own missing soul. Hunted by the Order, she is unexpectedly helped by Shadow-casting scholar Evander Mountebank. Together the pair set out to find the other four missing pieces of her soul and discover the truth of why Iris’s soul was shattered."

Cashell said: "From the moment I read the first words of Morgan’s vision for this book, I was hooked – Morgan has created an incredibly tantalising and compelling world where the impurities of your soul are displayed for all to see, where objects can contain memories that are relived for years to come, where a girl with no soul can fall in love. Her writing is utterly transfixing and it is a joy to work with such a bright new talent."

Owen, a former bookseller, said: "The Girl With No Soul is a story about the mysteries of the mind and the secrets of the heart. I’m overjoyed to be working with the incredible talent at Scholastic to turn this lifelong dream into a reality. I hope readers will lose themselves and find themselves again in this world like I did."