Walker sews up deal for gothic MG novel from Kenny

Walker Books has signed a two-book deal with award-winning Irish author Pádraig Kenny, including "gothic adventure", Stitch. World rights for two middle-grade fiction titles were acquired by senior commissioning editor Gráinne Clear from Sophie Hicks at the Sophie Hicks Agency.

Stitch is a Frankenstein-inspired story that follows an unlikely and endearing hero constructed from "odds and ends" by a genius professor. He lives in a castle deep in the woods with the professor’s first creation, Henry Oaf, but when the professor dies and his grasping nephew takes over the laboratory, everything changes. To escape the nephew’s clutches, Stitch and Henry must make their way into a world they are not designed for, and which may never be ready for them.

Kenny has twice won the Children’s Books Ireland Honour Award for Fiction, as well as being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards. Commenting on the deal, Clear said: “I couldn’t be happier to welcome the unique and brilliant talent that is Pádraig Kenny to the Walker list. Stitch is the book I’ve been waiting for: it is literary and accessible, quality and commercial, exploring themes of humanity, friendship and acceptance – all through a page-turning, atmospheric adventure.”

Stitch will be published in spring 2024, with a second standalone novel coming in spring 2025. Walker will be selling international rights at this week’s Bologna Children’s Book Fair.