The Loft Blog

This week's Family Book Club pick is We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom. This beautifully illustrated picture book is a metaphor for the introduction of pipelines on native lands and explains the importance of water to the whole world and how kids can get involved in nurturing the land.

Ty Chapman is a Twin Cities–based author, poet, puppeteer, and playwright of Nigerian and European descent. He has been creating art with social justice themes for many years and is passionate about speaking to the Black experience in America.

Kat Kerr joined the Donald Maass Literary Agency in 2019 and is actively seeking to grow her client list. She's particularly hungry for magical realism, literary-leaning speculative and science fiction, women’s fiction, YA works with a lot of heart, and narrative nonfiction with something to say.

Mary C. Moore is an agent with Kimberley Cameron & Associates and is seeking adult, young adult, and middle grade fiction. She is especially hungry for upmarket genre fiction a la Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones.

Courtney Stevenson has been an editor with HarperCollins Children's Books since 2016. She's looking for middle grade and young adult fiction and nonfiction projects, particularly ones that tell compelling stories that she hasn’t heard before.

This week's Family Book Club pick is Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo. The third YA novel of her career, Acevedo beautifully details a tale of two sisters living in two different countries—who don't know the other exists until tragedy strikes, pulling them into each other's world.

There’s a lot of talk about starting books off at exciting moments, right in the middle of things. And there are many great reasons to do this. There are also a lot of challenges! How do we cram in the backstory and character building needed to fully understand the scene?

Every post in this series will include a weekly reading and a list of prompts in response to that reading. Some of them will be focused on craft; some will ask you to evaluate content. This week we're focusing on humor piece "Hello, I'll Be Your Toddler Tour Guide for this Trip Out the Front Door."

Dani Segelbaum is a junior literary agent at New Leaf Literary & Media. Her typical preferences for representation include contemporary fiction, memoir, narrative nonfiction, women’s fiction, popular culture, lifestyle, and cookbooks.

James McGowan is an associate agent at BookEnds. He's currently open to submissions in picture book fiction and nonfiction, middle grade fiction and nonfiction, and adult fiction.

Samantha Fabien is a literary agent with the Laura Dail Literary Agency. She reps upmarket women's fiction as well as contemporary romance; thrillers/mysteries/suspense; speculative fiction; nuanced horror; and contemporary/grounded fantasy in adult, young adult, and middle grade.

This week's Family Book Club pick is The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste. This spooky, exciting middle grade title explores the topics of land ownership, othering, and friendship all within a fast-paced, Caribbean-folklore-inspired plot sure to keep you on your toes.