#jas perry

Today, we talk about 2020. Yes, we voluntarily went back there! Though much was lost this year, and many things felt by turns unfamiliar and maddeningly repetitive, we had a good year. With 3 new members on our team, many new books released, and new contracts signed! Together we clung to the successes and joy.

  Kate Testerman, Sara Megibow, Kelly Van Sant, Jas Perry, Aida Lilly, and Renee Nyen talk about 2020 and look ahead to what 2021 has in store for kt literary. Find us on almost all your favorite podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Stitchr, PodBean and more.

    Here are some of our favorite reads of 2020!

  Kate loved: Enjoy the View by Sarah Morganthaler

Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi

  Sara loved: The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

  Aida loved: Consider This by Chuck Palahniuk

The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab

  Kelly loved: The Unravelling of Cassidy Holmes by Elissa R. Sloan

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Rosanne A. Brown

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

  Jas loved: Twins by Varian Johnson, illustrated by Shannon Wright

Long Way Down: The Graphic Novel by Jason Reynolds written by Danica Novgorodoff

  Renee loved: Maureen Johnson’s Truly Devious series

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

  You can find us at ktliterary.com and on Twitter and Instagram.

I’m happy to announce that kt literary has signed Jacqueline Barnes, a multidisciplinary artist and writer!

Jacqueline is a skilled storyteller with a boundless imagination, and her young adult graphic novel project is the enchanting escapist fantasy of my dreams. It’s particularly thrilling to represent an author-illustrator with such a unique and vivid style combined with the elegant character work and sprawling worldbuilding in Jacqueline’s YA debut, ANAMNESIS:

In the land of SenBor, witches control memories and can change the course of history, and Gods walk the earth in human shells as advisors to the monarchs.

Isra is a narcoleptic sixteen-year-old witch who can control memories, an Anama by birthright. But as an avid romance fan, she’s more concerned with her own happily ever-after than the decade-long war between the Anama and the monarchy. Unfortunately, her fairy tale romance is leagues away as she’s lived ostracized from society with her overbearing sister for as long as she can remember. To make matters worse, Isra can dream—a power that no other being in Senbor possesses—and her dreams have a cryptic message:

The world is dying, and she must be the one to save it.

Pitched as LAURA DEAN KEEPS BREAKING UP WITH ME meets American Gods, ANAMNESIS combines Jacqueline’s love of graphic art and Black fantasy.

Love, inclusivity, and the fantastical are three words that best encapsulate Jacqueline Barnes’ work. Refusing to give in to mass media stereotypes that Black female characters are “too independent and strong” for love, she created PhantaNoir: a genre that places Black characters, cultures, and mythos at the center of fantastical stories. Adamant that compassion is the answer, Jacqueline strives to share her work with the world so that younger Black girls can get some of that love, too.

Jacqueline has a Bachelor of Art and Creative Writing from Carnegie Mellon University, a Master’s from UCLA’s Animation workshop, is a VONA 2017 Alum, was a resident at the 2017 Santa Fe Art Institute, and is an inaugural diversity fellow at the Highlights foundation.

Welcome to the team, Jacqueline!

Check out Jae’s art on her website and connect with her on Twitter and Instagram.

I’m very happy to share that Ridley Adams is now represented by kt literary! Ridley’s YA Southern African Contemporary Fantasy novel is a fresh action-adventure with elements of mystery, mythology, and Afrofuturism. Pitched as Men in Black meets Fantastic Beasts, THE PLACE WHERE CLOUDS GATHER was revised under mentorship during Pitch Wars 2019:

Seventeen-year-old Finn is a star agent trainee for HELSING, an agency devoted to tracking and hiding African mythical creatures from civilians. Her first real mission to investigate the violent death of Cape Town’s mayor is the perfect chance to prove she’s more than her late parents’ legacy as top HELSING operatives. With her partner, Finn finds intel that the mayor was killed by a cryptid of Zulu legend: the Lightning Bird. When she uncovers a secret plan to turn the Lightning Bird into an instrument of terror—a plan hatched within HELSING itself—it’s a race against time to stop an unknown mastermind in the agency that raised her.

Ridley Adams is an Afro-Brazilian fantasy writer. For their day job, Ridley is a conservation biologist; as their father is of Angolan descent and they have a personal connection to the continent, they specialize in African conservation issues. They’ve prevented cheetahs from eating livestock in Namibia, tested out different ways to keep elephants out of croplands in Kenya, ridden donkey carts to work in the Northern Cape of South Africa, designed a picture-only video game to teach non-literate Mozambican villagers about the ecosystem importance of vultures, climbed mountains, been stung by scorpions, and chased many a mamba and puff adder out of their office. When Ridley’s not wildlife-conserving, inventing, or writing, they’re still involved with their old pirate reenactment crew and do swash buckles on occasion.

THE PLACE WHERE CLOUDS GATHER is a dream project straight off my MSWL and I couldn’t be more pleased to represent the author behind it.

Welcome to the team, Ridley!

I’m very happy to share that Ridley Adams is now represented by kt literary! Ridley’s YA Southern African Contemporary Fantasy novel is a fresh action-adventure with elements of mystery, mythology, and Afrofuturism. Pitched as Men in Black meets Fantastic Beasts, THE PLACE WHERE CLOUDS GATHER was revised under mentorship during Pitch Wars 2019:

Seventeen-year-old Finn is a star agent trainee for HELSING, an agency devoted to tracking and hiding African mythical creatures from civilians. Her first real mission to investigate the violent death of Cape Town’s mayor is the perfect chance to prove she’s more than her late parents’ legacy as top HELSING operatives. With her partner, Finn finds intel that the mayor was killed by a cryptid of Zulu legend: the Lightning Bird. When she uncovers a secret plan to turn the Lightning Bird into an instrument of terror—a plan hatched within HELSING itself—it’s a race against time to stop an unknown mastermind in the agency that raised her.

Ridley Adams is an Afro-Brazilian fantasy writer. For their day job, Ridley is a conservation biologist; as their father is of Angolan descent and they have a personal connection to the continent, they specialize in African conservation issues. They’ve prevented cheetahs from eating livestock in Namibia, tested out different ways to keep elephants out of croplands in Kenya, ridden donkey carts to work in the Northern Cape of South Africa, designed a picture-only video game to teach non-literate Mozambican villagers about the ecosystem importance of vultures, climbed mountains, been stung by scorpions, and chased many a mamba and puff adder out of their office. When Ridley’s not wildlife-conserving, inventing, or writing, they’re still involved with their old pirate reenactment crew and do swash buckles on occasion.

THE PLACE WHERE CLOUDS GATHER is a dream project straight off my MSWL and I couldn’t be more pleased to represent the author behind it.

Welcome to the team, Ridley!

I am overjoyed to announce that Nora Elghazzawi is now represented by kt literary! Nora’s YA Contemporary Fantasy novel, A VEIL OF STARS AND JASMINE, combines the whimsical tone of Howl’s Moving Castle and the sparkling magic of Sailor Moon, and will appeal to readers who enjoy fairytales, twinkling prose, and quirky heroines who wear their hearts on their sleeves:

By daylight, sixteen-year-old Jasmine Nujoum bides her time as a regular sophomore in the enchanted town of Bella Notte. In a city with moon-flour bakeries and summoning-parking-lots, there’s never a dull day that passes. But by starlight, Jasmine uses her gift to take odd jobs for clients, searching for anything — lost loves and car-keys and sometimes even memories. There’s just one catch to her magic; she can’t use it for herself. Otherwise, she’ll lose something of equal value.

Nora is a Muslim Lebanese-American writer, and her short story, SOLACE, was selected by #1 New York Times bestselling author, Nicola Yoon, to appear in FORESHADOW, a serial anthology launched by Emily X.R. Pan and Nova Ren Suma. FORESHADOW was acquired by Algonquin and is slated to be published in paperback in October 2020.

I read “Solace” a couple years ago while interning in editorial, and unsuccessfully attempted to track down more of Nora’s beautiful writing. Needless to say, finding her query in my inbox was an unbelievably magical moment; A VEIL OF STARS AND JASMINE is a gorgeously written fantastical romcom full of mystery and delight, and I’m very proud to be representing Nora.

Welcome to the team, Nora!

It is a pleasure to welcome Amar Shah to the kt literary family! His YA coming-of-age memoir is set in the ‘90s and can be described as a cross between Fresh off the Boat, Almost Famous, and ESPN’s The Last Dance.

WISH I WAS A BALLER chronicles Amar’s adventures as a high school journalist covering the golden era of the NBA, when he became friends with Shaquille O’Neal and hung out with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls — all while surviving the high school caste system, falling in love and understanding his Indian-American identity.

Full of hilarious yet acute stories around the pain and glory of growing up, WISH I WAS A BALLER gives us a hybrid world of assimilation and immigration, gas stations, garba and hoops, filled with Hindu summer camps and VIP rooms; movie-hopping and gatecrashing. Most importantly, it shows us how one young man learns to be himself, and to chase his dreams while doing so.

I read the first page of Amar’s manuscript and instantly fell in love. WISH I WAS A BALLER is full of wit, humor, and heart, and will find audiences among former ‘90s kids, today’s YA readers, and basketball fans alike.

Amar is a multiple Emmy-winning writer and producer who has written for ESPN.com, NFL.com, The Wall Street Journal, The Orlando Sentinel, Sports Illustrated for Kids, Slam Magazine and The Washington Post, including a viral essay on growing up as the son of the real Apu.

Welcome to kt, Amar!

I’m thrilled to announce that Brianna Peppins has been signed to kt literary! Brianna’s outstanding YA Contemporary novel, BRIARCLIFF PREP, can be described as a cross between the beloved TV sitcom, A Different World, and the #YouOkSis movement created by Feminista Jones to increase bystander intervention for harassment experienced by Black women:

Fourteen-year-old Avielle LeBeau is starting her freshman year at Briarcliff Preparatory School for Girls, one of the few remaining Historically Black Boarding Schools. She has dreams of fitting in with kids who look like her, continuing her family legacy and joining the school newspaper — and she desperately wants to catch the eye of a certain sophomore math whiz who attends Preston Academy across the street. But all of these wants become obsolete when Avi discovers a devastating secret about her big sister’s boyfriend.

Avi has two choices: she can keep this secret and pray it doesn’t blow up in their faces, or she can tell the truth, risking her sister’s reputation and possibly destroying the foundation of their relationship.

BRIARCLIFF PREP is a coming-of-age story set in a space where the expectations of gender and race collide, familial responsibilities are tested, and sisterhood may be a saving grace. BRIARCLIFF’s appeal is not limited to kidlit and young adult readers; HBCU alumni will find a comforting return to home in BRIARCLIFF PREP, and for those who attended PWIs — myself included — Avi’s story is a glimpse into the possibilities of an education and student life unconstrained by the demands of double-consciousness.

Brianna is a Spelman College graduate and a practicing Behavior Therapist for children, and her professional experience is evident in the way she deftly and realistically handles depictions of adolescent issues — particularly those affecting young Black students today. Keep up with Brianna’s new Booktube channel for book recommendations and reviews!

Welcome to kt, Brianna!

I am thrilled to announce that Sophia Southard is the newest addition to the kt literary family.

Sophia’s YA novel, THE PHOENIX EMPRESS, is a Vietnamese-inspired fantasy inspired by the Fall of Saigon and the author’s own experience growing up an interracial Vietnamese-American adoptee:

To avenge her best friend’s death, seventeen-year-old adoptee Sela leaves her home to plot a revenge-assassination against her birth country’s power-hungry Empress. However, with the Empress cloistered away behind three impenetrable walls, any assassination plot requires utmost stealth and the use of magic, which the Empress is hell-bent on eradicating. Sela possesses the marksmanship skills to carry off an assassination but to accomplish the rest, she reluctantly enlists the help of four ragtag musicians in her race to flee the doomed South; if she fails to kill the Empress, she will be sent to the conversion camps — a fate worse than death — leaving her vengeance unfulfilled and her homeland at the mercy of a ruthless sovereign.

Sophia blew me away with the fresh and imaginative system of magic in this vibrant, cinematic adventure. THE PHOENIX EMPRESS is part ensemble cast romp, part complex political thriller, and part speculative study on identity — on what we hold onto, what we leave behind, and what we conceal just beneath the surface.

Welcome to the team, Sophia!