Usborne pre-empts 'gloriously innovative' middle-grade series from Jodie Garnish

Usborne has snapped up playwright and performer Jodie Garnish’s debut middle-grade series, The Spectaculars.

Commissioning editor Becky Walker acquired the series as a pre-empt from Chloe Seager at Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency in a three-book deal for UK and Commonwealth rights. The first in the series, titled The Spectaculars, will be publishing on 29th September in a hardback package illustrated by Nathan Collins. 

"When three figures turn up at 11-year-old Harper’s window in a flying canoe, informing her that she is due to start her apprenticeship, Harper discovers she is a Spectacular – a magical performer, gifted special powers from the stars," the synopsis explains. "Within the walls of the Wondria, the Spectaculars’ starstuff-powered theatre, this group of magical travelling performers tour their wondrous acts. Suddenly, Harper finds herself in a world of starlight, music and friendship. That is, until a sinister creature from a children’s nursery rhyme plunges the Wondria into great danger.

"And as Harper and her new best friend Trick unravel a mystery that will take them deep into the stars, Harper discovers she will do anything to save her extraordinary new home."

Walker said: “Opening with a floating canoe and the crackling promise of adventure, The Spectaculars plunged me so very immediately into a world filled with magic, boundless imagination and the truly delicious spark of creativity – and I knew I would do anything to join this gloriously innovative, unconventional travelling theatre and its cast! We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Jodie to the Usborne list – and can’t wait to welcome a whole generation of new apprentices to the Grand Wondria Music Hall and Theatre!”

Agent Chloe Seager has described Garnish as “a hugely exciting new voice in middle-grade… Readers will find it impossible not to be swept up in the wondrous world she has created.”

Garnish has particular experience working on productions for children. “I’ve spent my life in theatres,” she said. “To me, they have always been places of magic – making them the perfect inspiration for my debut novel The Spectaculars.”