While the gold rush of comics to mainstream book publishers seems to have slowed a bit (there were very few announcements or rumors at SPX, aside from Raina Telgemeier’s SMILE deal with Scholastic) it isn’t all over: Jimmy Gownley’s AMELIA RULES is getting the book treatment. PR:
Ginee Seo Books, an imprint of Atheneum/Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, today announced it has acquired the world rights to Jimmy Gownley’s popular comic and graphic novel series AMELIA RULES!. The deal was brokered through an auction by Judith Hansen of the Hansen Literary Agency. Originally published by Renaissance Press, the AMELIA RULES! graphic novels and comics have become a favorite with both critics and fans alike.
Centered around the happenings of ten-year-old spitfire Amelia Louise McBride, the AMELIA RULES! series captures the true essence of being an adolescent girl in America today, as Amelia adjusts to life in “small town America” after her parent’s divorce as she is forced to leave NYC. “Jimmy is a true creative genius, and AMELIA RULES! has that rare combination of mass appeal and literary substance that every publisher dreams about. We are thrilled for Jimmy to be joining the S&S list, as we work to expand our list with some of the top comic and graphic novel talent publishing today, and we look forward to making his name and his characters known to even wider audience beyond his already substantial following,” said Ginee Seo, VP, Editorial Director of Ginee Seo Books.
Jimmy Gownley added, “It was important for me to find the perfect home for AMELIA RULES! and I strongly believe Simon & Schuster and Ginee Seo books are a great match. I am more excited than ever about Amelia and kids graphic novels in general”
The plan is for Simon & Schuster to put out reprints of the first four already published AMELIA RULES! books over the next two years, with the first reprint AMELIA RULES!: The Whole World’s Crazy to be published in Spring 2009 and the last reprint AMELIA RULES!: When the Past is a Present scheduled to be published in Spring 2010. AMELIA RULES! #5: The Tweenage Guide to Not Being Unpopular will be the first original publication with the hardcover and paperback scheduled to come out simultaneously in Fall 2010.
Congrats to Jimmy Gownley! This book has been a hidden gem for years, so it’s nice to see it getting wider distribution.
Excellent news – both for Jimmy and for S&S. He’s a great guy and loaded with talent, and S&S has a first-class team. I think it’s a good match.
Congrats, Jimmy and Amelia!
Amelia Rules currently has good trade distribution (my store carries the entire line) and librarians are BIG fans. Given the excellent stories, AR could be considered a YA book.
(and go read Shades Of Grey, his earlier work. Amazing.)
Terrific news! Here’s a book that really deserves wider exposure and distribution; it’s got it all – engaging characters, great comic timing, and some serious storytelling chops. Gownley uses all sorts of innovative narrative techniques, and integrates them so beautifully into the story that it never feels show-offy or avant-garde – it just flows so naturally from the story and the characters. My kids read AMELIA, and they just grasp the techniques intuitively. It’s only when you re-read it that you notice the tremendous craft involved.
Tiny criticism: Here’s hoping that the S&S repackaging corrects the typos; as much as I love the book, the unintentional misspellings and the occasional it’s/its confusion do tend to throw me right out of the story.
Cool deal! Glad too see big publishers not afraid to re-print some of the quality stuff out there like Jimmy’s Amelia series. And Jimmy has certainly been working his butt off writing, drawing and promoting the books at a million conventions and library events over the years–so its great to see he’ll be getting some help from the S&S distribution and marketing team!
Fingers crossed that someone will follow suit and reprint Mark Crilley’s Akiko comic series, another “hidden gem” that deserves to be on the kids graphic novel shelf! Random House has put out the novelizations but have yet to republish the comics!
Cool. Amelia Rules! is one of this industry’s treasures.
Since around 1994, Jimmy has consistently turned out great comics that are both fun, poignant and thought-provoking. This industry needs more creators of Jimmy’s calibre brought to the mass audience. Mark Crilley’s AKIKO comics are a great example. I’d also suggest Scott Roberts and his wonderful PATTY CAKE series. And how about Mark Oakley’s terrific THIEVES AND KINGS?
I agree with everyone here, this is a good deal that should increase visibility for Amelia Rules! I also second everything Marcus Lusk says about Akiko, Patty Cake, and Thieves and Kings. I have reviewed all of these books for library review journals over the years.
Speaking as a librarian, this is a very good thing.
I’ll toss in my reprint suggestion: Terri S. Wood’s “Wandering Star”.
And Scott Morse!