Editorial director Shadi Doostdar acquired UK and British Commonwealth English Language rights, excluding Canada, to I Kick and I Fly from Jennifer Powell at Scholastic US.

The YA thriller, which will be published in paperback in July 2023, takes place on the outskirts of Bihar’s Red-Light District. There, 14-year-old Heera waits to be sold by her father into the sex trade. According to the synopsis, “after a chance encounter introduces her to the power of kung fu, she learns to harness her own strength to protect herself and those around her”.

Gupta is the founder-president of Apne Aap Women Worldwide, an anti-sex trafficking organisation that has helped thousands of girls and women in India leave a life of forced prostitution. She is a social justice activist, feminist campaigner, journalist, Emmy Award–winning documentarian, and professor at New York University.

She said: “I am delighted that Heera’s story will be coming to the UK! Rock the Boat is the perfect home for I Kick and I Fly, with their emphasis on diverse voices and tackling big issues.”

Doostdar added: “I Kick and I Fly is a page-turning story that exposes the tragic reality of girls born into a system of sexual slavery in India. I hope readers will fall in love with Heera as much as I did and find her bravery both inspiring and contagious.”