Kids & YA Newsletter: September 2021

YOUNG ADULT - NONFICTION

From slaves and indentured servants to Uber drivers and Amazon packers, labor’s story is largely missing from libraries, textbooks, and popular culture. The tales of railway, coal, and lumber workers who risked their lives fighting for safe working conditions; the history of the unemployed who marched across America for jobs; the stories of the maids who bet on themselves against Las Vegas and won. The untold history of American labor is simultaneously gut-wrenching and triumphant. For centuries, workers have faced down intense discrimination and violence from the government, police, corporations, and the press. And as their stories attest, the arc of history only bends toward justice when people gather together and force it to bend that way. In SHIFT HAPPENS: THE STORY OF AMERICAN LABOR, J. Albert Mann sheds light on the history of labor in the United States for a young adult audience. For readers of Jason Reynold’s Stamped and Melanie Crowder’s Audacity, Mann’s book will give context to some of the most pressing issues facing our country today. As readers will learn, labor history, which intersects class, race, gender, economics, and even climate change, is a crucial piece in understanding and changing our world. (Please note, Michael Bourret is the agent on this project.)

YOUNG ADULT - FICTION

For centuries, the country of Velle has waited for their highest deity, the New Maiden, to return. The prophecy tells not when, but how she will appear: as the third daughter of a third daughter. When the fabled child is finally born to Velle’s reigning queen, the only citizen who does not rejoice is Elodie: the queen’s eldest daughter who has lost her claim to the crown. When her mother unexpectedly passes and her young sister takes the throne, Elodie’s future in Velle is threatened by a vindictive chaplain and a church wielding ultimate power. The only way to preserve her mother’s legacy is to retake the throne. To do so, she must eliminate the Third Daughter, her own sister. Desperate, Elodie slips away to the Midnight Market to purchase poison from an apothecary. Instead, she finds Sabine. Sabine sells sadness. Just a single tear added to one of her mother’s potions enhances the brew tenfold. But Sabine mistakenly sends Elodie away not with the poison she requests, but with a vial of her tears. Sabine’s sadness does not kill the young queen. Instead, the maiden slips into a slumber from which she will not wake. As the church hunts down the person responsible for the Third Daughter’s condition, Sabine and Elodie must work together to find a way to wake her before Elodie’s siblings learn the truth and Sabine loses her magic—and herself—to the darkness that threatens her if she can’t find an outlet for her sadness. THE THIRD DAUGHTER by Adrienne Tooley is a sapphic, dual POV fantasy that blends the complex family politics of Kendare Blake’s Three Dark Crowns and the sweeping lore of Marie Rutkoski’s The Midnight Lie in an examination of power, the roles we are born into, and the impact of our emotions. (Please note, Jim McCarthy is the agent on this project.)

French Kiss meets A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow in this romantic comedy about how chasing some dreams means letting others go. Eighteen-year-old Seraphina knows exactly what she wants out of life and who she wants to spend it with. With a scholarship to her dream college and the love of her boyfriend Elijah’s family, she finally feels safe. But after Elijah travels to Paris and breaks up with her in a voicemail, Seraphina’s world falls apart. Frantic to fix things, she braves her fear of flying to follow him to France. What Seraphina doesn’t count on is the surly French boy she meets on the airplane. In a series of unlikely events nineteen-year-old Monty recruits Seraphina to accompany him to his sister’s wedding in Provence. In return, Monty promises to help Seraphina win Elijah back. As they road trip from Paris to Nice, Seraphina is more and more charmed by France and the boy showing it to her. Except if she lets herself fall in love with Monty, she risks losing the only family she has left. It’s only when Seraphina realizes why she’s holding so tightly to the past that she’s finally free to face a future full of possibility. Jennifer Camiccia’s debut YA rom-com FRENCH WORDS FOR LOVE AND HATE, inspired by the ‘90’s movie French Kiss, is about a girl chasing love, the boy who doesn’t believe in it, and how a lavender farm in Provence brings them together. (Please note, Stacey Glick is the agent on this project.)

In an alternate 1950, after the horror of WWII’s Japanese internment camps, a group of Asian-Americans declared independence from America and founded the country of Meiguo. Today, fourteen-year-old Rose Patel doesn’t know much about the history that led to Meiguo’s creation, but she still blames Meiguo for ruining her life because: (1) She's the child of an Indian father and Chinese mother from Meiguo living in suburban Minnesota, and she feels like a freak of nature. (2) Her mother died when she was four and Rose’s dad refuses to talk about her mother’s past in Meiguo. (3) She just got accepted into her mother's old alma mater, Meiji Academy, an elite Meiguo boarding school. She doesn’t want to leave her father or friends in Minnesota behind…but it does mean a chance to learn about her mother's past. But when she arrives at Meiji, Rose is surprised to find that she fits in for the first time in her life. Almost all of the students are Asian—chopstick skills and yoga poses are graded, and first year students vie for the best grades in a cut-throat battle of tea-parties, technology, and tradition. However, there’s darkness behind Meiji’s pristine doors—a history of cold shouldering American students who don’t grasp the cultural norms at Meiguo, and clues about her mother’s mysterious past, tied to both the school and the Meiguo elite. Rose finds herself having to choose between becoming part of the family she always wanted or standing up for what’s right. Shalene Gupta’s MEIJI ACADEMY is Love, Jacaranda meets Crazy Rich Asians in a smart interrogation of race and culture clash. (Please note, Amy Elizabeth Bishop is the agent on this project.)

When Zee Zhang goes live, she becomes the indomitable streamer Zzang, expertly slaying enemies and claiming glory in Myths of Valor while adoring viewers watch. Despite her skills, Zee can’t seem to fend off the anonymous trolls who target her and other female gamers. Then a brand-new Myths of Valor esports team, Phoenix Clan, offers her a highly coveted spot, and Zee seizes the opportunity to prove her abilities. But after moving into the gaming house where she and her new teammates will live and train together, Zee discovers that the four boys she’s been placed with are less than enthused about a girl being on their team. The worst of them is their captain, Cade Wu, whose departure from his old team is still shrouded in mystery. Every miserable game they play together ends in defeat, toxic finger-pointing, or both. Zee knows it’s up to her to reach a tentative truce with her dysfunctional team, which she achieves with a combination of charm, bullheaded determination, and spilled hot sauce. She even coaxes a few smiles out of surly Cade, whose emerging soft side just might be giving Zee butterflies. But when Phoenix Clan secures a spot in the world championships, the pressure of balancing college classes, streaming, and her responsibilities on the team intensifies. With esports overlords breathing down her neck and an eager public watching her every move, Zee has one shot to prove that she has what it takes to be a champion. GOOD GAME by debut author Sophie Wan draws from the author’s experience working behind-the-scenes of live streaming, and combines the immersive, competitive world of Stephan Lee’s K-Pop Confidential with the irresistible romance and lighthearted humor of Loan Le’s A Phở Love Story. (Please note, Michaela Whatnall is the agent on this project.)

The Regent Academy for Distinguished Gentlemen has a long and storied history in Winslow, Montana, as does the forest that surrounds it. The school is known for molding teens into world and industry leaders, but its history—one steeped in sinister magic, a curious god, and naive magicians—is far more nefarious than any outsider could begin to suspect. Seventeen-year-old Douglas Jones wants nothing to do with Regent’s king-making. He just wants to put his criminal past behind him, make his mama proud, graduate, and maybe—just maybe—stop hearing voices that claim to be coming from the forest. Then a student is murdered and, for some reason, by the next day no one remembers them even having existed except for Douglas, and the groundskeeper’s son, Amos Everley. Douglas’ determination to uncover the truth awakens a horror hidden within the school, unearthing secrets buried for centuries. A vengeful creature lives in the forest, and it wants Douglas’ blood as payment for a debt 400 years in the making, or it will swallow Winslow, MT (and possibly the rest of the world) into darkness. A paranormal thriller set in dark academia, THE FOREST DEMANDS ITS DUE by Kosoko Jackson plunges readers into a high-octane mystery about secrets that never stay buried, histories that repeat themselves across generations, and how power can—and will—corrupt absolutely. It is perfect for fans of Witch Haven by Sasha Peyton Smith and A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee. (Please note, Jim McCarthy is the agent on this project.)

Caleb and his big sister Emily are half-Japanese and don’t entirely fit in to their mostly white community. On good days, no one seems to notice, which is how Caleb likes it, so he absolutely never uses his middle name, Hideki. High school in Portersville, North Carolina—a little town dominated by the fracking industry—is complicated enough, especially given Caleb’s talent for screwing up. But when he accidentally burns down the town’s most beloved historical landmark, Caleb knows he’s gone too far. He runs away, right into a Shinto shrine deep in the Great Smoky Mountains: a shrine he knows for a fact wasn’t there the day before. But that particular weirdness is just part of a bigger mystical occurrence which leaves Caleb with fledgling combat skills and his sister with a foxtail. Now their unwelcome heritage and hidden ancestral abilities may be all that stand between their tiny mountain town and an invasion by creatures from Ancient Japanese folklore, creatures which somehow seem to know exactly who Caleb and Emily are, and are probably coming for them. HIDEKI SMITH by AJ Hartley is a smart, funny, accessible YA with broad appeal for today’s readers. (Please note, Stacey Glick is the agent on this project.)

It’s the morning after her first ever party, and Josie Lawrence is an anxious mess. To be fair, that’s pretty much what she always is. But this morning is a particularly anxious one. How could it not be? Last night she accidentally drank alcohol; her crush Robbie humiliated her in front of everyone; and her best friend Louise admitted Josie wasn’t even invited to the party in the first place. Just when she thought life could not possibly get any worse, Josie’s dad is at her bedroom door with a letter from her late birth father. It turns out she — Josie Lawrence, self-proclaimed hairy nerd from The Valley — is the love child of Ali Mashad. Ali Freaking Mashad! The most powerful man in reality TV history. And his widow Mary, the matriarch of the Mashad family, wants Josie to come join her and her daughters on their show. As far as Josie’s concerned, the answer is simple: No. Josie is many things — honor roll student, staunch feminist, environmental activist, Shakespeare buff, John Mulaney mega fan. Budding reality star is not one of them. But when Mary blackmails her, Josie’s left with no choice but to accept her offer. Before she knows it, Josie goes from being ignored by Robbie at a suburban garage party to being the center of America’s most wildly famous family. Keeping Up with the Kardashians meet Faking Reality in Candice Jalili’s debut novel, MAKING MASHAD, full of strong, opinionated Iranian women and an average girl just trying to figure it all out. (Please note, Amy Elizabeth Bishop is the agent on this project.)

Fairy Tale Village is kind of an off-brand Disney World….very off-brand. And 17-year-old Mira is back in their employ for her second summer, but she has serious reservations. Last summer, she had a flirtashionship with Cooper, one of the park’s entertainers. She was in summer romance bliss until Cooper started spreading ugly rumors about her that ran through the park with roller-coaster-like speed—and turning any thought she had of a fairy tale romance into a nightmare. This summer, Mira is determined not to allow Cooper and his cronies to keep her away from the best paying gig anywhere near their local economy. So it’s back to working as a drone (park slang for a ride operator) on an unpopular Bavarian-themed teacups ride that requires more gross clean-ups than any one person should have to handle. Her first day back on the job isn’t too promising, but then she meets Joss—a cute newbie in a dragon costume who doesn’t know her reputation and who quickly comes to her defense. Mira might be falling for him. But does she even need a knight in shining armor? Cynthia Platt’s LOVE, DRAGONS, AND OTHER MADE-UP THINGS is a sunbaked summertime story and a romcom shot through with a funnel cake’s twist of more serious issues. Calling to mind the charmingly goofy setting of Jennifer Dugan’s Hot Dog Girl and the positivity and joy of Julie Murphy’s Dumplin’, it promises to be a rewarding and delightful ride about first love, second love, and finding independence and strength along the way. (Please note, Jim McCarthy is the agent on this project.)

Thousands of years ago, Asmodeus, the Prince of Demons, one of the original vampires, was obsessed with a Jewish woman, Sarah. He stalked her bloodline for generations to come. People believed that Sarah’s bloodline had died off, but someone must have escaped. Masked their scent. Moved to America. Because Naomi Cohen has this magical blood in her veins, it has made her irresistible to the vampires who have started coming out of the darkness and establishing perfectly ordinary lives in public. With her best friend Steph recently changed, Naomi plunges into research about modern vampire life, trying to help her BFF cope with the transition to being the living undead. But a meet-up with a friendly group of other vampires quickly goes sideways as Naomi discovers just how powerful her blood is, with its scent of honey, pomegranate, and grapevines, and the knowledge that there are those who will risk anything just to bleed her dry. With DAUGHTER OF SARAH, celebrated YA novelist Laura Silverman branches into new territory with a dynamic paranormal thriller that beautifully weaves Jewish history with vampire lore to tell the story of a contemporary teen facing off against a legendary evil to save herself and those closest to her. Calling to mind Jewish fantasies like Victoria Lee’s exhilarating thriller The Fever King and Naomi Novik’s rich tale Spinning Silver, this is a breathtaking, pulse-quickening tale sure to enthrall. (Please note, Jim McCarthy is the agent on this project.)