HarperCollins Children's Books has acquired the worldwide rights to a new adventure series for girls ages 7 and up. The first of six books "Sophie and the Shadow Woods: The Goblin King" will release in May 2011.

The series follows a 10-year-old Sophie, who on her birthday discovers she is the guardian of a magic gateway to the mysterious Shadow Woods. The series is the first collaboration between authors Linda Chapman and Lee Weatherly, under the pen name L.A. Peters.

The deal was brokered by Harriet Wilson, editorial director at HarperCollins Children's Books, with Caroline Sheldon of Sheldon Literary Agency and Philippa Milnes-Smith from Lucas Alexander Whitley.