Sales and rights roundup from PW

A lot of interesting stuff on Publishers Weekly:

Japan's Studio Ghibli is adapting the 1952 classic The Borrowers by Mary Norton as an animated feature film, Variety reports. It will be directed by animator Hiromasa Yonebayashi under the supervision of Hayao Miyazaki, and will be titled Karigurashi no Arrietty (Arrietty Borrows Everything). The movie is set for a summer 2010 release; Studio Ghibli has also produced Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away, and Princess Mononoke.

Virginia Duncan at Greenwillow Books pre-empted North American rights to The Ivy, the first of a four-book YA series by two 2008 Harvard graduates, Lauren Kunze and Rina Onur. Each novel offers an insider's look at life behind these ivy-covered walls through the story of fictionalized Callie Andrews, who arrives at Harvard expecting the greatest time of her life but finds herself ill-prepared for extracurricular social and romantic hurdles. The Ivy is scheduled for fall 2010 with subsequent hardcovers every nine months. Rosemary Stimola of Stimola Literary Studio did the six-figure deal.

Actor, musician, and producer Nick Cannon has signed a deal with Simon & Schuster for a multimedia book series to coincide with School Gyrls, the Cannon-directed movie that will premiere on Nickelodeon next February. Simon Spotlight will publish a movie novelization and a movie tie-in scrapbook. Aladdin Books will publish six original novels based on the three members of the real-life teen pop group School Gyrls. Fiona Simpson from Aladdin acquired world rights through Fletcher & Company in association with UTA on behalf of Nick Cannon.

Also at S&S, Lisa McMann (Wake and Fade) has signed a four-book deal with the Pulse and Aladdin imprints. The deal is for two YA titles (Pulse) and two middle-grade novels(Aladdin). The first title from Pulse, Dead to You, slated for spring 2012, follows a teenage boy who returns to his family nine years after being abducted. Aladdin will pub The Unwanteds, a dystopian fantasy, in fall 2011; the book follows a group of kids who, after showing sparks of creativity, are banished to a secret world where they're trained to hone their abilities. Michael Bourret of Dystel & Goderich with Jennifer Klonsky did the deal for world rights.

Brianne Mulligan at Razorbill has acquired world English rights to United States of Tara and former Saturday Night Live writer David Iserson's debut Firecracker in a two-book deal, The novel stars Astrid Krieger, a sharp-witted and ill-behaved daughter of privilege, who assembles a team of public school misfits to help her take revenge on her former private school. Richard Abate at 3 Arts Entertainment was the agent.

Check out the whole thing here.