Sara - MG Fantasy

query evolution

Jul 31

Rep: Naomi Davis at BookEnds Literary

Query Draft 1

Dear Agent,

In a village in the Sundarbans, ten-year-old Alisha reads books and climbs trees rather than being a ‘good’ little Indian girl. Her strict mother considers books to be a bad influence and disapproves of Alisha’s goals to become educated and become a writer. Life is oppressive for rebellious Alisha. While in the mangrove forest she comes upon a blue tiger who invites her into a strange world called Roshanban. Keen to escape her mother’s stifling expectations, but hesitant to trust a mysterious tiger, Alisha finally concedes when she hears that Roshanban’s Maharajah has a magical library of rare books.

Alisha is amazed at the mystical blue kingdom full of speaking creatures, such as a purple otter, a large crow, and a massive lizard. Along the way she faces scary challenges that urge her to question her cultural upbringing. In these lush surroundings Alisha is free to dream big. While exploring this new realm, she is captured by a squadron of red beetles, who present her as a pet to their red queen: a gigantic phoenix-dragon. Now, Alisha must summon up all her newfound courage to flee from the queen's clutches. If she does not, she might not see the magical library. More importantly, she might end up as a royal pet and never make it home to become the writer she wants to be.

ALISHA IN ROSHANBAN is a 58,000 middle grade fantasy retelling inspired by Alice in Wonderland and The Jungle Book. It holds promise as a standalone with series potential and possibilities to continue the story in other genres.

As an author of South Asian descent I grew up on folktales from India and Bangladesh, which partially inspired this book. As a child I would have loved to read more books featuring South Asian female characters. I am a writer, artist, and academic with three degrees in Education: a Bachelor’s from University of Cambridge, a Master’s from University of London, and a PhD from Claremont Graduate University. I am the founder and editor of an online, peer-reviewed, art-science publication called The STEAM Journal.

Thank you for your time and for considering this manuscript.

Kind regards,

Sara Kapadia

Query Draft 2 (Final)

Dear Agent,

This manuscript was chosen for a six-month mentorship with a MacMillan editor, Tiffany Liao that I have just completed.

Everything changes when Alisha explores the mangrove forest and comes upon a blue tiger. He tells her she has crossed over to a strange world called Roshanban.

Alisha is amazed at the mystical blue kingdom full of speaking creatures, and even better, a magical library, where she can read as much as she likes. Along her journey she faces scary challenges that urge her to question her cultural upbringing, such as roaming far from home. In the lush surroundings of Roshanban, Alisha is free to dream big. But there is a dangerous red queen in Roshanban who’d like to make Alisha her new pet. To survive the trials and make it home safe, Alisha will have to wield a new magic: her imagination.

ALISHA IN ROSHANBAN is a 66,000 middle grade fantasy retelling inspired by Alice in Wonderland and The Jungle Book. It holds promise as a standalone with series potential. Fans of Studio Ghibli movies, and readers of The Aru Shah series, and The Serpent’s Secret may be drawn to this story.

Being an artist/illustrator I am also available to illustrate this manuscript.

As an author of South Asian descent, I grew up on folktales from India and Bangladesh, which partially inspired this book. As a child I would have loved to read more books featuring South Asian female characters. I am a writer, artist, and academic with three degrees in Education: a Bachelor’s from University of Cambridge, a Master’s from University of London, and a PhD from Claremont Graduate University. I am the founder and editor of an online, peer-reviewed, art-science publication called The STEAM Journal.

I am currently revising a dragon middle grade, drafting two young adult novels, and have several picture books completed, two that I have illustrated myself.