Adah B. Li

Currently Looking For: MG & YA fiction and graphic novels!

Things I Always Love in a Book: Puerto Rican representation; characters exploring the experience of cultural duality; witty banter; humor; joy; modern-day witches with an air of “is it or is it not really magic?”; positive parent-child / guardian-child relationships; life outside big cities; romances that don’t pretend to solve all the characters’ problems, because a relationship is not “The End”; cinnamon rolls (IYKYK); mythology and legends, especially those that aren’t Greek or Roman; fractured fairytales; characters who bake their feelings; unique and richly developed worlds, especially in high fantasies

Favorite Romance Tropes: enemies to lovers; lovers to enemies; friends to lovers; forbidden love; soulmates; love at first sight (when done tastefully); meet cutes; opposites attract; the cinnamon roll and the storm cloud

Things I Almost Never Like: Stories with characters who are bullies; seeing any kind of abuse or violence happen directly on the page; time travel narratives

I envision a list filled with:

• Stories that are at once universal and specific, speaking directly into the hearts of those who empathize and those who sympathize, uniting readers in common thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and ways of living, showing readers that they are not alone
• Books that subvert expectations and push boundaries, that are poignant and compelling, fueled by thoughts and feelings that drive characters and readers to new heights, new ideas, new ways of thinking, and new ways of viewing the world
• Genre-breaking novels that don’t fit neatly into a box, giving them timeless appeal in a constantly changing world and new elements to discover upon every read
• Characters that capture the soul, generating sympathy and empathy and every complicated feeling in-between in readers, to be forever remembered even when the fine details of the plot are long forgotten
• Characters themselves that grow in unexpected ways, learning who they are and that who they are is always enough
• Characters that triumph against all odds and learn to view the world from a new perspective
• Stories that instill joy and laughter and wonder, creating smiles on readers’ faces and questions in their hearts that will drive them to learn more, read more, that will drive them to work together and be respectful of each other, to be accepting and compassionate and neighborly
• Stories that remind readers to hope and dream and wish and believe in goodness and magic
• Stories that remind readers that true love is powerful and pure and can overcome any obstacle
• Endings that whisper the promise of a better tomorrow, and endings that show that even the worst days can and will brighten when you stand firm, when you show kindness, when you act with integrity, and when you fight for what you believe in

Submission Guidelines

AGENTED SUBMISSIONS ONLY. I welcome picture book, middle grade, and young adult fiction, non-fiction, and graphic novel submissions from agents.