Transatlantic is absolutely stoked to announce that World rights to Rhonda DeChambeau’s debut YA novel TOP HEAVY, have been acquired by Sally Morgridge at Holiday House for publication summer 2025!
TOP HEAVY is a novel in verse, about 15 year old Esme, a talented dancer who feels like she might capsize under the weight of her own chest. It is a book that examines friendship, family, social class and the complicated relationship we have with our own bodies.
Poet and writer Rhonda DeChambeau was named the 2022-2023 Writer-in-Residence by the Associates of the Boston Public Library to support her work on TOP HEAVY.
Rhonda graduated with a degree in Literature from Harvard University and earned her Master of Fine Arts degree from Vermont College of Fine Arts. A lifelong resident of Massachusetts, she was introduced to the world of words at a young age when visiting her local library with her mother. Her love of poetry began when she discovered a small volume of poems tucked away in an old bookcase. Rhonda’s projects include picture books, middle-grade and young-adult novels, and poetry for young readers.
Rhonda lives with her husband and two children in South Boston.
Elizabeth Bennett of Transatlantic Agency handled the two-book deal.
Congratulations!