Arabic rights in an unofficial biography of Greta Thunberg, the young Swedish climate change activist who led the Climate Change School Strike in March this year, are still available. Greta’s Story: The Schoolgirl Who Went on Strike to Save the Planet by Valentina Camerini, was first published by DeA Planeta Libri in Italy.
So far, Italian literary agent Tiziana Marzano has sold the title to the UK, where Simon & Schuster bought World English Language rights, excluding Australia and New Zealand, and to Spain, Portugal, Korea, Finland, Denmark, Turkey, Sweden and German, with more in negotiation.
Thunberg, who is only 16, is credited with leading the global school strike for climate change which saw an estimated 1.4m children in 112 countries miss school to protest. The strike, and Thunberg herself, received global publicity.
Rachel Denwood, MD of Simon & Schuster Children’s, said the book was “a story of hope, courage and determination”. She bought the book from Sophy Williams at Black Inc Books, the title’s Australian publisher, and added: “Greta Thunberg is one of the most extraordinary young people of our time and her positive action and determination make her an inspirational role model for children. I am thrilled that my first acquisition for Simon & Schuster is a story as important and empowering as Greta’s and I’m immensely proud to see this book on our list.”
As well as writing the book, Carratello, who is an artist and illustrator, has also illustrated the title. The translator is Moreno Giovannoni and Simon & Schuster will publish on 22 August.