Kristie Choi

Layered and/or simply silly stories that speak to kids at their level, that respect their intelligence & capacity for all kinds of emotion, a bit of darkness—or just plain wackiness! Give me high-concept funny read alouds; diverse perspectives and traditionally marginalized voices; kid appeal, & joy

It’s been a minute since I posted a picture book #MSWL ! My taste for PB runs from the quirky, imaginative, & funny like Stalactite & Stalagmite by Drew Beckmeyer to the gorgeously lyrical, emotional, and joyful like Where They Gather by Teresa Rodrigues, illus by Jamiel Law. The common thread? 1/2

#mswl more books that made me feel and think the way these did—books that stay with you long after you read them

MG: Last Cuentista, Girl Who Drank the Moon, Inside Out & Back Again
YA: Strange the Dreamer, Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Last Night at the Telegraph Club

Super specific #MSWL : survival stories (including post-apocalyptic) w/a fresh spin on the survival genre & BIPOC/queer rep. Emotional MG like Alone or Hatchet or humorous and fun like The Last Kids on Earth. YA like Wilder Girls, The 5th Wave, or a grounded ownvoices Island of the Blue Dolphins

💕character & voice-driven stories of first love, queer awakening, enemies/rivals to lovers, tension, yearning, forbidden romance; complex characters trying their best; stakes that feel world-ending or that are literally world-ending; intersectionality (BIPOC, queer, disabled); trans; Indigenous 💕

For MG: poignant novels in verse à la Thanhhà Lại, Jacqueline Brown; fantasy/speculative exploring profound themes à la The Last Cuentista or The Girl Who Drank the Moon; survival stories like Hatchet or Alone; silly & humorous illustrated like The Last Kids on Earth or Dav Pilkey; mysteries 2/3

Hi agents, I’m on the hunt for high-concept layered YA & MG novels! #MSWL

For YA: romantic fantasy; dark academia; mystery/thrillers like We Were Liars or Firekeeper’s Daughter; thought-provoking horror or gothic; romantic coming of age like Aristotle & Dante & Last Night at the Telegraph Club 1/3

My life was a puzzle that didn’t make sense until I embraced being queer and genderfluid. #mswl more queer books, especially for MG/YA and new adult graphic novels and literary YA/coming-of age like Aristotle & Dante Discover the Sectets of the Universe or Last Night at the Telegraph Club

The sort of story that has a lot to say (in kid-digestible form) and sticks with you long after you’ve read it

#Mswl : literary voice-driven middle grade w/a high-concept hook; speculative/fantasy or slice-of-life but I want to see gorgeous, engaging prose or verse; profound coming-of-age themes; and beautifully drawn characters. If it’s a heavier story, there should be love and hope reverberating throughout

#mswl reminder: I am still on the hunt for standout trans/genderqueer voices, particularly in YA but also MG, from speculative to gorgeously written coming-of-age. My partner is trans/nb, I’m genderfluid, and I will never stop championing genderqueer authors

Maybe because these times are so horrifying but for YA, I’m really craving an atmospheric, layered horror mystery with the beautiful and lush but creepy vibes of Midsommar or The Honeys, even better if it’s romantic & queer #mswl

Some specific #MSWL cravings I’ve had these days for my YA list:

-high-concept post apocalyptic
-a romantic gothic/horror mystery
-beautiful, voicey trans/genderqueer anything
-yearning/longing vibes
-enemies/rivals to lovers
-twisted romance
-dark academia in a non-European setting

My bookshelf is 50% character-driven sff/speculative/spooky, 50% realistic contemporary/historical (coming-of-age romance, mystery/thriller, action-adventure, and verse novels), mostly by BIPOC, queer, or traditionally underrepresented folks, & my taste very much reflects that.

#MSWL Agents, I've been seeing some fantastic YA sff subs. I'll never say no to sff that captures my heart, but I'm also on the lookout for gorgeously written verse/prose, layered coming-of-age (historical or contemp) esp if it weaves in queer romance and/or mystery/suspense.

Or maybe what you have is not like anything we've ever seen before - super gay, weird, and innovative with all the seemingly disparate threads somehow coming together & there's just no way I could've known to want something like your bonkers creation. Well! I might want it then.

GN: absurd, funny MG; fantasy/spec like This Was Our Pact; YA like The Prince and the Dressmaker, Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up..., Genderqueer, Go with the Flow, The Magic Fish, beautiful coming-of-age like This One Summer that lingers w/you but make it all gay gay gay. 5/6

YA: coming of age romance like Last Night at the Telegraph Club or Ari & Dante w/gorgeous prose; coming of gender; atmospheric gothic (like The Handmaiden); historical/nf; mystery/thrillers like Firekeeper's Daughter or Patron Saints of Nothing; character-driven speculative. 4/6

MG: character-driven fantasy/speculative/spooky; gorgeous verse novels; beautifully written coming-of-gender/gay stories w/ young people just beginning to come into their identity or discovering first love and crushes. Think Chiron in Moonlight when he's still a kid/preteen. 3/6

PB: I'd love to see nonfiction & fiction that undermine heteronormativity/gender binaries & celebrate queer kids beginning to find words for who they are, or who don't yet have the words for "trans," "nonbinary" (how you can be AMAB, feel like a girl, & still like girls) 2/6