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Simon & Schuster Children’s UK has acquired two YA novels from US debut author Nic Stone.
Dear Martin, which was a New York Times bestseller in the US, is about a boy called Justyce McAllister who starts writing a diary to Dr Martin Luther King. One day he goes driving with his best friend and gets caught up with an encounter with a white policeman where shots are fired, and Justyce finds himself caught in the media fallout.
S&S Children’s will publish the novel in May and a second, Odd One Out, simultaneously with the US in the autumn.
Jane Griffiths, editorial director for children’s fiction, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Anna Carmichael at Abner Stein, on behalf of Rena Rossner at The Deborah Harris Agency.
Griffiths said: “Nic Stone is an incredible new talent on the YA scene whose writing makes readers challenge and confront the world around them, tackling issues around police brutality, embedded racism and finding your place in the world. Dear Martin is an important and timely novel and I’m thrilled to welcome Nic to the Simon & Schuster list.”