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Random House Children's Publishers has acquired two middle-grade titles, Crog by Amanda Mitchison and Alice's Dragon by Django Wexler, with the publisher saying this is a part of a "strategic drive" to expand the range of titles RHCP is currently publishing for this age group.
Senior editor Ben Horslen and assistant editor Natalie Doherty pre-empted UK and Commonwealth rights in two books from journalist and non-fiction writer Mitchison in a deal with Philippa Milnes-Smith at LAW. Crog is described as "Stig of the Dump meets The Thirty-Nine Steps", and features Crog, a Bronze Age boy summoned into the 21st century to complete a 3,000-year-old quest.
Horslen called it a "future classic'" and said: "Amanda Mitchison is a natural storyteller, and this tale of friendship, trickery and adventure has everything that middle-grade readers love-thrills and spills, terrifying villains and a rich vein of humour."
Meanwhile, commissioning editor Lauren Buckland bought UK and Commonwealth rights from Caspian Dennis of Abner Stein in a three-book fantasy adventure series by Wexler. Caspian made the deal on behalf of Seth Fishman at the Gernert Company. RHCP will publish Alice's Dragon, the first book, in early 2014.
The book follows Alice after she is orphaned by her father's strange and mysterious death, as she searches for the truth. Entering a forbidden library in her house, she discovers she is a Reader—able to enter new worlds through the special books-though she must defeat magical beings to escape them.
Buckland said: "The first book is completely captivating and commercial, with all the ingredients of the classics of the genre, but told in a distinctive new voices. Fans of Lewis Carroll, C. S. Lewis and Michael Ende's The Neverending Story are going to love curling up on the sofa and getting lost in this book."