Screen rights optioned for bestselling cyber-bullying novel

Destroying Avalon, the first Australian novel to tackle the cyber-bullying phenomenon, is one step closer to becoming a film.

Production company Vue DC P/L has purchased the option to take Kate McCaffrey’s popular teen novel to the big screen.

Children’s Publisher Cate Sutherland said Fremantle Press would be thrilled to see a film version of Destroying Avalon.

“Cyber-bullying is a major concern for many parents and kids.

“It would be great to reach an even wider audience for a story that shows teenagers the potential effects of cyber-bullying and encourages victims to get help,” said Sutherland.

Destroying Avalon charts the life of a young girl whose life is turned upside down when she finds herself at the centre of a brutal cyber-bullying campaign. Due to its enduring popularity a novel is now in its fifth printing in Australia, with a Korean language edition to be published this year.

Kate McCaffrey will appear at the Centre for Youth Literature in Melbourne on 3 March and the Somerset Celebration of Literature on the Gold Coast 16-20 March 2009. Her second novel In Ecstasy was published in 2008, with a third novel planned for release in 2010.