Hyperion announces plans to publish Marian Wright Edelman's THE SEA IS SO WIDE AND MY BOAT IS SO SMALL, a series of letters to her grandchildren, our leaders, women around the world and to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. among others. Edelman is the founder and president of the Children's Defense Fund and the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, The Measure of Our Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours. She has written eight books and edited numerous others, and is the winner of many awards for her work including a MacArthur Prize Fellowship, the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Award and Heinz and Neibuhr Awards. In 2000, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Robert F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award for her writings.

Edelman has been a passionate crusader for the betterment of children's lives and created the Children's Defense Fund in 1973 to campaign for children's needs. Despite great progress in many areas for millions of children, 13 million children still live in poverty and 9.4 million children lack health insurance. A majority of these children live in working families. In THE SEA IS SO WIDE AND MY BOAT IS SO SMALL, a title that comes from the Children's Defense Fund's motto, Edelman calls on all adults to confront and end our hypocrisy, neglect and abandonment of children and warns about the dangers of the "cradle to prison pipeline" which she believes threatens our nation's social, economic and racial progress. In her letter to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. she assesses America's progress since his death and call for a Poor People's Campaign 40 years ago and peril that remains that destroys the dreams and future of countless poor children, especially poor children of color. With Edelman's trademark mixture of inspiration and information, this new book has a powerful message for everyone who cares about the values and wellbeing of our country.

The announcement was made by Hyperion President, Robert S. Miller. Of the deal Miller said: "Marian Wright Edelman is an inspiring leader who has worked tirelessly for the least powerful members of our society - our children. This book is a clarion call to everyone who cares about America's future, and we are honored to be its publisher."

Miller negotiated the deal with Timothy Seldes at Russell & Volkening. Executive editor, Gretchen Young, will edit it for publication scheduled September 2008. Hyperion retains World rights, including book club, first serial, and audio.

Hyperion, which was founded in 1991, publishes general-interest fiction and non-fiction hardcover, trade, and mass-market paperback books for adults and includes the VOICE, Miramax, ESPN Books, ABC Daytime Press, Hyperion East, and Hyperion AudioBooks imprints. Hyperion is the adult trade book publishing unit of ABC, Inc.