We're delighted to announce that Pontas now represents the Catalan MG novel of the moment in a joint venture with Planeta (who holds foreign rights). Wolfgang, extraordinary by Laia Aguilar has just been adapted into a major Catalan feature film (produced by Nostromo). The film is currently #1 on the Spanish Box Office list and it has had the most successful cinematic release ever for a Catalan language film.
You can watch the trailer (with English subtitles here):
Wolfgang, extraordinary is a MG novel with crossover potential, reminiscent of other internationally bestselling titles with protagonists on the spectrum. It was originally published in 2016 by Columna in Catalan to great commercial success and it was the winner of the 2016 Carlemany Award and the 2018 Atrapallibres Prize. Over 20,000 copies have been sold in Catalan and the publisher is currently on their 15th reprint. The Spanish translation was published by Crossbooks and it was also published in Polish by Wydawnictwo Widnokrąg. All other translation rights are currently available.
The story follows the 11-year-old Wolfgang, a boy with an extraordinary IQ of 152 and a piano prodigy, who is forced to go live with his estranged father, an actor, after his beloved mother's untimely death, but he comes up with a plan to run away to the best music academy in the world. In the novel Laia Aguilar combines humor and feel-good sensibility to tackle themes such as autism, childhood dreams, fatherhood, family secrets, and acceptance.
Laia Aguilar (pictured above), who also co-wrote the script for the adaptation, attended the movie premiere in Madrid a few weeks ago, alongside the cast and crew, who have all had such a crucial role in this heartwarming film which has become the most successful cinematic release ever for a Catalan language film.
More about the author:
Laia Aguilar was born in Barcelona in 1976 and has a degree in Audiovisual Communication. She combines writing books with scriptwriting for television series. She has published the book Wolfgang, Extraordinary, which was the winner of the 2016 Carlemany Prize and the 2018 Atrapallibres Prize, Wolfgang, Dad’s Secret (the first book’s sequel), and Juno, which won the 2020 Menjallibres Prize and the 2020 Protagonista Jove prize. With the novel Sea of Stars (Pluja d’estels), which was awarded the 2020 Josep Pla Award, she changed course and started publishing adult fiction. Her latest novel, All Those Seas (Tots aquells mars), was published in 2024, and translation rights have been sold into Spanish, Italian, and German.
For more information about the above title, please contact Anna Soler-Pont (anna@pontas-agency.com).