Jennifer Laughran

Jennifer comes from a theatrical background, and began her career in agenting after working as a long-time children's bookseller and buyer. She joined the Andrea Brown Literary Agency in 2007. Jenn loves quirky, warm illustration, and projects for all ages that have illustrated elements. Always on the lookout for sparkling YA and middle grade fiction with unusual and unforgettable characters and vivid settings, she is drawn to nearly all kinds of books, whether realistic comedies or richly imagined magical adventures. However, the common thread in her favorite stories is an offbeat world-view. Jennifer loves funny books, thrilling books, romantic books, books that make her cry, and all-around un-put-downable books ... and her true favorites are all of the above.

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Caryn Wiseman

Caryn has been an agent with the Andrea Brown Literary Agency since 2003. She represents children's books only: YA and middle grade fiction and nonfiction, chapter books, graphic novels, and fiction and nonfiction picture books. She represents NYT bestselling authors, award-winning authors, debut authors, and authors at every stage in between. No matter the genre, Caryn is looking for books with emotional depth and a strong voice; excellent writing in a tightly-plotted story; and characters that stick with her long after she has closed the book. In YA, she gravitates toward books that make her think, and toward books that make her cry; in middle grade and chapter books, laughter tends to be the common thread; in picture books, it's subtle crafting of story. "Smart with heart" is her watchward across categories, and she loves illustration with bold lines and sharp perspective.  She is not a good fit for horror or fantasy, but a sprinkling of magical realism or grounded, five-minutes in the future dystopian or sci-fi would appeal.

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Sally M. Kim

Prior to joining Andrea Brown Literary Agency in late 2023, Sally spent more than fifteen years in children’s book marketing and publicity at Macmillan, Penguin, and Chronicle Books. More recently, she has worked as an independent consultant for global children’s book publishers and literacy-related non-profits.

Sally is looking to represent a wide range of children’s book authors, illustrators, and author-illustrators. She is drawn to picture book, chapter book, and middle grade stories with a distinct voice, unexpected wit, aggressive pacing, punchy and/or emotionally resonant endings. When it comes to illustration, she gravitates to traditional mediums and is always on the lookout for versatile artists with a unique take on color, texture, perspective, and thoughtful details. Sally is especially eager to see authentic explorations of underrepresented cultures, relationships, and identities.

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Emily Feinberg

About Emily Feinberg: After earning her master’s degrees in Children’s Literature and English Literature from Simmons College in Boston, Emily joined the editorial team at Roaring Brook Press. She works mostly with picture book, middle grade, and nonfiction titles. She edited Elisha Cooper’s  Caldecott-Honor winning Big Cat, Little Cat,  Lily Williams and Karen Schneemann’s groundbreaking graphic novel Go With the Flow, Jessica Lanan’s Sibert-Honor winning Jumper: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider,  and Ann Bausum’s White Lies: How the South Lost the Civil War Then Rewrote the History, which has been nominated for the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction award. While she is always looking for solid, voice-driven picture books and middle grade, she also particularly loves nonfiction for young readers of all ages. Emily is not an editor of fantasy. 

Grace Kendall

Grace Kendall (she/they) is an Executive Editor at Farrar, Straus, Giroux Books for Young Readers/Macmillan. Grace works on award-winning and bestselling books for children of all ages, including SAINTS OF THE HOUSEHOLD by Ari Tison, which won the Pura Belpre Medal and the Walter Award, and was named a Morris Finalist; A PLACE INSIDE OF ME by Zetta Elliott and Noa Denmon, who won a Caldecott Honor for her illustrations; the New York Times-bestselling YA memoir, ALL BOYS AREN’T BLUE by George M. Johnson, which is also the second most banned book in America; the New York Times-bestselling MG fantasy THE LAST EMBER by debut novelist Lily Berlin Dodd, which also garnered three starred reviews among other accolades; and the Jasmine Toguchi chapter book series by Debbi Michiko Florence, which has over 200,000 copies in print. 

@GraceKendallBooks 

Yolanda Scott

Yolanda Scott is VP, Publisher & Editorial Director at Charlesbridge, where she has edited more than 250 titles since 1995. After graduating from Harvard with a degree in Slavic languages and literature, she was turned down by the CIA for a job as analyst. A desperate search for employment led her to stumble upon children's publishing, and she never looked back. In addition to managing the editorial and design teams, she oversees the foreign rights acquisitions program and recently managed the acquisition of a new middle-grade imprint. She is former adjunct faculty at the Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at Simmons University; former board chair of the Children’s Book Council, where she also served on the CBC Diversity Committee; a member of the Society of Printers, and a Publishers Weekly Star Watch Top 40 Honoree. www.charlesbridge.com 

Nancy Castaldo

Nancy Castaldo has written award-winning picture books, chapter books, middle grade, young adult, and adult nonfiction books for over 20 years. Her books have earned many awards and accolades including starred reviews, state book lists, the Green Earth Book Award, two Crystal Kite Awards, NSTA Best STEM Book, Eureka Silver Honors and numerous Junior Library Guild Selections.  

She is currently the Regional Advisor Emeritus of SCBWI Eastern NY. She has vast experience reviewing manuscripts and books having served on SCBWI’s Golden Kite Committee, WIP award committee, and Highlight’s faculty.   

Nancy believes that we all have the ability to make a difference and always instills that theme in her books. Her research has taken her all over the world from the Galapagos to Russia. She loves sharing her adventures and passion for research with her readers and writers.  

Learn more about Nancy at https://nancycastaldo.com. Follow her on BlueSky, X, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. 

Erin Dionne

Erin Dionne writes middle grade novels, picture books, chapter books and nonfiction. Her spooky chapter book series Shiver-by-the-Sea (Pixel + Ink) features magic, movie monsters, friendship, and SEL themes. Her novel Moxie and the Art of Rule Breaking was an Edgar finalist in the Juvenile Fiction category. She is fascinated by real-life mysteries, cares for an absurd number of houseplants, and is a massive Star Wars geek. She's collected her thoughts from over two decades of teaching creative writing in her book, Bad Choices Make Good Stories: Conversations on Writing. When not at her keyboard, she’s a professor at Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, MA. 

Sara Farizan

Sara Farizan (she/her) is the award-winning and critically acclaimed author of middle grade and young adult novels. Her young adult titles include Dead Flip, Here to Stay, Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel, and the Lambda Literary award winning If You Could Be Mine, which was named one of TIME magazine’s 100 Best YA Books of All Time. She is also the author of the graphic novel My Buddy, Killler Croc illustrated by Nicoletta Baldari, Opportunity Knocks from Scholastic, and her latest novel with Scholastic The Last Resort: Ghost Light releasing in Fall 2026.  

Debbi Michiko Florence

Debbi Michiko Florence, a third-generation Japanese American, is the acclaimed author of more than 30 books for children and tweens. Her books have received starred reviews, JLG Selections, and inclusion on lists such as Amazon Best Books and the Chicago Public Library Best of the Best. Her middle-grade novels include Just Be Cool, Jenna Sakai and the series Last Chance Academy. She is also the author of the award-winning Jasmine Toguchi chapter book series, and picture books, including Monster Maker: The Strange Creatures of Mark Nagata. A native Californian, Debbi now lives in Connecticut where she writes in her studio, The Word Nest. 

Josh Funk

Josh Funk is a software engineer and the author of books like the Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast series, How to Code a Sandcastle, Dear Unicorn, Dear Dragon, My Pet Feet, the ​It's Not a Fairy Tale series, Lost in the Library, and more. His books have sold more than half a million copies worldwide and been translated into a dozen languages. He has presented (and virtually presented) at over 950 schools and libraries in the last decade since his first book was released.

For more about Josh, visit  joshfunkbooks.com and @joshfunkbooks on socials. 

Sarah Darer Littman

Sarah Darer Littman is the critically acclaimed author middle grade and young adult novels, including Influenced, Some Kind of Hate (a Sydney Taylor Honor Book)  Backlash (Winner of the Iowa Teen Book Award and the Grand Canyon Reader Award) and Confessions of a Closet Catholic, winner of the Sydney Taylor Book Award. As well as writing novels, Sarah teaches in the MFA program at Western CT State University, and at the Yale Writers’ Workshop. She is also an award-winning columnist. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and two small, adorable, trouble-making dogs. 

Anne Sibley O’Brien

Anne Sibley O’Brien has published 38 trade books over the past 31 years, some as illustrator, some as author, and some as both. Her titles include the picture books, I’m New Here and Someone New, about three immigrant children and their classmates; and a middle grade novel, In the Shadow of the Sun, a political escape thriller set in North Korea. Current projects are a picture book, a middle grade fantasy, and a graphic memoir of her childhood in South Korea. She lives on Peaks Island in Maine. 

Diane Zahler

Diane Zahler is the author of ten fantasy and historical novels for middle-grade readers. Her books have been listed on Bank Street College of Education's Best Books of the Year and have been Junior Library Guild selections.

Her most recent novel, The Queen's Granddaughter, has received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly. It is the story of twelve-year-old Blanca of Castile, the granddaughter of Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, who must make the perilous journey with her grandmother over the Pyrenees Mountains to marry the dauphin of France.