Stripes Publishing, an imprint of the Little Tiger Group, has acquired two historical middle-grade adventures by Sharon Gosling. Editorial Director Ruth Bennett bought World rights to THE GOLDEN BUTTERFLY which sees a young girl fight back against the patriarchal restrictions of the Society of Magicians, and a second standalone book from Ella Kahn at Diamond Kahn and Woods Literary Agency.
Bennett said: “I am delighted to be publishing Sharon Gosling’s new historical Middle Grade novels. In THE GOLDEN BUTTERFLY, Sharon’s writing conjures up the wonder of the Victorian stage illusionists, with a story of female empowerment that feels incredibly relevant to young readers today. With a spellbinding combination of adventure, mystery and friendship, Sharon brings the sights, sounds and senses of the period to life like magic.”
It’s 1897 and since The Magnificent Marko dramatically departed the stage, no magician has come close to performing a trick as spectacular as The Golden Butterfly. With her grandfather gone, Luciana feels that the world has lost its wonder. Then the imposing leader of the Grand Society of Magicians appears, searching for something belonging to Marko, and Luciana is drawn into a world of danger and deception. As she battles to protect her grandfather’s greatest legacy, can she distinguish reality from illusion?
A dazzling tale of bravery and friendship in this fast-paced historical adventure for fans of Katherine Woodfine, COGHEART and THE NOWHERE EMPORIUM.
Gosling said: “I’m beyond excited that Stripes has chosen to publish THE GOLDEN BUTTERFLY – it was so much fun to write, and I really hope that readers will find the world of Victorian stage magic just as much fun to read about! Through the story I have tried to recreate the wonder and mystery of the art, and also the great rivalries of the age – along with the ever-present danger associated with creating the great stage magic of the time. It was a fascinating period, made even more so by the fact that we still don’t know quite what a lot of the most intricate of illusions looked like, or exactly how they were accomplished. Magic, indeed!”
Sharon Gosling’s debut middle grade published by Curious Fox, THE DIAMOND THIEF, won the Redbridge Children’s Award in 2014. The sequel, THE RUBY AIRSHIP, was published in April 2014, and the final book in the trilogy, THE SAPPHIRE CUTLASS, in April 2016. Her debut YA novel, FIR, was published by Stripes as part of the Red Eye Horror range in 2017. Sharon also writes books about television and film. Sharon and her husband live in a very remote village in northern Cumbria.
Twitter @sharongosling
Stripes will publish THE GOLDEN BUTTERFLY in May 2019, with a second standalone to follow in 2020.
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