Maya - YA Contemporary
Rep: Lesley Sabga & Julie Gwinn at The Seymour Agency
Query Draft 1
Dear Agent,
As an agent looking for and representing witty stories about self-aware teens, complicated family dynamics, and social issues from a personal perspective, I hope you will find WHEN IT ALL SYNCHS UP to be a perfect fit for your list. (Add comps line)
Seventeen-year-old Aisha Bimi has always played the dutiful role of music box ballerina, acting out her mother’s own failed dance dreams. Feeling increasingly disconnected from dance at her prestigious ballet boarding academy, she makes the choice to finally begin to claim her independence.
Without telling her mother, Aisha leaves school to visit her best friend, Neil, but she discovers he is in hospital with alcohol poisoning. After he is discharged, she resolves to stay with him to look out for his sobriety. Without telling her dad - who works overseas - or informing her mother, she decides to join in the same arts school contemporary dance program that Neil attends, and begins to rediscover her love of dance through her burgeoning passion for the contemporary form. But when keeping an eye on Neil’s drinking becomes increasingly difficult, she must enlist the help of Neil’s friend, Ollie. As she spends more time with Ollie, she’s inspired by his ability to be so authentically himself and open about his trauma, allowing Aisha to start to let down her own guard. This, along with being able to create her own choreography at school, become ways for her to process her abusive upbringing.
But when Aisha’s mom finds out she quit ballet school, she starts a vicious custody battle with her dad that threatens to push Aisha back into the dangerous mindset and environment that she is fighting to heal from. Aisha must break free of her mom’s control and find her inner power if she wants to truly live for herself and discover who she really is.
WHEN IT ALL SYNCHS UP, complete at 65,000 words, is a contemporary YA novel. Keeping with my own focus as a writer, it puts a multidimensional, dark complexioned Black girl at the center of the narrative as well as focusing on mental health issues within the Black community. (Writing history/credentials ending line
Thank you for your consideration,
Maya Ameyaw
Query Draft 2 (Final)
Dear Agent
As an agent looking for (personalization line) I hope you will find WHEN IT ALL SYNCHS UP, a 65,000 word contemporary YA novel to be a good fit for your list. WHEN IT ALL SYNCHS UP would appeal to fans of TINY PRETTY THINGS the Netflix series and novel by Dhonielle Clayton and Sona Charaipotra and LITTLE AND LION by Brandy Colbert.
When 17-year-old Aisha begins to feel increasingly numb and isolated at a racially exclusionary ballet boarding school, her mental health suffers leading to her first episode of dissociation. Shaken from the experience, she returns to her hometown of Toronto to visit her BFF/ex-dance partner, Neil. She discovers he’s in hospital with alcohol poisoning.
Aisha resolves to stay with Neil to look out for his sobriety. She auditions and scores a spot at the diverse modern dance program at the public performing arts school that Neil attends. When keeping an eye on his drinking becomes difficult, she enlists the help of Neil’s cute musician friend, Ollie.
Spending more time with Ollie, she’s inspired by how he’s so open about his past trauma through his music, allowing Aisha to let down her guard. This, along with creating her own choreography at school, become ways for her to process her abusive upbringing.
But when Aisha’s estranged mom finds out she quit ballet, she starts a battle of mind games and manipulation that threatens to push Aisha back into the unhealthy mindset that she's been fighting to heal from. When this begins to have dangerous effects on her mental and physical health, Aisha must break free of her mom and find her inner power to claim her independence.
Working in the mental health field, I am focused on showcasing nuanced representations of mental health issues and the related intersections of misogyny, racial discrimination and colorism. (Writing history/credentials ending line.)
Thank you for your consideration,
Maya Ameyaw