The Iron Trial Series is Announced

Today is chock full of Cassie news and I think this may be the frosting on the cake:

Scholastic Acquires Five-Book Middle Grade Series by Bestselling Authors Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

New York, NY — April 19, 2012 — Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, has acquired North American rights to a five-book middle grade fantasy series by bestselling authors Holly Black and Cassandra Clare; the first full-length collaboration between the authors. The first book in the series, The Iron Trial, is planned for release in 2014. The deal was negotiated by Barry Goldblatt from Barry Goldblatt Literary (for Holly Black), Russell Galen from Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency, Inc. (for Cassandra Clare), and David Levithan, VP/Publisher and Editorial Director at Scholastic.

"Millions of readers have already been enthralled by the worlds that Holly Black and Cassandra Clare have created in their own books," said David Levithan. “Now that they’re combining forces, it's even more magical. This series is going to be one for the ages, and I am honored and thrilled to be publishing it."

"This project is the culmination of years of work and brainstorming with Holly," said Cassandra Clare. "She’s someone I've always wanted to write with, and I can’t express how proud we are of the story we’ve created, or how excited we are to work with Scholastic and David. And we can’t wait for people to read it, of course!"

"We’re so excited to be working on this series with David Levithan and everyone at Scholastic," added Holly Black. "From the moment it crossed his desk, he totally got it. He’s been the perfect reader for the books and we know he’s going to be the perfect editor too."

In this exciting new series, twelve-year-old Callum Hunt has grown up knowing three rules by heart. Never trust a magician. Never pass a test a magician gives you. And never let a magician take you to the Magisterium. Callum is about to break all the rules. And when he does, his life will change in ways he can’t possibly imagine.

And then this news posted on MTV.com -- yes, movie rights have been sold to the Iron Trial series.

"I feel incredibly lucky to be working with Constantin on a second project," Cassie told Hollywood Crush via email. "They really get stuff done and they really include me. I'm so excited they loved the story. And Holly would say she's thrilled to have had such a huge response from the publishing and entertainment communities to the project, and she can't wait to see it as a film. We promised each other if it got optioned we'd get matching tattoos so no backing out now!"

Tattoos of runes or something even more magical? Also, I can hardly wait for my third grade daughter to come home so I can share the news with her. I have a feeling that she and my first grade daughter are going to have to fight me for the rights to read this first. Okay, who am I kidding, I'll buy multiple copies, of course.