Little Island announce sequel to Meg Grehan’s The Deepest Breath
Little Island Books have announced the acquisition of The Brightest Star by Meg Grehan, a sequel to the award-winning verse novel, The Deepest Breath.
World rights in all languages were acquired by publisher Matthew Parkinson-Bennett directly from the author. Little Island sold North American rights to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and translation rights in French, Polish, and Danish.
A favourite among librarians and booksellers, The Deepest Breath has become a contemporary classic queer middle-grade novel and The Brightest Star will be eagerly anticipated.
The Brightest Star
Stevie, Chloe and Andrew, the three best friends from The Deepest Breath, are starting secondary school. Stevie and Chloe are delighted to discover a warm and welcoming environment in the LGBTQIA+ society. But Andrew feels isolated and confused. He wishes he could find his tribe like his friends have — but he’s unsure where he belongs.
Stevie has anxieties of her own. She has always excelled academically, but now she is struggling in maths class. Who is she supposed to be, if not the clever one in her friend group?
A gentle and reassuring exploration of friendship, identity, community and self-understanding, The Brightest Star will resonate with young readers feeling challenged by questions of sexual identity, growing up, and fitting in.
Little Island’s Parkinson-Bennett said that watching The Deepest Breath finding its readers has been one of the privileges of his career. ‘Meg has a beautiful gift for exploring anxiety, self-doubt and isolation in a gentle, kind, and reassuring way. I look forward to seeing The Brightest Star step out from the shadow of its sister book and shine its own light into the world.’
Meg Grehan said that she has carried the characters with her since writing their first story. ‘I will forever be grateful to everyone who connected with The Deepest Breath, they changed my life and made me a better, braver writer. I hope readers are excited to see Stevie again, I know she’s excited to see them!’
The Brightest Star will be published by Little Island in May 2025.
