Serendipity Literary Agency

11/06/2025

author Vera Ahiyya, The Tutu Teacher, will be attending the Portland Book Festival this Saturday, November 8th, for two live sessions!

At 10:30, she will be holding a live reading of GETTING READY FOR FIRST GRADE AND GETTING READY FOR HALLOWEEN.

Then at 2:00 PM, she will be joining Michelle Jing Chan, author of WEIWEI'S WINTER SOLSTICE: A DŌNGZHI STORY, and Nora Ericson, author of THE BUNNY BALLET, for an insightful conversation about what it takes to make a picture book. The panel will be moderated by Annie Lewis, the Multnomah County Director of Libraries.

A Portland Book Festival pass is required to attend all events. You can purchase a pass using the link below: https://pdxbookfest.org/bio/vera-ahiyya/

11/05/2025

ICYMI: author and board-certified Family Physician and Fellow Dr. Shannon Dowler appeared on a recent episode of the Doctors Making a Difference podcast!

Talking with host Dr. Peter Crane, Dr. Dowler recounts her journey from veterinary clinics to family medicine, what she learned about resilience during the COVID-19 crisis as North Carolina's Medicaid Chief Medical Officer, and the challenges that are impacting family medicine now, like underfunded primary care and Medicaid cuts, and how family doctors can rewrite the narrative with resistance, service, and love.

You can listen to the full episode here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dmd-52-dr-shannon-dowler-a-family-doctors-leap-into/id1753613285?i=1000730931410

Dr. Dowler’s debut book, NEVER TOO LATE: YOUR GUIDE TO SAFE S*X AFTER 60, is available now from Johns Hopkins University Press (Johns Hopkins University).

Podcast Episode · Doctors Making A Difference · 10/09/2025 · 38m

11/04/2025

We’re excited to share the first trade review for GOODBYE, FRENCH FRY by author Rin-rin Yu from Booklist!

You can read their full review here: https://www.booklistonline.com/products/9815363

Synopsis:
A sparkling debut novel featuring a Chinese American girl doing her best to stay true to herself in a world that often judges.

Some days Ping-Ping feels like she just can’t win. She was born in the US, so it’s frustrating when people are surprised by how American she is, but her Chinese relatives feel she’s not Chinese enough. But the things bugging her the most lately are her classmate Lee Beaumont, who has taken to calling her “French Fry” because of the tofu sticks she eats at lunch, and the possibility that her family will have to relocate to Kenya for her father’s UN job. Of all the things Ping-Ping loves, her home and best friend are at the top of the list, and she’d hate to have to leave them. What’s a girl to do when she can’t be in as much control as she’d like to be? Well, good thing Ping-Ping is a wiz at taekwondo—she’s learning how to kick her frustrations away, and there’s almost nothing she can’t master if she puts her mind to it. Rin-rin Yu has written a warm and funny family story that will have kids rooting for Ping-Ping—a girl who is ready to kick all the assumptions made about her aside!

GOODBYE, FRENCH FRY will be released on February 17th, 2026, from Nancy Paulsen Books (Penguin Kids).

You can use this link to preorder: https://bookshop.org/a/10902/9780593858080

11/03/2025

Special message from CEO and founder Regina Brooks:

In 2003, I met Children's Book Author Derrick Barnes when he was working as a copywriter for Hallmark, and it was shortly after that he would get his first two-book deal that would change children’s publishing.

Now 22 years later, Derrick has been honored with numerous awards and praises: NYT and USA Today bestseller, starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, the School Library Journal, and Kirkus, a Newbery Honor, a Caldecott Honor, a Coretta Scott King Award, and last month, I was honored to celebrate him as a 3x Kirkus Prize nominee.

Derrick has come to be one of the most influential Black writers in children’s literature, crafting slice-of-life stories that center Black children’s experiences. His latest work, THE INCREDIBLY HUMAN HENSON BLAYZE, is a sensitive look at the racial tension and injustice that has become recognizable in our society over the last few years, but he addresses it with the same passion and heart that have made him a go-to author for readers, teachers, and booksellers.

A special thanks to Kirkus for supporting Derrick throughout his career, nominating his book, and for putting together a wonderful ceremony to honor all of the nominees.

THE INCREDIBLY HUMAN HENSON BLAYZE is available now from Viking Books for Young Readers (Penguin Kids).

10/31/2025

To close out our Halloween celebration, Associate Agent Ameerah Holliday is sharing her 2025 recommendation: FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley!

10/31/2025

In the spirit of Halloween, the team is back with our book recommendation series!

Our theme this year was Classic Horror, so Agent Assistant Emma Loy-Santelli is recommending THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE by Robert Louis Stevenson!

10/31/2025

Congratulations to Quartez Harris and acclaimed illustrator Gordon C. James Fine Art and Illustration on GO TELL IT: HOW JAMES BALDWIN BECAME A WRITER being included on the Evanston Public Library's list of 101 Great Books for Kids for 2025!

This stunning picture book biography is a poetic introduction to James Baldwin’s life and work and a celebration of the power of language.

You can read the full list here: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2025/10/29/announcing-evanston-public-librarys-101-great-books-for-kids-2025-edition/

GO TELL IT is available now from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

10/30/2025

CEO Regina Brooks will be a guest mentor at the Sharjah Publishers Conference next Monday, November 3rd, as part of the PublisHer Lounge!

She will be available for the Meet a Mentor sessions to talk with publishing professionals for 30-minute one-on-one meetings to offer advice and leadership on Acquisitions and Editorial Development, Rights Management, and Technology and AI in publishing.

You can learn more and register for a session here: https://womeninpublishing.org/event/sharjah-publishers-conference-publisher-lounge/

PublisHer is a female-led community that addresses gender imbalances within publishing through events, mentorship sessions, and consultations to develop a global perspective on the challenges faced by women in creative industries.

10/29/2025

Earlier this month, CEO Regina Brooks attended the HSBC Women & Wealth series, hosted in collaboration with Know Your Value, to celebrate the recent launch of The Giving Shift: Global Living, Local Giving report, which showed how women in the U.S. are building wealth and giving back.

In powerful discussions led by Racquel Oden, U.S. Head of IWPB and GPB, Mika Brzezinski, founder of Know Your Value and co-host of Morning Joe; Karen Lundgard, CEO of Girl Scouts of Greater New York; and Michelle Ebanks, CEO of The Apollo, Best-Selling Author and Know Your Value Vice Chair Huma Abedin, the data revealed how Gen Z and Millennial women are placing a higher importance on giving, and how younger and more diverse women are reshaping how confidence is understood in wealth management.

The report signals that as opportunities arise for young women to enter the industry, major changes can be expected in how publishers interact with their local and global communities. While they won't occur overnight, understanding what's changing and why it matters will give creators, publishers, and agents a headstart in anticipating their effects.

10/28/2025

We are thrilled to announce that Publishers Weekly named THE INCREDIBLY HUMAN HENSON BLAYZE as one of the Best Middle Grade Books of 2025! Congratulations, Children's Book Author Derrick Barnes!

Message from CEO Regina Brooks:

Over the last two decades, Derrick has dedicated his craft to amplifying the voices of Black children in literature, and seeing the impact he has made on parents, teachers, readers, and the community has been one of the most rewarding parts of being his agent.

THE INCREDIBLY HUMAN HENSON BLAYZE marks a departure from the stories he's come to tell, but even as he works with a darker but timely topic, he addresses it with the same level of passion and heart that readers will recognize. I am immensely proud of how far Derrick has come in his author journey, and he's nowhere close to stopping.

You can read their full selection here: https://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/2025/middle-grade /book-1

THE INCREDIBLY HUMAN HENSON BLAYZE is out now from Viking Books for Young Readers (Penguin Kids).

Best Books 2025, Best Middle Grade Books, Lauren Wolk, Meg Medina, Daniel Miyares, Derrick Barnes, Ibram X. Kendi, Bibi Dumon Tak, Mika Song, Karina Yan Glaser, Guojing, Katherine Applegate, María Dolores Águila, Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, Kate Messn

10/28/2025

Happy Book Birthday to debut author and social media strategist Goldie Chan for PERSONAL BRANDING FOR INTROVERTS!

Written from Chan's perspective as a proud introvert, this book contains unique strategies for goal setting, navigating in-person networking events, building online and offline communities, partnering with extroverts, sustaining energy for the long run, and using introversion as a superpower to create a memorable, authentic personal brand.

Find it online or at a bookstore near you! You can order here: https://bookshop.org/a/10902/9781541705463

Available now from Basic Venture.