MG Fiction
Jazz Taylor’s MEOW OR NEVER, in which a girl unexpectedly lands the lead role in her school’s musical and finds help with her stage fright and anxiety from a girl who might be her first crush—and a stray cat who lives backstage, to Olivia Valcarce at Scholastic, in an exclusive submission, for publication in winter 2021, by Holly Root at Root Literary (world).
YA Fiction
Tobly McSmith’s ACT COOL, about a transgender teen accepted into a prestigious performing arts high school in New York and cast in a role that hits too close to home—that of a trans teen whose family is intent on conversion therapy—who must learn how to be true to himself, apart from any role, to Andrew Eliopulos at Quill Tree, in a two-book deal, for publication in fall 2021, by Tina Dubois at ICM (world).
THESE WITCHES DON’T BURN author Isabel Sterling’s THE COLDEST TOUCH, about a mortal girl who feels the death of anyone she touches and the vampire assigned to recruit her, as they team up to stop a paranormal killer and realize they might be falling in love, to Julie Rosenberg at Razorbill, for publication in fall 2021, by Kathleen Rushall at Andrea Brown Literary Agency (NA).
Playwright and Modern Love contributor David Valdes’s SPIN ME RIGHT ROUND, about an out-and-proud Latinx teen who accidentally time travels to his parents’ era and makes it his mission to save a closeted classmate from a tragic end, pitched as an #OwnVoices twist on Back to the Future, to Allison Moore at Bloomsbury Children’s, in a two-book deal, for publication in fall 2021, by Annie Bomke at Annie Bomke Literary Agency (world).
Anne Camlin’s graphic novel MISMATCHED, pitched as a queer, modern-day retelling of EMMA, set in a high school in Queens where the president of the school’s GSA club fancies himself just the matchmaker his friends need, illustrated by Isadora Zeferino, to Andrea Colvin at Little, Brown Children’s, in a six-figure deal, in a pre-empt, for publication in 2023, by Britt Siess at Martin Literary Management (world).
Joy McCullough, Caroline Tung Richmond, Jessica Spotswood, and Tess Sharpe’s GREAT OR NOTHING, pitched as a reimagining of Little Women set in the spring of 1942, when the United States is reeling from the attack on Pearl Harbor, in which each March sister’s point of view is written by a separate author; a story of grief, family, and finding one’s way in a world undergoing catastrophic change, to Wendy Loggia at Delacorte, for publication in spring 2022, by Jim McCarthy at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret (world English).
GIRL AT MIDNIGHT and RATED author Melissa Grey’s THE VALIANT LADIES OF POTOSI, in which two proper young 17th-century Peruvian ladies trade their skirts for swords and end up as vigilante crime fighters, while falling for each other along the way, to Holly West at Feiwel and Friends, for publication in winter 2022, by Catherine Drayton at Inkwell Management (world English).
Al Graziadei’s ICEBREAKER, following a hockey legacy kid who is on track to become the NHL’s number one draft pick even while barely coping with his untreated depression, until a boy threatens both his number one spot and steals his heart—something that makes him the happiest he’s ever been and could threaten both their dreams if the truth came out, to Rachel Murray at Holt Children’s, in a good deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in winter of 2022, by Jennifer Azantian at Azantian Literary Agency (world English).
Editor of A PHOENIX FIRST MUST BURN Patrice Caldwell, ed.’s ETERNALLY YOURS, a paranormal romance anthology including short stories by Kendare Blake, Patrice Caldwell, Kat Cho, Melissa de la Cruz, Emily Duncan, Hafsah Faizal, Sarah Gailey, Alexis Henderson, Adib Khorram, Kwame Mbalia, Anna-Marie McLemore, Casey McQuiston, Sandhya Menon, Danielle Paige, Akshaya Raman, Marie Rutkoski, and Julian Winters, to Dana Leydig at Viking Children’s, in an exclusive submission, for publication in fall 2022, by Alexandra Machinist and Hillary Jacobson at ICM (world English).
Printz Honor winner Mary McCoy’s INDESTRUCTIBLE OBJECT, in which a queer teen girl who hosts a podcast about the love stories of great artists finds her life falling apart when her parents announce they’re divorcing and her boyfriend breaks up with her right after her high school graduation, then sets out on a new summer podcast project about whether love even exists at all and discovers herself in the process, to Kendra Levin at Simon & Schuster Children’s, for publication in summer 2021, by Patricia Nelson at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency (world).
Arianne Lewin at Putnam has acquired, in a preempt, in a two-book deal, debut author Leslie Vedder’s THE BONE SPINDLE, a gender-flipped Sleeping Beauty meets Indiana Jones, in which a cursed treasure hunter and an axe-wielding huntswoman must team up: one destined to rescue the prince sleeping in the Forest of Thorns, the other falling hard for a wicked witch. The title is set to publish in Spring 2022. Carrie Hannigan and Ellen Goff at HG Literary made the deal for North American rights.
Adult Fiction
Canada Council for the Arts grant recipient Emily Austin’s EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM WILL SOMEDAY BE DEAD, following a morbidly anxious young woman who stumbles into a job as a receptionist at a Catholic church, where she hides her atheist lesbian identity and becomes obsessed with the mysterious circumstances surrounding her predecessor’s death; a humorous exploration of what it takes to stay afloat in a world where our eventual expiration is the only certainty, pitched for fans of GOODBYE, VITAMIN and MOSTLY DEAD THINGS, to Daniella Wexler at Atria, in a pre-empt, by Heather Carr at Friedrich Agency (world).
Kosoko Jackson’s I’M SO (NOT) OVER YOU, the author’s adult debut, an #OwnVoices queer rom-comedy of errors about what happens when two exes, the heir to a brewery empire and a struggling journalist, are forced to pretend they are still a couple and realize that the spark between them may not be extinguished, to Kristine Swartz at Berkley, in a two-book deal, for publication in spring 2022, by Jim McCarthy at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret (world).
Nebula, Hugo, and Lambda Award nominee Lee Mandelo’s SUMMER SONS, pitched as THE SECRET HISTORY meets HISTORY IS ALL YOU LEFT ME in a queer, speculative Southern Gothic novel, about a Vanderbilt student searching for the truth behind his best friend’s death as ghosts, literal and figurative, haunt his nights, to Carl Engle-Laird at Tor.com, in a nice deal, in a pre-empt, in a two-book deal, for publication in fall 2021, by Tara Gilbert and Saritza Hernandez at Corvisiero Literary Agency (world English).
Non-Fiction
Historian and author of GAY AMERICAN HISTORY and THE INVENTION OF HETEROSEXUALITY Jonathan Ned Katz’s SEX REBEL: THE DARING LIFE AND TROUBLED TIMES OF EVE ADAMS, the first biography of the pioneering activist who ran lesbian and gay friendly speakeasies in Greenwich Village in the 1920s and published the novel LESBIAN LOVE (to be included in its entirety), which led to her surveillance, arrest, and eventual deportation back to Europe where she later died at Auschwitz, to Jerry Pohlen at Chicago Review Press, for publication in June 2021, by Robert Guinsler at Sterling Lord Literistic (world English).
Husband of former Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, Chasten Buttigieg’s I HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL YOU, a memoir about growing up gay in his small Midwestern town, his relationship with Pete, and his hope for America’s future, to Rakesh Satyal at Atria, in an exclusive submission, for publication in September 2020, by Alia Hanna Habib at The Gernert Company (NA).
Jennifer Berney’s THE OTHER MOTHERS, recounting her and her wife’s experience of trying to conceive, placing it within the larger story of how the LGBTQ community has undertaken the quest for parenthood over the last several decades, redefining what the nuclear family can be, to Anna Michels at Sourcebooks, with Jenna Jankowski editing, for publication in February 2021, by Rachel Vogel at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner (world English).
When Ollie meets his dream guy, Will, over summer break, he thinks he’s found his Happily Ever After. But once summer’s ended, Will stops texting him back, and Ollie finds himself one prince short of a fairytale ending. To complicate the fairytale further, a family emergency sees Ollie uprooted and enrolled at a new school across the country—Will’s school—where Ollie finds that the sweet, affectionate and comfortably queer guy he knew from summer isn’t the same one attending Collinswood High. This Will is a class clown, closeted—and, to be honest, a bit of a jerk.
On an Ojibwe reservation called Languille Lake, within the small town of Geshig at the hub of the rez, two men enter into a secret romance. Marion Lafournier, a midtwenties gay Ojibwe man, begins a relationship with his former classmate Shannon, a heavily closeted white man obsessed with his image as a northern Minnesotan. While Marion is far more open about his sexuality, neither is immune to the realities of the lives of gay men in small towns and closed societies.
An enchanted tale of intrigue where a duke’s daughter is the only survivor of a magical curse.
Where Nirrim lives, crime abounds, a harsh tribunal rules, and society’s pleasures are reserved for the High Kith. Life in the Ward is grim and punishing. People of her low status are forbidden from sampling sweets or wearing colors. You either follow the rules, or pay a tithe and suffer the consequences.
For the past year, their close loss in the annual Boarding Games has haunted Interceptor Team: Zuma’s Ghost. With this year’s competition looming, they’re looking forward to some payback—until an unexpected personnel change leaves them reeling. Their best swordsman has been transferred, and a new lieutenant has been assigned in his place.
Seventeen-year-old Dayna Walsh is struggling to cope with her somatic OCD; the aftermath of being outed as bisexual in her conservative Irish town; and the return of her long-absent mother, who barely seems like a parent. But all that really matters to her is ascending and finally, finally becoming a full witch-plans that are complicated when another coven, rumored to have a sordid history with black magic, arrives in town with premonitions of death. Dayna immediately finds herself at odds with the bewitchingly frustrating Meiner King, the granddaughter of their coven leader.
There is no consent under capitalism 
Maddie Marrow lives for her summers at the Inn at Havenfall, hidden up in the mountains of Colorado. The inn is the only place where she gets to see the boy she loves, Brekken and it provides an escape from her real life, which consists of endless mind-numbing days at high school . . . and visits to the local prison where her mother sits on Death Row accused of murdering Maddie’s brother.
Big Burr, Kansas, is the kind of place where everyone seems to know everyone, and everyone shares the same values-or keeps their opinions to themselves. But when a national nonprofit labels Big Burr “the most homophobic town in the US” and sends in a task force of queer volunteers as an experiment-they’ll live and work in the community for two years in an attempt to broaden hearts and minds-no one is truly prepared for what will ensue.
Ever since her mom died and her family moved to a new town four years ago, sixteen-year-old Vetty Lake has hidden her heart. She’d rather keep secrets than risk getting hurt–even if that means not telling anyone that she’s pretty sure she’s bisexual.
Jude’s life is upended when his mother loses her job and moves them to a little town by the sea to live with Henry Lake–an eccentric old man with rooms to rent. Henry is odd, the town is dull, and worst of all, Jude feels out of place and alone.
In a collection of essays and personal mini-comics that span eight years of her young adult life, author-illustrator Noelle Stevenson charts the highs and lows of being a creative human in the world.
Everything Is Beautiful, and I’m Not Afraid perfectly captures the feelings of a young sojourner in America as she explores the nuances in searching for a place to belong. Baopu is a monthly serialized comic on Autostraddle, and this book includes beloved fan favorites plus new, never-before-seen comics.
Tala Warnock has little use for magic – as a descendant of Maria Makiling, the legendary Filipina heroine, she negates spells, often by accident. But her family’s old ties to the country of Avalon (frozen, bespelled, and unreachable for almost 12 years) soon finds them guarding its last prince from those who would use his kingdom’s magic for insidious ends.
August 1939.
1888. Five years after they met in The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, Thaniel Steepleton, an unassuming translator, and Keita Mori, the watchmaker who remembers the future, are traveling to Japan. Thaniel has received an unexpected posting to the British legation in Tokyo, and Mori has business that is taking him to Yokohama.
As an escort, Ruby Scott is used to waking up in the bed of a wealthy woman. What she isn’t expecting is to wake up with a ring on her finger and married to Yvonne Maxwell, one of the executives behind the Mistress Media empire, a woman as alluring as she is cold.
Sixteen tales by bestselling and award-winning authors that explore the Black experience through fantasy, science fiction, and magic.
Mackenzie is used to being different from other kids―and to being bullied for not fitting into the rigid social expectations of her Catholic High School. Luckily, Mack’s best friend Lila has her back so school isn’t the total hell it could be. But it’s pretty damn close.
Six months after Noam Álvaro helped overthrow the despotic government of Carolinia, the Atlantians have gained citizenship, and Lehrer is chancellor. But despite Lehrer’s image as a progressive humanitarian leader, Noam has finally remembered the truth that Lehrer forced him to forget—that Lehrer is responsible for the deadly magic infection that ravaged Carolinia.
At forty, Linus Baker lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of gifted children in government-sanctioned orphanages. When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management, he’s given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children and their elusive but charming caretaker, Arthur, live. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.
Claire has always wanted to work with superheroes, from collecting Warrior Nation cards as a kid to drafting “What to Say to a Hero” speeches in her diary. Now that she’s landed a coveted internship with the Chicago branch of Warrior Nation, Claire is ready to prove she belongs, super or not. But complicating plans is the newest WarNat hero, Girl Power (aka Joy), who happens to be egotistical and self-important . . . and pretty adorable.
The last place Angelina Moltisanti ever wants to go is home. She barely escaped life under the roof, and the thumb, of her violent but charismatic father, Jack. Yet home is exactly where she ends up after an SUV plows into her car just weeks after she graduates from college, fracturing her wrist and her hopes to start a career as an artist.
When Paul Lisicky arrived in Provincetown in the early 1990s, he was leaving behind a history of family trauma to live in a place outside of time, known for its values of inclusion, acceptance, and art. In this idyllic haven, Lisicky searches for love and connection and comes into his own as he finds a sense of belonging. At the same time, the center of this community is consumed by the AIDS crisis, and the very structure of town life is being rewired out of necessity: What might this utopia look like during a time of dystopia?
Meet Kimberly, a regular suburban housewife and mother, whose discovery later in life that she was born intersex fuelled her to become an international human rights defender and globally-recognised activist.
A highly illustrated middle-grade series that celebrates new friendships, first crushes, and getting out of your comfort zone.
Early one morning on a hot day in August, millennial Congress-bro Alexander Paine Wilson (R) is planning his reelection campaign when a mysterious FedEx delivery arrives at his townhouse. Inside is a gigantic taxidermied aardvark.
A young royal from the far north, is sent south for a political marriage in an empire reminiscent of imperial China. Her brothers are dead, her armies and their war mammoths long defeated and caged behind their borders. Alone and sometimes reviled, she must choose her allies carefully.
It’s Cameron Esposito and she-weighed down by Catholic guilt-immediately topples over. But like any scrappy protagonist with all the odds (and the Pope) stacked against them, she’s able to pick herself up.
Things Lulu Shapiro’s 10,000 Flash followers don’t know about her:
It’s summer 1977 and closeted lesbian Tammy Larson can’t be herself anywhere. Not at her strict Christian high school, not at her conservative Orange County church and certainly not at home, where her ultrareligious aunt relentlessly organizes antigay political campaigns. Tammy’s only outlet is writing secret letters in her diary to gay civil rights activist Harvey Milk…until she’s matched with a real-life pen pal who changes everything.
Nandan’s got a plan to make his junior year perfect. He’s going to make sure all the parties are chill, he’s going to smooth things over with his ex, and he’s going to help his friend Dave get into the popular crowd—whether Dave wants to or not. The high school social scene might be complicated, but Nandan is sure he’s cracked the code.
When Amaya rescues a mysterious stranger from drowning, she fears her rash actions have earned her a longer sentence on the debtor ship where she’s been held captive for years. Instead, the man she saved offers her unimaginable riches and a new identity, setting Amaya on a perilous course through the coastal city-state of Moray, where old-world opulence and desperate gamblers collide. Amaya wants one thing: revenge against the man who ruined her family and stole the life she once had. But the more entangled she becomes in this game of deception—and as her path intertwines with the son of the man she’s plotting to bring down—the more she uncovers about the truth of her past. And the more she realizes she must trust no one…
Growing up in New York, brothers Emil and Brighton always idolized the Spell Walkers—a vigilante group sworn to rid the world of specters. While the Spell Walkers and other celestials are born with powers, specters take them, violently stealing the essence of endangered magical creatures.
Summer, 1518. A strange sickness sweeps through Strasbourg: women dance in the streets, some until they fall down dead. As rumors of witchcraft spread, suspicion turns toward Lavinia and her family, and Lavinia may have to do the unimaginable to save herself and everyone she loves.
Tala Warnock has little use for magic – as a descendant of Maria Makiling, the legendary Filipina heroine, she negates spells, often by accident. But her family’s old ties to the country of Avalon (frozen, bespelled, and unreachable for almost 12 years) soon finds them guarding its last prince from those who would use his kingdom’s magic for insidious ends.
In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys.
Felix Love has never been in love—and, yes, he’s painfully aware of the irony. He desperately wants to know what it’s like and why it seems so easy for everyone but him to find someone. What’s worse is that, even though he is proud of his identity, Felix also secretly fears that he’s one marginalization too many—Black, queer, and transgender—to ever get his own happily-ever-after.
Nishat doesn’t want to lose her family, but she also doesn’t want to hide who she is, and it only gets harder once a childhood friend walks back into her life. Flávia is beautiful and charismatic, and Nishat falls for her instantly. But when a school competition invites students to create their own businesses, both Flávia and Nishat decide to showcase their talent as henna artists. In a fight to prove who is the best, their lives become more tangled―but Nishat can’t quite get rid of her crush, especially since Flávia seems to like her back.
There was and there was not, as all stories begin, a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch. But for Soraya, who has lived her life hidden away, apart from her family, safe only in her gardens, it’s not just a story.
Everyone knows about the dare: Each week, Bryson Keller must date someone new–the first person to ask him out on Monday morning. Few think Bryson can do it. He may be the king of Fairvale Academy, but he’s never really dated before.
Fiercely told, this is a timely coming-of-age story, told in verse about the journey to self-acceptance. Perfect for fans of Sarah Crossan, Poet X and Orangeboy.
Liz Lighty has always believed she’s too black, too poor, too awkward to shine in her small, rich, prom-obsessed midwestern town. But it’s okay — Liz has a plan that will get her out of Campbell, Indiana, forever: attend the uber-elite Pennington College, play in their world-famous orchestra, and become a doctor.
Ian has just been diagnosed with HIV.
Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.
It’s 200 years after Cinderella found her prince, but the fairy tale is over. Teen girls are now required to appear at the Annual Ball, where the men of the kingdom select wives based on a girl’s display of finery. If a suitable match is not found, the girls not chosen are never heard from again.
