Stephanie Stein

😂 Make me laugh! Note I am not one for super zany young MG or grossout humor, but I love self-aware wryness or a bit of quirk
😭 & make me cry, especially with contemporary MG about family, friendship, & kids figuring out their place in the world #MSWL

😼 MG fantasy with factions/houses/teams that make readers want to declare allegiance and inhabit that world--think warrior cat Clans
🌿 Cottagecore fantasy romance--homey worlds (not w/o darkness) where I'd want to set up my own Baba Yaga hut and herb garden in the forest #MSWL

🌻 MG fantasy with an inventive central conflict/no individual antagonist. Characters solving problems that are structural or inherited or driven by people trying to do what's right but disagreeing on what that is. Think recent Disney movies like Encanto & Moana #MSWL

... a broad range of MG & YA fiction and graphic novels--fantasy (my first & greatest love as a reader), historical, romance, some great humor, and high-concept contemporary (especially with a framing device such as epistolary elements, then-and-now timelines, etc.) #MSWL

While it's still pitch dark outside by 5:30, I'd be extremely down for a middle grade ghost story, agent friends #MSWL

8) Yes, I do graphic novels! In addition to cozy fantasy, looking for MG fantasy/adventure more broadly and for moody, literary-feeling YA coming-of-age stories (the queerer the better).

4.3) Cozy MG fantasy that feels both literary and commercial. Think Studio Ghibli, Halloweentown, a touch of Anne Ursu. (I am also extremely looking for this in graphic novels!)

4.1) Commercial MG fantasy/adventure that could launch a 5-book series. I am ready to pick some fights with editor friends at RR Presents and Scholastic! 👀

4) Who's the next big thing in YA or MG fantasy? I want to help them get there, and I want them in my inbox. ❤️ Specifically:

Agent friends, I've been hungry for a smart, incisive, fresh retelling--think A STUDY IN CHARLOTTE. If you've got something like that in YA or MG, send it my way! #MSWL

Always! I'm dying for some deeply emotional MG contemporary, smart MG fantasy/adventure, and a sweeping, EPIC YA romance. More of my recent wishlist items are on the hashtag #MSWL! #okscbwichat

Would love a killer middle grade mystery.* Spooky/supernatural, cozy, and Westing Game puzzle-style varieties all encouraged. #mswl

*no actual murder required

I turned 30 (!!!) last weekend, an occasion I'm seizing to share my #MSWL this year:
- sweeping YA romance
- ✨queer magic✨
- savvy, commercial MG fantasy
- joyful queer & POC stories
- & POC authors with something to say
- emotional contemporary MG
- cozy af graphic novels

Very specific #mswl time: I've been craving a middle grade book about wishes (with any degree of actual magic). Agent friends, if you've got one of these up your sleeve, send it my way!

I always love books that play with structure, format, and narrative conventions. I'd love something that does for a YA or MG narrator what (stay with me) FLEABAG did for the fourth wall in TV. #MSWL

You'll have noticed that I've acquired a fair amount of queer YA lately and I am not! done! Always looking for more LGBTQ+ characters for both YA and MG audiences, and no, it does not have to be a rom-com! #MSWL

In MG, my list is fantasy-heavy, and, like, don't stop sending me MG fantasy because I love it--but I want to see more MG contemporary! Particularly one that will make me ugly cry on the train, and then carefully glue my heart back together. #MSWL

Hi, #MSWL Day! Agents, as many of you know, I'm acquiring a range of YA and MG (open to fiction, narrative nonfiction, and graphic novels), and I'm still looking for a lot of the things I've tweeted about on this hashtag in the past! twitter.com/search?q=(%23M…

In the mood for a hopeful, uplifting middle grade that will make me cry my eyes out. #mswl

Thrilled to see 2019 already trying to make witches happen. Multigenerational, feminist, family-heavy witch book for YA or MG? Do want! #mswl