Kids & YA Newsletter: January 2023

MIDDLE GRADE

Twelve-year-old Artem doesn’t want to move, but his mom’s money troubles are threatening to take him far away from his mobile home park and his friends. When his best friend Filibus inherits a fortune from some random rich lady on the edge of town, Artem wonders if this might be a way to save his home. If he can convince Fil to pay off Mom’s bills, he’s hopeful everything can go back to the way it was. Unfortunately, Fil’s inheritance isn’t what it seems. Turns out Fil’s benefactor was a dragon who bequeathed him her hoard. To make matters worse, the dead dragon’s sister is intent on reclaiming the treasure. Now Artem finds himself stuck in the role of sidekick to a best friend who has enormous luck but even more gargantuan problems. THE FAME AND FORTUNE OF FILIBUS LOOF is a delightful adventure comedy from author Sean Easley that follows a down-on-his-luck preteen struggling with feelings of jealousy towards his best (and luckiest) friend while also feeling like he needs to be the brains of an operation that will literally keep said friend alive. Calling to mind the charms of James Riley’s Story Thieves series and the excitement (and dragons!) of Brandon Mull’s Dragonwatch titles, this is a delightful romp sure to entertain even the most reluctant reader. (Please note, Jim McCarthy is the agent on this project.) 

Failing seventh grade isn’t ideal under any circumstances, but when you’re attending an elite spy school, your parents are spies, and your sister is a spy…it’s that much worse. Sasha has been training to be a spy in the group since he was a baby, and though everyone assures him that not being a spy is “just fine,” he’s determined to succeed. It’s not that he doesn’t have the skills, but he can’t hold it together when he’s being tested. To get his mind off school, Sasha befriends his neighbor, David, a non-spy kid, but there’s a reason spies are encouraged to socialize within their ranks. After an encounter with some of the advanced defenses around Sasha’s house, David realizes that Sasha and his family are not ordinary neighbors. Though Sasha won’t divulge anything about the group, David now feels safe sharing his own secrets: his father vanished five years ago, and recently he’s been getting cryptic, unsigned notes. He’s convinced these two things are related. When Sasha and David follow the clues in the notes, they end up breaking into a seemingly ordinary office building. But they encounter a strange verification system that seems to recognize Sasha—the group. The building’s defenses attack them, and the boys escape, only for Sasha to return home and discover his parents gone and all of the group apparently under siege. Fleeing, Sasha knows that he is going to have to use all his spying skills to save his parents and connect the dots between David, his father, and the group. Rebecca E.F. Barone’s SPY is her first thrilling foray into middle grade fiction, having written critically-acclaimed nonfiction books for young readers. (Please note, Michael Bourret is the agent on this project.)

Sheltered twelve-year-old Jovi has been focused on cooking ever since her dad left the family six months ago. What started as a hobby morphed into more, thanks to her friend Jules submitting her as a contestant on the Kids Cooking Challenge–Food Allergy Edition. But it’s not clear if Jovi will even get to participate considering that her mom constantly frets about all the potential dangers lurking in the kitchen and in life. Right before summer, Jovi’s dad unexpectedly jumps back into the picture, wanting to spend time with Jovi and her twin sister, Iris. At the same time, Mom’s plans to take the girls to Paris for work are thwarted by her company’s policies. As a last resort, she agrees to let Jovi and Iris travel the western states for the summer in an RV with their dad, eccentric uncle, and internet-famous grandma. Dad plans to make one of their last stops Seattle so Jovi can appear on the cooking show. But with abandonment-bitter Iris, road hazards, and a tiny mobile kitchen to use for practice, Jovi worries that she’ll never be able to compete with the YouTube kid chefs. And a summer of risks might give her mom a reason to keep her dad away for good. FORKS ON THE ROAD is a delightful middle grade novel from debut author Shanna Rogers for fans of Anna Meriano’s Love Sugar Magic and Rajani LaRocca’s Midsummer Mayhem. (Please note, Jim McCarthy is the agent on this project.)

Ten-year-old Aggie, a near-sighted medieval peasant, wants nothing more than her father’s love. When the grimy, ill-clad Slouch-Abouts steal land from her family, she hatches a plan to steal it back—and gain Da’s attention. Nothing goes right with her plan, and she finds herself even lower in Da’s esteem. Then Aggie begins to realize how poor the Slouch-Abouts are, and tries to help by secretly bringing them food—the eel her father has been fattening. Her plan goes horribly awry when Da accuses Nob Slouch-About of the theft. He’s so angry that he wants Nob’s thumb chopped off. Aggie is paralyzed into silence by guilt and terror: what if she loses her own thumb? The controversy tears her village apart, setting farmer against farmer, and putting next year’s harvest in jeopardy. Now everyone might go hungry. It’s up to Aggie to set things right, if she can only see clearly enough to do so. Medievalist Rebecca Barnhouse draws on historical events to tell this warm-hearted family story of a girl who discovers that the love she was seeking was there all along. IN THE CROOK OF THE MOON will appeal to fans of Karen Cushman’s Catherine, Called Birdy and Nancy Werlin’s Healer and Witch. (Please note, Jim McCarthy is the agent on this project.)

Petra Swaby, a twelve-year-old mixed-race Jamaican and Korean girl, has had it with her hyper-superstitious family. From spilling salt to cutting your fingernails at night to walking around with one shoe, the Swabys believe any little thing could lead to bad luck (or even death!). When Petra finds a black kitten in the backyard of her new house, she decides to blow holes in her family’s superstitions. If she can prove that their other superstitions are untrue, then maybe they’ll allow her to keep her precious new pet, even if black cats are supposedly unlucky. Her plan goes awry when, after defiantly sleeping with a fan running, Petra wakes up terribly ill. Believing she will soon meet her “fan death,” an old Korean superstition, Petra has to abruptly change course. If she’s going to suffer a horrible fate, then she needs to figure out who else in her family can take care of her kitten when she’s gone! In her early middle grade novel, THE SWABYS, author Talia Tucker tackles big questions about belief and duty and family couched in a narrative that is antic, delightful, and appealingly silly while still overloaded with heart and sincerity. For readers who love Claribel Ortega’s Ghost Squad or Karina Yan Glaser’s Vanderbeek books, this middle grade debut is a delicious confection about finding your place in a family, no matter how much you don’t feel like you fit in. (Please note, Jim McCarthy is the agent on this project.)

YOUNG ADULT

When five-year-old April Fischer heard a strange voice coming from the bottom of a superdeep borehole, it preceded a massacre. Years later, she still wonders if the voice was connected to that horrible event. Among the victims of the massacre was April’s foreman dad, but his body was never found. Urban legend has it that the massacre was a blood sacrifice made by the mysterious Deep Well cult to open a portal to another dimension. It doesn’t help when the terrible movie based on her life called Hellhole! suggests that a demon-possessed April opened the portal on the day of the massacre. After that, only April’s best friend, the skeptical, acerbic Grace stood by her. Almost twelve years later, an online group of Deep Well cultists are convinced that the voice told April to open a portal to another dimension— and she needs to come back to the drill site on her seventeenth birthday to finish the job. Nothing could bring April back until documents from the drill site convince her that her dad is on the other side of the portal— and that he's still alive. Aided by Grace, Zach, who lost his uncle in the massacre, and Slater, a mysterious newcomer with motives of his own, April searches for the truth about what happened that day with the hope of bringing her dad back home. But the clock is ticking down towards her birthday, and the cultists need another sacrifice. Based on the Kola Superdeep Borehole urban legend, Laura Creedle’s THE DEEP WELL is a thrilling work of YA horror and suspense for fans of Rory Power and Claire Legrand. (Please note, Jim McCarthy is the agent on this project.)

PICTURE BOOK

An elephant squashes daddy's car on his commute home, making him late, and there's a mouse dancing a tango in Tillie’s bedroom, which keeps her up at night. Tillie has a great imagination; in fact, it might be a little too good. Sometimes, her palms sweat, she gets the shakes and her heart beats like a drum every time her imagination spins little worries out of control. They go from big to bigger, until they are the biggest worries ever! Is this just an over-active imagination or is it something more serious? BIG, BIGGER, BIGGEST is a picture book (complete at 611 words) written by psychologist Rachel Tomlinson which explores anxiety in childhood through a sensitive and emotionally perceptive story about a little girl trying to understand her fears. Tomlinson, author of A Blue Kind of Day (Kokila, 2022), uses her clinical experience to explore anxiety symptoms, blending in therapeutic coping strategies to help kids manage big worries. Also included is back matter for parents, educators, and other professionals who support children, focusing on how to spot and support anxiety in childhood. (Please note, Stacey Glick is the agent on this project.)