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Miramax Books Signs Two Book Deal with

Teen Cult Writer Ned Vizzini

New York, NY – Miramax Books has acquired North American rights to Be More Chill, a first novel from Ned Vizzini, author of Teen Angst? Naaah…, a critically acclaimed memoir of the author’s high school days which became a cult phenomenon nationwide. The first novel and a second book will be published by Miramax Books in conjunction with Hyperion Books for Children. The announcement was made today by Jonathan Burnham, president Miramax Books.

Jonathan Burnham commented: “Ned Vizzini's first novel is a hilarious and pitch-perfect fantasy for readers of 12 years and up: it's the novel you wish you'd read in high-school, a cautionary tale for our times about the pleasures and risks of being cool. And Ned is clearly a major talent who has a remarkable career in front of him.”

Be More Chill is both a classic young adult morality play and a hyper-hip, up to the minute novel. The young protagonist, Jeremy Heere, is a particular brand of dork, smart and savvy, but lacking the must-have quality: Cool. When he gets his hands on and ingests an underground digital gadget called The Squip, he has swallowed the ultimate lifesaver----a cool coach in the form of an inner voice telling you what to say, how to get the hot date, who to know and who to ditch. Jeremy’s swift rise in popularity is not all he expected and it is the lessons learned that will make Be More Chill a novel for generations to come.

Ned Vizzini began writing for New York Press at 15, had his first essay published in The New York Times Magazine at 17, parlayed that into Teen Angst? Naaah… at 19 and is now 21. He is currently a student at Hunter College and continues to write for The New York Press.

“Miramax Books and Jonathan Burnham are letting me stay true to my dork nature,” says Vizzini. “Smart, strange kids across America brought me to where I am today and this one is for them…if I can be the guy who doles out their absurdist high school humor, that’s rocking.”

The partnership between Miramax Books and Hyperion Books for Children has already produced the hugely successful Artemis Fowl series (over 1 million books in print), Summerland, The New York Times best-seller from Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon and will soon publish Adam Gopnik’s first children’s book, The King in the Window as well as the first book in a highly anticipated Bartimaeus Trilogy.

Alessandra Balzer, executive editor, Hyperion Books for Children, who acquired the book plans for a spring 2004 publication.

Devereux Chatillon, evp business and legal affairs, negotiated the deal on behalf of Miramax Books. Jay Mandel of the William Morris Agency negotiated the deal on behalf of Ned Vizzini.

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