Our Agents
Our Agents
After a first career in consulting, Caryn began her second career as an agent in 2003 and has never looked back. Social justice has been at the heart of her list since she started agenting, and she is always on the lookout for authentic, kid-appealing stories and art that disrupt the prevailing narrative in some way. No matter the genre, Caryn looks for characters that stick with her long after she has closed the book. She loves a story that brings her a good, cathartic cry, a huge belly laugh, some outrage, some new knowledge, and above all, hope.
Please send her:
middle-grade and YA Jewish-themed fiction by Jewish authors. I’m interested in themes of Jewish empowerment and battling antisemitism, settings such as Jewish camp or youth group, stories that celebrate being Jewish, and stories centering characters who just happen to be Jewish. I’m very interested in stories about and by Jews of color and queer Jews.
in general, fiction by BIPOC authors, especially queer, disabled, religious minority BIPOC or otherwise marginalized BIPOC.
stories featuring queer characters in middle school
family stories (would love to see something like RUBY LOST & FOUND, by Christina Li)
spooky MG (not too dark)
main characters with disabilities, by disabled authors
YA rom coms where both the main character and love interest are POCanything that could be comped to Nicola Yoon’s books
YA mysteries!!! thrillers!!! — anything that can be comped to A GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER by Holly Jackson or SUDDENLY A MURDER by Lauren Munoz — also, would love a thriller/mystery about a wilderness camp
YA horror that could be comped to YELLOWJACKETS
unexpected retellings (something different from Shakespeare and Jane Austen)
stories set in (non-European, not Greek) Ancient history, whether with fantasy/mythology or not, ie something like CIRCE or KAIKEYI for YA readers, or like THE LIES WE SING TO THE SEA, by Sarah Underwood)
books featuring autistic characters or a main character with OCD, by an author who shares the character’s identity
Caryn holds an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA, and a BS from the University of Virginia. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and dog. Somehow her two children have become twenty-somethings.
RECENT DEALS
Carol Hinz at Lerner has acquired world rights to Let Them Fly! by Don Tate (l.) (Jerry Changed the Game), illustrated by David Cooper (Marcus Makes a Movie), a nonfiction picture book that tells the story of the Tuskegee Airmen and the Black meteorologists without whom the Airmen would not have been able to fly. Publication is slated for fall 2026; Caryn Wiseman at Andrea Brown Literary Agency represented the author, and Rubin Pfeffer at Rubin Pfeffer Content represented the illustrator.
Marfé Ferguson Delano at National Geographic Kids Books has acquired PHOTO ARK 1-2-3: An Animal Counting Book in Poetry and Pictures, by author Debbie Levy and photographer Joel Sartore. The picture book features poems by Levy and photos from Sartore’s Photo Ark, a decades-long project to photograph every animal species in human care, with special attention given to rare and endangered species.. Publication is scheduled for March 2025. Caryn Wiseman at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency represented the author in the deal for world rights.
Danielle Collins at S&S/Beach Lane Books has acquired world rights to ONE GRAIN OF SAND by Judy Bryan (l.), illustrated by Laura Ramos. This nonfiction picture book explores the lifecycle of individual grains of sand and encourages readers to imagine where each grain might have come from. Publication is slated for summer 2026; Heather Cashman at Storm Literary Agency represented the author, and Caryn Wiseman at Andrea Brown Literary Agency represented the illustrator.
Mabel Hsu at HarperCollins has acquired world rights to three picture books to launch the Everlasting Tales collection, a series focused on publishing multicultural folktales and fairy tales retold for a modern audience. The first, set for fall 2024, is CHANG'E ON THE MOON, by Katrina Moore, illustrated by Cornelia Li, which follows the legend of one of China's most celebrated figures: the Moon Goddess. Caryn Wiseman at Andrea Brown Literary Agency represented Li.
Catmouse James to illustrate MELANIN MAGIC: A Young Mystic’s Guide to African Siprituality, a fully-illustrated middle grade nonfiction book for young learners who are interested in the remembrance of indigenous African spirituality, with a focus on astrology, horoscopes, cowrie divination, and ancestral wisdom. The book includes crafts and prompts for engaged learning and practice of the concepts provided in the text for Frances Soo Ping Chow at Running Press.
Meredith Mundy at Abrams Appleseed has bought Aaliya Jaleel's interactive board book Eid Tale, a celebration of the Muslim holiday of Eid featuring gatefolds, die-cut pages, and illustrations centered around different aspects of the holiday. Publication is scheduled for spring 2024; Caryn Wiseman at Andrea Brown Literary Agency sold world rights.
THINGS I LOVE:
Social justice
Politics
Theater
Choral singing
Travel
The common denominator in my list is “smart with heart” and Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop’s essay on “mirrors, windows, and sliding doors” is never far from my mind.
REPRESENTATIVE TITLES
The most important work that I do is lifting the voices of creators who can help erase hate from our world.
AWARD WINNERS
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