Manuscript Status: Finished Mentor Name: Shari Schwarz Mentee Name: Patrick Thornton Title: STEPPING UP Category: Middle Grade Genre: Contemporary Word Count: 40,000 Pitch: When twelve-year-old Nate’s dad deploys to Afghanistan, Nate’s Xbox, a gift from Dad, is stolen and he feels responsible. Father/son emails gloss over the dangers and hardships Read more…
Manuscript Status: Finished Mentor Name: Melyssa Mercado Mentee Name: Dana Kramaroff Title: HOLD ME UP Category: Middle Grade Genre: Contemporary Word Count: 48,000 Pitch: Eleven-year-old Nat’s got aching knees she’d like to trade in—and a busted friendship she only wishes physical therapy could cure. When Nat’s paired with the girl Read more…
Manuscript Status: Finished Mentor: Kara Seal Mentee: April Wall Title: GHOSTBESTIES Category/Genre: Middle Grade Paranormal Mystery Word Count: 45,000 Pitch: Winnie Birchwood lives for the dead. Sadly, her principal doesn’t, and demands Winnie’s ghost-hunting club prove spooks exist in thirty days or else be disbanded. Consumed with chasing ghosts, Winnie Read more…
Manuscript Status: Finished Mentor: Jenna Lehne Mentee: Tara Creel Title: HEARST’S GREATEST TREASURE Category/Genre: Middle Grade Mystery with a twist of Magical Realism Word Count: 52 000 Pitch: When thirteen-year-old Amelia’s parents ship her off to her Grandpa’s in California, she discovers a clue to Hearst’s greatest treasure and her boring Read more…
Manuscript Status: 6 Weeks Delivery Mentors: Dee Romito and Jen Malone Mentee: Elizabeth Dimit Title: OPERATION: NORMAL Category/Genre: Middle Grade Contemporary Word Count: 33,000 Pitch: When ten-year-old Avery Lawson learns she has ADHD, she launches Operation: Normal—a plan to prove she’s (mostly) like every other kid in class. Because if Read more…
Manuscript Status: Finished Mentor: Rebecca Wells Mentee: Hope Grietzer Title: THE CAROUSEL KEEPER Category: Middle Grade Genre: Contemporary Mystery Word Count: 43,000 Pitch: Following a family tragedy, Maggie makes a secret wish on the rumored-to-be-magic carousel at her uncle’s island amusement park. When mysterious sabotage endangers the wooden horses and Read more…
Manuscript Status: Finished Mentor: Laura Shovan and Tricia Clasen Mentee: Jeanne Zulick Ferruolo Title: RUBY IN THE SKY Category/Genre: Contemporary Middle Grade Word Count: 46,000 Pitch: Ruby Moon Hayes (12) is as silent and invisible as a new moon in the frozen Vermont sky. She doesn’t want kids at her Read more…
Manuscript Status: Finished Mentors: Elly Blake & Ron Walters Mentee: David Kane Title: THE ADVENTURES OF KIRBY DARING Category/Genre: Middle Grade Science Fiction Word Count: 35,000 Pitch: Kirby Daring is such a nerd. Action and adventure? So not his thing. But when evil aliens threaten the Space Station he calls Read more…
Manuscript Status: Finished Mentor: Sarah Cannon Mentee: Elle Evans Title: SAMTO DIES AGAIN Category/Genre: Middle Grade Contemporary Humorous Fantasy Word Count: 55,000 Pitch: When Samto bounces back to life after a tragic hot dog incident, he and his best friend Max decide Samto’s the hero their Cursed swamp town needs. Braving gators, Read more…
Manuscript Status: Finished Mentor Name: Brooks Benjamin and Caroline Thompson Mentee Name: M. L. Brown Title: LIGHTS! CAMERA! BRAINS? Category: Middle Grade Genre: Contemporary Word Count: 49,000 Pitch: When Marty, a squeamish seventh-grader, takes a role in a zombie sitcom to earn money for space camp, his biggest headache is eating brains–until his parents Read more…