Kristie Choi

I’m a children’s book editor with Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster that is known for publishing award-winners and commercial books with outstanding literary merit. I’m looking to acquire fiction and non-fiction for young adult, middle grade, picture book (4-8), and graphic novels.

My Mission: I’m seeking the sort of books that can stand the test of time where readers can get lost and immersed in a refuge, see themselves, be transformed and healed, and experience the world with a new perspective. I’m especially looking to highlight intersectional, marginalized, and traditionally underrepresented voices (BIPOC, queer, disabled, neurodivergent, body type, etc).

My taste in short: high-concept creatively ambitious literary stories that play with genre or explore the magic within the mundane; that is, traditional mystery who-dunnits or characters simply trying to discover the secrets of the universe.

Broad strokes: Ranging from light and humorous to gritty, edgy, and thought-provoking, the stories I tend to be drawn to are  creatively ambitious and can straddle both the commercial and literary line (“upmarket”) or have a literary timeless feel. For novels and graphic novels, I’m seeking voice-driven coming-of-age or genre fiction with a character-focus written with captivating prose; for picture books and early readers, I’m looking for outrageously funny, silly, absurd stories or those that are gorgeous and lyrical and touch upon universal themes like love and family. Regardless of genre or format, I’m drawn to voice-y, cinematic, character-driven stories with a high-concept hook that are immersive, compulsive, and evocative of some emotion–those that can get me invested in the characters and make me laugh or cry (or both at the same time). I enjoy high stakes and stories of young people confronting a little more than the ordinary, anything from dealing with financial insecurity, trauma/grief, family dysfunction, to battling political corruption or literal demons. I also love slice-of-life that highlights the beauty within the mundane. Even with my favorite cozy stories, though, I enjoy having some weightier threads woven in (think any Hayao Miyazaki film or Howl’s Moving Castle where the wizards turning into monsters is a metaphor for the horrors of war). I have a particular soft spot for offbeat threads and misfits on the fringes of society, nerds, autistic/neurodivergent folks, and the cerebral types thinking big questions about life, relationships, and philosophy from a young age.

Specifically, in picture books, I love:

• Funny and absurd premises in the vein of LLAMA DESTROYS THE WORLD
• Innovative and quirky, wry humor a la Jon Klassen, Ben Clanton, Oliver Jeffers
• Emotional stories about family and love that inspire empathy like WATERCRESS and LAST STOP ON MARKET STREET
• profound, moving, and lyrical picture books like OUTSIDE IN

Early Readers:

• Graphic novels with series potential that are super funny and silly like Narwhal and Jelly and Dogman

In MG, I’m looking for:

• grounded graphic novels that combine humor and heart in the vein of Raina Telgemeier, Shannon Hale, Remy Lai
• voice-y high-concept fantasy/spooky stories that lend themselves well to illustration
• beautifully written and emotionally powerful novels in verse (historical or contemporary)
• gorgeous literary stories amplifying traditionally underrepresented voices (Indigenous/BIPOC, queer, disabled, neurodivergent, etc)
• tween romance–nothing better than discovering love for the first time!

In YA, I love:

• lyrical, gorgeous angsty coming-of-age in the vein of Nina Lacour, Last Night at the Telegraph Club
• mysteries/thrillers of all kinds! Think Holly Jackson, Karen McManus, or coming-of-age with a strong mystery plot in the vein of Patron Saints of Nothing, The Firekeeper’s Daughter, We Were Liars, The Astonishing Color of After
• voice-driven fantasy with immersive writing in the vein of Leigh Bardugo, Margaret Rogerson, Laini Taylor
• horror that understands the anxieties and frightening experience of growing up, drawing upon real-life emotions and experiences of terror (think GET OUT being about the horrors of systemic and benevolent racism)
• smart romance and rom-coms in the vein of Casey Mcquiston featuring quirky nerdy leads, especially with characters discovering queer desire
• the enemies-to-lovers, rivals-to-lovers, or lovers-to-enemies trope (I’m a huge sucker for this trope)

I am a bit genre-blind when it comes to fantasy/speculative, contemporary, historical, and whatnot, but.. I am NOT the best fit for:

• board books–Atheneum only publishes picture books within the ages of 4-8
• anthologies–just not a format I love!
• cozy, low-stakes fantasy–I have plenty of colleagues who would LOVE something like Legends & Lattes
• didactic writing
• Main characters of AAPI, BIPOC, queer, or other traditionally marginalized identities, who are self-hating
• plot-driven stories where there is little to no interiority or where the only aspect of the world that has changed by the end of the story is external and not internal; where external events drive the action more so than character’s decisions
• In MG/YA, any characters that feel cartoon-y or where the emotions and characterization don’t feel believable (unless it’s absurd and silly humor, which I love)
• sports stories centered on the sport (though I love character-driven stories that aren’t really about the sport a la Ted Lasso)
• stories centered around terminal illness, especially those ending with the character’s death
• graphic novel pitches with only a script/writer attached; graphic novels must be author-illustrator
• trauma-driven narratives that are relentlessly heavy (i.e. the main character’s life is defined by their trauma or racism they’ve faced, with no or few threads of levity or love for balance)

Submission Guidelines

To agents: please submit to my Simon & Schuster email address with the full pitch and manuscript. You are welcome to submit to more than one editor at S&S; however, we ask agents not to submit simultaneously to editors within the same imprint or publisher. S&S BFYR, Atheneum, McElderry, Salaam Reads, and Denene Millner all fall under the same publisher. To authors and illustrators: Unfortunately I can only accept agented submissions. If I’ve expressed interest in your MS, please have your agent forward it to me!