Publishers Marketplace: Penny Moore

Children's: Young Adult: Fiction:
Author of I'LL BE THE ONE and FLIP THE SCRIPT Lyla Lee's THE CUFFING GAME, pitched as a K-drama take on PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, but if Elizabeth and Darcy were forced to work together on a LGBTQ-friendly Love Island-esque reality TV show; following a bisexual film student who needs a star to help generate interest for her show, so she enlists the campus heartthrob, and while whirlwind dates are happening on camera, the director and contestant realize they might be falling for one another behind the scenes, to Mabel Hsu at Katherine Tegen Books, in an exclusive submission, for publication in winter 2025. (NA)

Children's: Young Adult: Fiction:
Author of I THINK I LOVE YOU Auriane Desombre's I LOVE YOU S'MORE, a queer rom-com in which a teen has her heart broken after her high school sweetheart-turned-celebrity cheats on her, and she soon finds herself swept up in a fun and new swoony romance at summer camp with another camp counselor, to Kelsey Horton at Delacorte, in an exclusive submission, in a two-book deal, for publication in fall 2024. (world)

Children's: Young Adult: Fantasy:
Daughter of actor and martial artist Bruce Lee and author of BE WATER, MY FRIEND Shannon Lee and author of the Green Bone Saga Fonda Lee's SCROLL OF HEAVEN and SCROLL OF EARTH, based on characters and themes created by Bruce Lee, a fantasy duology with lush worldbuilding, martial arts action, and rooted in East Asian mythology and culture, to Mara Delgado-Sanchez at Wednesday Books, in a major deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in the summer of 2024 the summer of 2025. (NA)

Children's: Picture Book:
Author of WHILE I WAS AWAY and DREAM, ANNIE, DREAM Waka Brown's PERFECT, in which a young girl wants all things to be perfect, until her grandmother teaches her about the Japanese art of kintsugi, a broken pottery mending technique, and then she learns to value life's imperfections, illustrated by Yuko Jones, to Alyssa Miele at Quill Tree, at auction, for publication in fall 2024, by Penny Moore at Aevitas Creative Management for the author, and by Christy Ewers at The CAT Agency for the illustrator. (world)

Children's: Middle Grade: Fantasy:
Author of the Kiki Kallira duology and the forthcoming THE VERY SECRET SOCIETY OF IRREGULAR WITCHES Sangu Mandanna's VANYA AND THE WILD HUNT and VANYA AND THE SHIFTING SPIRE, pitched as AMARI AND THE NIGHT BROTHERS meets Nevermoor with a touch of How to Train Your Dragon, following a neurodivergent British Indian girl who is swept away to a magical school where she trains to become a monster hunter and learns to fully embrace her different and wonderful brain, to Jennifer Besser at Roaring Brook Press, with Luisa Beguiristain editing, a joint acquisition with Sam Smith at Macmillan UK Children's, in a significant deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in spring 2024. (world)

Children's: Middle Grade Fiction:
Author of I'LL BE THE ONE and the forthcoming FLIP THE SCRIPT Lyla Lee's books nine through 12 in the Mindy Kim series, following more adventures in the daily life of the tenacious Korean American elementary schooler, in an exclusive submission, in a four-book deal, for publication in spring 2023, to Alyson Heller at Aladdin. (world)

Children's: Middle Grade Fiction:
Author of I'LL BE THE ONE and MINDY KIM, Lyla Lee's GIGI SHIN IS NOT A NERD, pitched as The Baby-Sitters Club meets Front Desk, following the story of a 12-year-old Korean American girl who aspires to escape her boring Texan suburban town and go to a prestigious summer art camp in the Northeast but can't afford it, so she starts her own tutoring business with friends to pay their way, in an exclusive submission, in a two-book deal, for publication in spring 2024, to Alyson Heller at Aladdin. (world)

Children's: Young Adult: Fantasy:
Author of HOW WE FALL APART Katie Zhao's DESCENDANTS OF DRAGONS and HEIRS OF POWER, pitched as The Shadowhunter Chronicles meets Legendborn and THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS, combining Chinese folklore and dark academia at a boarding school, where a student is killed over a priceless ancestral artifact, and those who possess Chinese zodiac magic assemble a crew to heist it back and avenge the murder, to Tricia Lin at Random House Children's, in a major deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in fall 2024. (North American)

Children's: Middle Grade: Fantasy:
Author of the Crown of Feathers trilogy Nicki Pau Preto's THE LAST HOPE SCHOOL FOR MAGICAL DELINQUENTS, pitched as The Umbrella Academy meets The School for Good and Evil, following a girl with misunderstood powers who has been expelled from nearly every magic school in existence, until she's sent to Last Hope, where she's taught that her quirky—and sometimes catastrophic—magic is to be celebrated, not condemned, and might be just what her school needs to defend itself against unexpected danger, to Liza Kaplan at Viking Children's, in a good deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in spring 2024. (world)

Children's: Middle Grade Fiction:
Author of WHILE I WAS AWAY and the forthcoming DREAM, ANNIE, DREAM Waka Brown's THE VERY UNFORTUNATE WISH OF MELONY YOSHIMURA, pitched as a modern-day retelling of the Japanese folktale The Melon Princess and the Amanjaku, and WHEN YOU TRAP A TIGER meets CORALINE, following a sheltered 12-year-old girl who is befriended by a demon that grants her wishes, encouraging her to rebel against her overprotective parents, all while using her for his own evil scheme, to Alyssa Miele at Quill Tree, in a good deal, in an exclusive submission, in a two-book deal, for publication in summer 2023. (world)

Children's: Middle Grade Fiction:
Author of I THINK I LOVE YOU Auriane Desombre's THE SISTER SPLIT, pitched as a reverse Parent Trap, in which a young girl teams up with her future stepsister to create a plan full of hijinks that will stop their parents from getting married, so she doesn't have to move away from the city and leave behind her best friend—a girl—she's starting to develop feelings for, to Kelsey Horton at Delacorte, in an exclusive submission, for publication in spring 2023. (world)

Fiction: Sci-fi/Fantasy:
Sangu Mandanna's adult debut THE VERY SECRET SOCIETY OF IRREGULAR WITCHES, pitched as THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA meets Practical Magic, about a witch who has always stayed hidden from the world until she's summoned to a mysterious house, where she gets involved with three young witches, the handsome but prickly librarian who watches over them, and the many secrets the estate holds, until danger comes knocking at the door, to Jessica Wade at Berkley, in a good deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in summer 2022. (world)

Children's: Young Adult: Fantasy
Author of the Crown of Feathers trilogy Nicki Pau Preto's BONESMITH, pitched as GIDEON THE NINTH meets THE CRUEL PRINCE, following a failed ghost-fighting warrior who, to redeem herself to her family, must journey into the haunted wasteland of the breach to rescue a kidnapped prince, but to do so, she is forced to team up with the very person responsible for the kidnapping--a man whose family created the breach in the first place, to Sarah McCabe at Margaret K. McElderry Books, in an exclusive submission, in a two-book deal, for publication in summer 2023. (North American)

Children's: Young Adult Fiction
Author of the forthcoming THE INFINITY COURTS Akemi Dawn Bowman's third and final book in the series, which follows a teen girl who wakes up in an afterlife, only to discover it's been taken over by an artificial intelligence posing as a queen, to Jennifer Ung at Simon & Schuster Children's, with Alyza Liu editing, for publication in spring 2023. (North American)

Children's: Middle Grade Fiction
Author of forthcoming FALL WINTER SPRING SUMMER Maya Prasad's SEJAL BATTLES SUPER STORMS, the first book in a new chapter book series following an Indian American girl with an active imagination and a love of STEM who uses science to save her family's Diwali celebration on the night of a super storm, to Alyson Heller at Aladdin, in a three-book deal, for publication in spring 2023. (world)

Children's: Middle Grade
Author of The Dragon Warrior series and forthcoming HOW WE FALL APART Katie Zhao's LAST GAMER STANDING, set in a near-future society in which a young Chinese American girl competes in a VR battle royale game while taking on the sexism and misogyny in the online gaming world, to Shelly Romero at Scholastic, for publication in fall 2021. (world)

Children's: Picture Book
Founder of #BlackCreatorsInKidLit Antwan Eady's debut NIGEL AND THE MOON, in which a young Black boy who, too shy to share his dreams during career week, whispers his dreams to the moon each night; with the help of his parents, he celebrates his dreams and discovers his voice in front of his peers, illustrated by Gracey Zhang, to Mabel Hsu at Katherine Tegen Books, at auction, for publication in winter 2022, by Penny Moore at Aevitas Creative Management for the author, and by Hannah Mann at Writers House for the illustrator. (world)

Children's: Middle Grade: Fantasy
Author of THE DRAGON WARRIOR series and forthcoming HOW WE FALL APART Katie Zhao's WINNIE ZENG AND THE MAGIC MOONCAKE, pitched as The Storm Runner meets Pie in the Sky with the heart of Front Desk, the story follows a Chinese-American girl navigating middle school for the first time, as she discovers her deceased grandmother's magic cookbook and learns she's descended from a long line of shamans that use magic recipes to fight demons, inciting her to take pride in her heritage and to become the hero her classmates and town need, to Tricia Lin at Random House Children's, in a significant deal, at auction, in a three-book deal, for publication in fall 2022. (world)

Children's: Middle Grade: Fiction
Blues musician Shawn Amos's COOKIES & MILK, based on his own experiences growing up the son of Wally "Famous" Amos, following a boy's eventful summer navigating kitchen hijinks, new friendships, the scars of his parents' divorce, and racism as he helps his father open the world's first chocolate chip cookie store in 1970s Hollywood, to Lisa Yoskowitz at Little, Brown Children's, in a good deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in spring 2022. (NA)

Children's: Young Adult Fiction
MIT student and Her Campus 22 Under 22 honoree Rona Wang's YOU HAD ME AT HELLO WORLD, a debut rom-com that follows a Chinese-American teen who is invited to a coding competition at MIT, where she teams up with a cute tech industry prodigy to work on an app to help immigrants connect and put down roots, to Jennifer Ung at Simon Pulse, in a good deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in spring 2022. (world)

Children's: Middle Grade: Fantasy
Jenna Yoon's debut LIA PARK AND THE MISSING JEWEL, pitched as HARRIET THE SPY meets RACE TO THE SUN, a Korean mythology-inspired contemporary fantasy that follows a 12-year-old who is a part of a magical spy organization, and must use her skills as she chases clues with her friend to rescue her parents from an evil diviner spirit, to Alyson Heller at Aladdin, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in summer 2022. (NA)

Children's: Young Adult Fiction
Auriane Desombre's debut I THINK I LOVE YOU, pitched as a modern-day rom-com retelling of Jane Austen's EMMA meets MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, following the story of two girls who start as rivals in a filmmaking competition, but after a twist of events, end up falling for one another, to Kelsey Horton at Underlined, for publication in summer 2020 (world).

Children's: Middle Grade: Non-fiction
Waka Brown's WHILE I WAS AWAY, pitched as: The Farewell meets Brown Girl Dreaming, following the author's journey as a Japanese American who was sent to live in Japan with a grandmother she never knew and attend public school because her parents feared she was losing her culture, to Alyssa Miele at Harper Children's, in a good deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in winter 2021 (world).

Children's: Middle Grade: Fantasy:
Author of the Celestial Series Sangu Mandanna's KIKI KALLIRA BREAKS A KINGDOM, a middle-grade debut, pitched as Inkheart meets Aru Shah and the End of Time, following an eleven-year-old girl coping with anxiety through art, who steps into the Indian mythology-inspired world in her sketchbook to stop a demon king trying to escape into the real world, to Jenny Bak at Viking Children's, in a good deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in fall 2021 (world).

Children's: Young Adult Fiction: Instagram poet Trista Mateer's WHEN THE STARS WROTE BACK, a collection of short poems that shine beauty and insight into relationships, love, growing up, and learning to cope, to Sara Sargent at Random House Children's, in a pre-empt, for publication in summer 2020 (world).

Children's: Young Adult: Fantasy: Author of CROWN OF FEATHERS and HEART OF FLAMES Nicki Pau Preto's third and final book in her series, which follows a teen girl who joins a secret group of warriors that ride phoenixes into battle, to Sarah McCabe at Simon Pulse, for publication in spring 2021. (NA)

Non-fiction: Humor: Instagram illustrator and author of I REALLY DIDN'T THINK THIS THROUGH Beth Evans's HI, JUST A QUICK QUESTION!, the author's follow up collection of comics and vignettes offering humor, advice, and insight to common questions often asked by her online following, to Emma Brodie at William Morrow, for publication in spring 2020. (World English)

Children's: Middle Grade Fiction: Morris Award Finalist Akemi Dawn Bowman's GENERATION MISFITS, following the story of a homeschooled Japanese-American girl who starts at a performing arts school for the first time, where she doesn't quite fit in until she joins the J-POP club, finding friends who share her mutual love of her favorite group, and then they all band together to perform in the school's talent show, to Trisha de Guzman at Farrar, Straus Children's, in a very nice deal, in an exclusive submission, in a two-book deal, for publication in winter 2021. (World English)

Children's: Young Adult Fiction: Author of STARFISH and SUMMER BIRD BLUE Akemi Dawn Bowman's THE INFINITY COURTS, pitched as WARCROSS meets BLACK MIRROR, following a Japanese-American teen who finds herself in a limitless world where the human consciousness goes after death, where she battles an AI entity posing as a queen that has hacked its way into the afterlife with the plan to take over and control everything, to Jennifer Ung at Simon Pulse, in a six-figure deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in spring 2021. (NA)

Children's: Young Adult Fiction: Author of the forthcoming Mindy Kim series Lyla Lee's I'LL BE THE ONE, celebrating body positivity, pitched as DUMPLIN' meets WHEN DIMPLE MET RISHI, in which a bisexual Korean-American teen girl competes on a reality TV show to become the first plus-sized K-pop star, all while falling in love with her fellow competitor, who happens to be a world-famous celebrity, to Mabel Hsu at Katherine Tegen Books, in a six-figure deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in fall 2020. (NA)

Children's: Young Adult Fiction: Author of the forthcoming The Dragon Warrior Katie Zhao's HOW WE FALL APART, pitched as One of Us Is Lying meets Crazy Rich Asians, following a scholarship student at an elite Manhattan prep school after her best-friend-turned-rival is found dead, but once the rival's death is ruled a homicide, she decides to find the real killer—even if it's one of her friends, to Hali Baumstein at Bloomsbury Children's, in a six-figure deal, in a pre-empt, in a two-book deal, for publication in winter 2021. (World)

Children's: Middle Grade: Fantasy: Debut middle grade author Katie Zhao's THE DRAGON WARRIOR, pitched as the fun and excitement of PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS meets the work of author GRACE LIN, in which a twelve-year-old girl, wanting to find her place in a secret society of warriors, embarks on a journey to fight her way through gods and demons in various Chinatowns -- all to find the secret location of a mystical island where her missing father might be, to Hali Baumstein at Bloomsbury Children's, in a six-figure deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in Fall 2019 and Fall 2020. (world)

Children's: Young Adult Fiction: Tracy Deonn Walker's YA contemporary fantasy debut, DESCENDANTS, pitched as a modern-day King Arthur retelling with Southern Black Girl Magic, in which a teenage girl infiltrates a secret society of powerful magic wielders to find out the truth behind her mother's untimely death, to Liesa Abrams at Simon Pulse, in an exclusive submission, in a two-book deal, for publication in Summer 2020 & 2021. (NA)

Children's: Middle Grade Fiction: Lyla Lee's debut MINDY KIM AND THE YUMMY SEAWEED BUSINESS, pitched as FRESH OFF THE BOAT meets JUNIE B. JONES, in which a third grader moves to a mostly Caucasian Florida neighborhood, and adjusts to her new school by starting a snack trading ring with the Korean food from her lunch to make new friends, to Alyson Heller at Aladdin, at auction, in a four-book deal, for publication in Spring, Summer, and Fall 2020. (World)

Children's: Young Adult Fiction: Author of the Morris Award finalist Starfish Akemi Dawn Bowman's contemporary YA novel, in which a multiracial teenage girl who dreams of quitting school to become a trapeze artist in her parents' Las Vegas circus, against their wishes, prompting her to join a rival circus, where she grows close to a handsome musician and performer—while untangling her family's complicated past and present, to Jennifer Ung at Simon Pulse, in a two-book deal, for publication in Fall 2019 & 2020. (NA)

Children's: Young Adult Fiction: 18-year-old Instagram Poet, Caroline Kaufman's LIGHT FILTERS IN, pitched as in the vein of Rupi Kaur's MILK & HONEY for young adults, a poetry collection exploring universal coming of age themes such as love, coping with depression, and trying to fit in, to Sara Sargent at Harper Children's, in an exclusive submission, for publication in May 2018. (World)

Children's: Picture Book: Husband and wife duo, Chan Lee and Marina Ahn's debut based on their Instagram account, DRAWINGS FOR MY GRANDCHILDREN, in which a grandfather uses art to share life experiences and express love to his grandchildren living abroad, to Arianne Lewin at Putnam Children's, in a significant deal, in a pre-empt, in a two-book deal, for publication in Spring 2018 & Spring 2019. (World English)

Children's: Young Adult: Fantasy: Nicki Pau Preto's debut CROWN OF FEATHERS, pitched as ERAGON meets THE WINNER'S CURSE, in which a teenage girl runs away from her controlling sister and disguises herself as a boy to join a secret group of nearly extinct warriors that ride into battle on the backs of phoenixes, as the ruling Empire sets out to destroy them all and she unravels the truth behind the complicated relationship she has with her sister, to Sarah McCabe at Simon Pulse, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in Spring 2019 & 2020. (NA)

Non-fiction: Humor: Instagram illustrator Beth Evans's I REALLY DIDN'T THINK THIS THROUGH: AND OTHER WEIRD STUFF ABOUT LIFE, a collection of comics and vignettes shining humor and insight on common situations involving adulthood, love, anxiety, and depression, to Emma Brodie at William Morrow, in a six-figure deal, in a pre-empt. (NA)

Children's: Young Adult Fiction: Akemi Bowman's debut STARFISH, in which a half Japanese teen fails to get into art school away from home, leaving her to navigate through social anxiety and micro-aggressions in a small town, as she reconnects with her childhood crush and learns to stand up to her self-centered mother - all while growing to love the part of her heritage she was never taught to appreciate, to Jennifer Ung at Simon Pulse, in a very nice deal, in a pre-empt, in a two-book deal, for publication in Fall 2017 & 2018. (World English)