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Simon & Schuster Children’s Books has scooped Dream Hunters, a magical middle-grade adventure series by debut author Nazima Pathan, with a significant pre-empt.
In her first acquisition for S&S Children’s Books, fiction editorial director Michelle Misra, along with senior editor Arub Ahmed, won world rights for two books from Chloe Seager at the Madeleine Milburn Agency. The rights team at S&S report already fielding strong international interest.
The first book will publish in August 2024 and will be accompanied by a significant marketing campaign, with the second following in August 2025.
The synopsis says: "Set in a fantasy India, 12-year-old Mimi lives with her controlling aunt in a centuries-old hilltop citadel where she studies the ancient practice of making and capturing dreams. Mimi uncovers a plot to transform the citadel into a lucrative business selling nightmare potions, some potent enough to murder their victims – and that the crown prince is purchasing nightmares to poison the king.
"With her dream creature, Lalu, and her best friend, Rafi, Mimi must escape the citadel and begin a perilous journey across India. There are few people she can trust, but saving the life of the king and foiling her aunt’s scheme is in Mimi’s hands alone."
Misra said: “With inventive dream-based magic and colourful descriptions of Mumbai, Nazima’s astonishing middle-grade novel beguiled me from the get-go. Simon & Schuster have a brilliant track record of launching debut authors and we can’t wait to add Dream Hunters to our growing fiction list and introduce Mimi, Rafi and Lalu to a whole world of new readers!”
Ahmed added: “I fell in love with Nazima’s writing from the first page – she paints a rich, gorgeous world where dreams and nightmares can be manipulated, and takes us through an adventure full of excitement and wonder across a fantastical India. We are so excited for readers to be enchanted by this immersive yet accessible story.”
Pathan, a doctor and researcher based in Cambridge, is a graduate of the Novelry and the Golden Egg Academy and was awarded a Megaphone Writes mentorship. She was also selected for the HarperCollins Author Academy programme.
She commented: “I have always wondered about the brief lives of dreams and thoughts, and how they are gone before we even know it. My story grew out of the idea that if they could be captured, they could be studied and recycled into custom blends to heal or harm.
"I was delighted to have my amazing agent, Chloe, believe in my story and champion it and I am so incredibly excited to be working with Michelle and Arub and the whole Simon `7 Schuster team. Their encouragement and belief in this story has been wonderful. I hope readers will enjoy meeting Mimi Malou and the array of dream creatures inhabiting the Citadel.”