Deals: Cormorant acquires second novel by Michael V. Smith, HarperCollins to publish kids' book by Sarah Polley, and more

Marc Côté, publisher of Cormorant Books, has acquired Canadian rights to Progress by Michael V. Smith. Shortly before the town is to be flooded for a dam, a young gay  man returns to his small hometown and tries to reconnect with his sister. The book will be published in 2011. The deal was arranged by Carolyn Swayze.

HarperCollins Canada executive editor Jim Gifford has acquired Canadian rights to Toronto-based journalist Jay Bahadur ’s The Pirates of Puntland: An Inside Look at the World’s Last Buccaneers.  The book draws on Bahadur’s travels into the heart of Somalia to the autonomous region of Puntland, in order to give the world a better understanding of Somalia's notorious sea pirates. The deal was arranged by Rick Broadhead & Associates.

McClelland & Stewart editor Trena White has acquired Canadian rights to Keeping Track by Nora Young, host of CBC Radio’s Spark. Keeping Track looks at the debates and challenges around virtual data-sharing. The deal was arranged by Chris Bucci of Anne McDermid & Associates.

Cormorant publisher Marc Côté will publish a new novel by Gayla Reid called Reaching Ross, set during the Spanish Civil War. The book will appear in 2010. Cormorant will also republish Reid's previous novels, All the Seas of the World and Closer Apart in 2011. The deal was arranged by Carolyn Swayze.

Dundurn Group editorial director Michael Carroll has acquired Canadian rights to Script Tease: A Wordsmith's Waxings on Life & Writing by Eric Nicol. Nicol is the author of 36 books, radio plays, stage plays, and television musicals and a three-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour. The book will be published in spring, 2010. Carolyn Swayze arranged the deal.

Managing editor Liz Kribs of McClelland & Stewart has acquired Canadian (English- and French-language) and U.S. rights to My First Goal by Canadian author Mike Brophy. In this book, Brophy interviews 50 players, from NHL superstars to journeymen. The deal was arranged by literary agent Arnold Gosewich. The book is scheduled for publication in fall 2011.

HarperCollins Canada executive editor of children's books Lynne Missen has purchased Didi and the Bean by actress and director Sarah Polley and her partner David Sandomierski. The book is about a man and his friendship with a high-spirited talking bean. The deal was arranged by Monica Pacheco at Anne McDermid & Associates.

Greystone Books vice-president and publisher Rob Sanders has purchased Canadian rights to Charlotte Gill's Eating Dirt, a memoir of life as a tree planter that offers insight into the forest industry. The deal was arranged by Anne McDermid & Associates.

Random House of Canada publisher Anne Collins has purchased Canadian English-language rights to the first two books in a new thriller series by Scott Thornley. Erasing Memory will be published in 2011. Bruce Westwood and Chris Casuccio of Westwood Creative Artists arranged the deal.

Jenny Bradshaw at McClelland & Stewart has acquired Canadian rights to Alex Hutchinson's Sweat Science: Fitness Myths, Training Truths, and Other Surprising Dicoveries from the Science of Exercise. The book is scheduled for release in 2011. (HarperCollins U.S. has aqcuired U.S. rights.) Both deals were arranged by agent Rick Broadhead.

Foreign front:

Penguin Canada has a number of foreign deals to report:  French-language Canadian rights to Extraordinary Canadians: Louis Riel & Gabriel Dumont by Joseph Boyden went to Les Editions du Boreal; U.S. rights to The Sheikh’s Batmobile by Richard Poplak were sold to Soft Skull Press, with Italian rights going to L'ancora del Mediterraneo; Romanian rights to Healthy Sin Foods by Dr. Joey Shulman went to Ediura Niculescu; Italian rights to Dreamhealer: A True Story of Miracle Healing by Adam went to MyLife Publishing; French rights to Half World by Hiromi Goto were sold to BAAM!; Hindi rights to the 100th Anniversary Edition of Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery went to Penguin Books India; Japanese rights to The Blythes Are Quoted by L.M. Montgomery were sold to Shinchosha; and Polish rights to The Disappeared by Kim Echlin were sold to Nowa Proza.

Touchstone Fireside, a division of Simon & Schuster, has acquired U.S. rights to Kate Pullinger's The Mistress of Nothing. The deal was arranged by Anne McDermid & Associates.

Knopf senior editor Vicky Wilson has purchased U.S. rights to Jay Bahadur's The Pirates of Puntland: An Inside Look at the World's Lask Buccaneers. The book went for a reported six figures. U.K. rights went to Daniel Crewe at Profile Books, at auction, Australian rights went to Henry Rosenbloom at Scribe, and Dutch rights went to Nieuw Amsterdam. The deals were negotiated by Rick Broadhead & Associates

Italian rights to WP Kinsella's Shoeless Joe went to Tommaso Cenci at 66th & 2nd for spring 2010 publication. The deal was arranged by Carolyn Swayze.