The Query That Snagged My Agent

Okay, so queries don’t snag agents. Books do. But a well-written query and first pages are huge parts of that process. So without further ado, the query that resulted in the request, that led to the offer, that ended up with me getting an agent. 😉

Kate’s grandma says there are three rules for Everyday Magic. Believe, give, trust.

11-year-old Kate doesn’t believe in magic, though. After all, she believed her dad when he promised to stay with Mom through happiness and sorrow. But when sorrow poured into his heart like a mudslide, he left without saying goodbye. Kate’s not going to fall for her grandma’s silly idea that magic can bind families and heal hearts.

But when Kate’s mom gives her the opportunity to invite anyone she wants to her birthday party in Yosemite, Kate decides to try believing in magic and giving it away. Because, if Kate can ride the Mist Trail with anyone at all, she’ll pick her dad. And if magic is real, maybe it will cure his depression and bring him home. So Kate concocts a plan to make and give her father all the magical things she can think of. His favorite peanut butter cookies, the knitted hats from his childhood, and the letters she’s been writing to him and storing in a shoebox.

But if Kate’s plan fails, it will prove Everyday Magic is just another broken promise and Kate will lose more than a hike up the Mist Trail with her dad. She’ll lose faith in things like friends, forgiveness, and most of all, family.

Written in a mixture of letters and prose, THE THREE RULES OF EVERYDAY MAGIC is a heartfelt middle grade contemporary in the vein of THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z. meets LOVE, AUBREY. It is complete at 35,000 words.