BWW Previews: RICK RIORDAN PRESENTS Adds Kwame Mbalia's TRISTAN STRONG To The Line!

Exciting things are happening at Disney Hyperion revolving around #1 New York Times Best Selling Author Rick Riordan and his brand-new imprint Rick Riordan Presents. The line is dedicated to bringing mythology and lore from cultures around the world into print through #OwnVoices writers, and giving more writers a chance to tell their stories. To learn more about the line, check out BroadwayWorld's article about it here.

Earlier this month, the first book in the line, ARU SHAH AND THE END OF TIME by Roshani Chokshi, debuted at #2 on the New York Times Best Sellers List. BWW reviewed it here!

Yesterday, Publishers Weekly released rights report information for the next series in the line, centered around a seventh grade boy named Tristan Strong:

Stephanie Owens Lurie at Disney-Hyperion/Rick Riordan Presents has acquired, in an exclusive submission, world English rights to Kwame Mbalia's Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky and an untitled sequel. Pitched as a middle grade American Gods, the book stars a seventh-grade boy who accidentally creates a hole into the Midpass, a world where ancient African gods clash with gods of African-American legend. He must race to find Anansi, the Weaver, and repair the rip before the iron monsters wreaking havoc in the Midpass consume their world and ours. Publication is scheduled for winter 2020; Victoria Marini negotiated the six-figure, two-book deal on behalf of CAKE Literary, in association with Rena Rosser.

The book was commissioned by Cake Literary, whose mission is,

Cake Literary is a literary development company committed to creating quality multi-platform content for middle grade, young adult and women's fiction audiences, all with a strong focus on diversity. We are not publishers, but rather a pair of writers with our pulse on the publishing marketplace who work on crafting concepts and developing new voices. Once we develop a concept and find a great writer to work with us, we take these projects to the major publishing houses - where they're turned to exciting, diverse, and un-put-down-able fiction.

The title was developed in part with Dhonielle Clayton, the New York Times Best Selling Author of THE BELLES, which debuted earlier this year to great acclaim.

The first book in the new series, TRISTAN STRONG PUNCHES A HOLE IN THE SKY, will debut in 2020, and we already can't wait to read it!

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