Title: The Midnight Charter

Author: David Whitley

Agora is an insular city-state where anything can be bought and sold. In The Midnight Charter everything is a commodity – goods, services, people, thoughts, concepts and even emotions are bartered on the open market. An economy without money, where trade is the only way of life and debt is death. The successful elite rule, plague festers in the pitiless slums and children are possessions until their twelfth birthday. In the ancient tower of Count Stelli, the city’s greatest astrologer, two children meet, both of whom have been sold into servitude.

UK Publisher: Puffin

US Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

Rights: Doubleday (Canadian), Longanesi (Italian), Goldmann (Germany), Sesam (Danish), Motibo (Greek), Dutch Media Group (Dutch), Chungrim (Korean), Eksmo (Russian), Editora Rocca (Brazilian), Intellectual Property Group (Dramatic). All other rights available

Schedule: First UK publication 2009