LARA PERKINS'S
REPRESENTATIVE BOOKS
Some client books Lara feels represent her tastes
lara@andreabrownlit.com 
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VOICE-DRIVEN, HEART-BREAKING BUT HOPEFUL YA NOVEL: Author of LIKE VANESSA and FREEDOM SOUP Tami Charles' YA debut, BECOMING BEATRIZ, in which a teenager in 1984 New Jersey dreams of a life spent dancing, until a gang-related tragedy on the day of her quinceñera changes everything. (Charlesbridge, 2019)
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HUMOROUS AND TIMELY MIDDLE GRADE: Author of the KEENA FORD chapter book series, Melissa Thomson’s middle grade fiction debut TITO THE BONECRUSHER, about fathers, heroes, and the criminal justice system. Oliver "Spaghetti-O" Jones's dad is about to be jailed for a crime he didn't commit, and Oliver believes the only way to save him is with the help of his favorite wrestler turned action star, Tito the Bonecrusher. Together with his best friend, Brianna (a.k.a. "Brain"), and their new ally Paul "Popcorn" Robards, Oliver devises a madcap plan to spring his dad from a Florida correctional facility. (FSG/Macmillan, 2019)
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SMART, GROUND-BREAKING MIDDLE GRADE WITH AN INTERNATIONAL FOCUS: Anne Sibley O’Brien’s IN THE SHADOW OF THE SUN, in which two American siblings (one adopted from South Korea) end up on the run alone in North Korea after their aid-worker father is arrested for spying; an exciting adventure that offers a rare glimpse into a compelling, complicated nation and is ultimately an unforgettable novel of courage and survival. (Arthur Levine/Scholastic, 2017)
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FUN, FEMINIST PICTURE BOOK SERIES TEXT WITH STEM HOOKS: The first in Kimberly Derting and Shelli R. Johannes’s Cece Loves Science series, in which a science loving, question asking girl discovers the exciting ways that scientific inquiry, creative thought, and curiosity about our world matter in everyday life...and can lead to fun and adventure. (Greenwillow/HarperCollins, 2018)
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LYRICAL, CELEBRATORY PICTURE BOOK WITH HISTORICAL HOOKS: Author of LIKE VANESSA and BECOMING BEATRIZ , Tami Charles’s FREEDOM SOUP, which celebrates the history of Haitian independence that is behind the tradition of ringing in the New Year by eating soup joumou. Illustrated by Jacqueline Alcántara, the inaugural winner of the We Need Diverse Books Illustration Mentorship Award. (Candlewick, 2019)
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RIVETING, INSPIRING NONFICTION PICTURE BOOK BIOGRAPHY: Kirsten W. Larson's debut nonfiction picture book, WOOD, WIRE, WINGS: EMMA LILIAN TODD INVENTS AN AIRPLANE, illustrated by Tracy Subisak, explores both the failures and successes of self-taught engineer Emma Lilian Todd as she tackles one of the greatest challenges of the early 1900s: designing an airplane. (Calkins Creek/Boyds Mills, 2020)
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FUNNY, UNIVERSALLY RELATABLE PICTURE BOOK WITH STEM HOOKS: Author-illustrator of I AM NOT A CHAIR, Ross Burach's THE VERY IMPATIENT CATERPILLAR, a clever send-up of every child's biggest challenge – being patient! – in a STEM-friendly, laugh-out-loud comedy about metamorphosis, which also imparts real facts about how caterpillars become butterflies. (Scholastic, 2019)
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BOLD, COLORFUL, INTERACTIVE ORIGINAL BOARD BOOK SERIES: Author-illustrator of THE VERY IMPATIENT CATERPILLAR Ross Burach's HI-FIVE ANIMALS!, in which young readers get to high five a variety of fun, silly animals. (Scholastic, 2019)