Walker snaps up debut middle-grade trio from 'masterful' Thomas

Walker Books has landed Angie Thomas’ debut middle-grade book Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy in a three-book deal.

Fiction editorial director Annalie Grainger acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to the Nic Blake and the Remarkables series from Molly Ker Hawn at The Bent Agency, with the first publishing in April 2023.

Aimed at readers aged nine and over, the first title in the fantasy series follows Nic Blake, a Remarkable—a human descended from African slaves who escaped to freedom using magic. 

"So, it’s perfectly normal for her to receive a hellhound for her twelfth birthday; what’s less normal is for her to discover that there is a deadly prophecy surrounding her birth," the synopsis reads. "Now, Nic must find the missing artefact that will reveal the truth about her past—and save her dad, who has been arrested for stealing it. All in a day’s work for a young Remarkable."

Thomas’ debut YA novel, The Hate U Give, launched straight onto the New York Times bestseller list on publication in 2017, where it has remained every year since it was published, according to the publisher. She has sold 250,941 books sold to date in the UK via Nielsen BooKScan for £1.5m, with The Hate U Give’s 2017 paperback her bestseller on 192,745 copies sold. The Hate U Give was awarded the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, Children’s Book of the Year at the British Book Awards and the Amnesty CILIP Honour for the Carnegie Medal.

The book was adapted into a movie, starring Amandla Stenberg and released by 20th Century Fox. The movie of Thomas’ second novel, On The Come Up, is set to première on Paramount+ this autumn, directed by Sanaa Lathan and starring Jamila C Gray. 

Her most recent YA title, Concrete Rose, a prequel to The Hate U Give, debuted on the New York Times bestseller list and was awarded a Michael L Printz Honor from the American Library Association.

“I am ecstatic to not only be writing a book in a new genre and category but to be publishing it with Walker," she said. "Over the years, Walker has been the perfect across-the-pond home for my novels, and I have no doubt that the teams will go above and beyond for Nic Blake just as they have for Starr, Bri and Maverick. I cannot wait to introduce Walker readers to the Remarkable world.”

Grainger added: “Angie’s debut MG fantasy is everything you’d expect from such a masterful and beloved storyteller. It is fantasy escapism at its best, with many touch-points to other beloved fantasy series that readers will adore, but it stands in a league of its own for originality, scope, character development and tension. Angie is one of the greatest voices of her generation and it is incredibly exciting that she is now taking this immense talent to a younger age group.”