Faculty

Over her decades-long career in publishing, Joann Hill has art directed illustrators and designed children’s books for Random House, Clarion Books, and now Disney Hyperion, where she is the Creative Director. Disney Hyperion publishes a wide range of books for children, from picture books to illustrated chapter books to middle grade, YA, and graphic novels. Joann enjoys discovering new talent, encouraging artists to do their best work, and mentoring the five designers on her staff. She has a history of collaborating on award-winning and best-selling books and has been fortunate to work with such amazing illustrators as Victo Ngai, John Rocco, Marla Frazee, Dan Santat, Matthew Cordell, LeUyen Pham, David Wiesner, and Lorena Alvarez Gómez. Joann has been a regular speaker at high schools and universities, such as Parsons School of Design, MICA, and SCAD; and trade organizations such as SCBWI and the Society of Illustrators.

Katie Carella, M.Ed., oversees Scholastic’s Acorn early reader and Branches early chapter book lines aimed at beginning and newly independent readers. She has worked in publishing for twenty years. Katie began her career on the adult side. Then she earned her master’s degree in elementary education from the University of Pennsylvania, and taught 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades—all before entering children’s editorial. During Katie's time as an elementary school teacher, she saw that many beginning and newly independent readers craved complex stories yet there were few quality books on their reading level (back in 2005-2007). Since then, she has been on a mission to deliver page-turning books that hook new readers! So Katie reentered the world of book publishing in 2007, and she concepted and launched the Branches line at Scholastic in 2013, filling a gaping hole in the marketplace and carving out space for an early chapter book category. Today, Branches has two New York Times-bestselling series, two television shows based on our series, and more than 58 million books in print! The Acorn line launched in 2019 to answer the call for beginning-reader series that children can read before they’re ready for Branches books. Across the reading timeline, Katie remains as determined as ever to reaching and growing young readers! Outside of work, she can be found doing crossword puzzles, crafting friendship bracelets, sipping lattes, or biking around Nashville, TN.

After earning her master’s degrees in Children’s Literature and English Literature from Simmons College in Boston, Emily joined the editorial team at Roaring Brook Press. She works mostly with picture book, middle grade, and nonfiction titles. She edited Elisha Cooper’s Big Cat, Little Cat, which earned five starred reviews, Lily Williams and Karen Schneemann’s groundbreaking graphic novel Go With the Flow, Jessica Lanan’s Jumper: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider, a Sibert Honor winner, and Ann Bausum’s White Lies: How the South Lost the Civil War Then Rewrote the History, among others. While she is always looking for solid, voice-driven picture books and middle grade, she also particularly loves nonfiction for young readers of all ages. Emily is not an editor of fantasy.

Elise McMullen-Ciotti is the senior executive editor of middle grade and young adult novels at Lee & Low Books. Elise is also a bestselling author and holds a master’s degree in food studies from NYU Steinhardt. Her academic research focuses on foods we feed the sick and dying, the regenerative and restorative efforts of Indigenous foodways, and updating food histories. Elise is a proud citizen of the Cherokee Nation and grew up in Texas. Today, she lives in New York City with her husband, a large personal library, and an open kitchen.

Kelly Pelsue is an Illustration Agent and the Managing Director of Morgan Gaynin, an illustration agency focused on visual storytelling, specializing in publishing. Prior to joining Morgan Gaynin, Kelly served in a number of marketing and advertising roles across several advertising agencies as well as in a startup setting. She earned her BA in Journalism and Communication from The University of Wisconsin – Madison.

John Rudolph joined DGB in 2010 after twelve years as an acquiring children’s book editor. He is keenly interested in middle-grade and young adult fiction and would love to find the next great picture book author/illustrator. Clients include Meg Auchenbach, Carlos Aponte, Tadgh Bentley, Nana Brew-Hammond, Michael G. Long, Margie Palatini and Emily Snape

Lindsay Bonilla is a professional storyteller and children’s book author from North Canton, Ohio. Having performed interactive theatre, shared stories and taught workshops all over the world, Lindsay is passionate about building understanding across cultures while inspiring the imagination. Lindsay is the author of six picture books, including Parents’ Choice Award winner, Polar Bear Island, and The Storyteller (a 2025 Choose to Read Ohio booklist selection). When she’s not writing, she’s usually wading through a sea of Lego, traveling the world, or spending time with her family. ***CRITIQUE DETAILS: BEST FIT FOR FICTION, BOTH HUMOROUS AND HEARTFELT STORIES.

Kristy Boyce is the New York Times bestselling author of Dating and Dragons, Dungeons and Drama, Hot British Boyfriend, and Hot Dutch Daydream. She played her first role-playing game in high school and has been friends with that group ever since. In fact, she even married the DM. Nowadays, she teaches psychology as a senior lecturer at The Ohio State University. When she’s not spending time with her husband and son, she’s usually writing, reading, or watching happy reality TV. Kristy lives in Pickerington, Ohio. ***CRITIQUE DETAILS: HAS PARTICULAR INTEREST IN CONTEMPORARY, ROMANCE, FANTASY, AND THRILLER.

Daria’s first job was shelving and reading picture books in her hometown library. Today, she writes and illustrates stories for children and visits schools and communities throughout the country to teach art. As a Diversity Fellow for the Highlights Foundation, she was mentored by Floyd Cooper. Daria has illustrated the works of others and is the author-illustrator of five picture books, including and America My Love, America My Heart and Hello, Mister Blue and her latest release, BE THE LIGHT:How She Became Angela Davis. She lives in Northern Virginia with her GoldenDoodle Zeus.

Jane Smith is a celebrated author-illustrator, book designer and indie publisher with over twenty years of experience creating children’s books. She is the author-illustrator of eight traditionally published picture books, including the popular Chloe Zoe series (Albert Whitman), Hello, New House (Albert Whitman) and Miss Meow (West Margin Press) as well as five self-published titles, Naked Butt Busts Out, Teddy’s Bear Takes a Tumble and three new Chloe Zoe picture books releasing in 2025. Jane earned her BFA in Illustration at the Columbus College of Art & Design before beginning her career in publishing as an art director of children’s novelty books. She lives in sun-kissed Wilmington, North Carolina with her husband and super star daughter. Visit Jane at www.superjane.com.

Kerry Martin is the creative director of Holiday House and Peachtree Publishing Company. She designs and illustrates picture books, novels, graphic novels, and illustrated nonfiction for very young through young adult readers. She lives in Queens, New York with her husband and son. When not designing books or watching her son ride a skateboard, she is swimming, drinking strong coffee, or listening to audio books.

Melia is has been designing picture books for eight years now, two of which as an art director at Astra. She also designs young adult books occasionally and illustrates middle grade books. Melia lives in Massachusetts, just north of Boston, with her family and two cats and currently spends her free time trying to keep her very pitiful excuse for a garden alive.

Katie Heit is a senior editor at Scholastic working on fiction and nonfiction picture books and early readers. She works with several talented creators, including Mike Lowery, Charles R. Smith Jr., Christy Mandin, Dean Robbins, Adriana Hernández Bergstrom, Sandra Markle, Nell Cross Beckerman, and many more! For fiction picture books, she is looking for offbeat characters and funny projects. For nonfiction picture books, she's on the lookout for environmental and animal based books.

Anjanette Barr is a literary agent at Dunham Literary. She brings twenty years of writing, editing, and educating to her client relationships, and represents authors and illustrators for all genres and age categories. Anjanette lives with her family of six in Juneau Alaska.

Lee Melillo (they/she) joined Dunham Literary, Inc. in May 2024 as Jennie Dunham’s assistant, following an internship with Dystel, Goderich, & Bourret LLC. She was made an Associate Literary Agent in June 2025. Lee additionally manages the agency’s social media and website, is a second-reader for queries, handles royalty statements and permissions, and assists on preparing submissions. Lee graduated summa cum laude from Fordham University in 2022, with departmental honors in English and Theatre Directing. Through her majors, Lee discovered her passion for advocating for writers. She believes literature is one of the most effective ways to gain empathy for and understanding of life experiences outside our own. CRITIQUE DETAILS: PREFERS #OWNVOICES NARRATIVES, PARTICULARLY FROM BIPOC, QUEER, NEURODIVERSE, AND DISABLED WRITERS. PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN NON-WESTERN HISTORICAL FICTION, LIGHT/MEDIUM FANTASY, DYSTOPIA, AND CONTEMPORARY ROM-COMS.

Rachel Orr is celebrating her eighteenth year at Prospect Agency, where she represents both authors and illustrators in projects ranging from board books through YA. She previously worked for eight rewarding years at HarperCollins Children’s Books and uses those editorial skills to help prepare her clients’ work for submission. Her clients include Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen and Leeza Hernandez (CATS IN CONSTRUCTION HATS), Cathy Carr (LOST KITES AND OTHER TREASURES), Mike Ciccotello (LEONARD BUILDS A HAUNTED HOUSE), Cori Doerrfeld (THE RABBIT LISTENED) and Jenn Harney (UNDERWEAR!). In addition to participating in SCBWI events (which she loves!), Rachel has served on the Rutgers University Council on Children’s Literature for over a decade. A native of Pittsburgh and a graduate of Kenyon College, she currently lives in Hoboken, New Jersey, with her husband and two children, where she enjoys dancing, running and reading, of course.

Vicky Weber is a literary agent, bestselling children’s book author, and publishing industry expert with years of experience helping authors navigate both traditional and self-publishing. As the founder of At Home Author, she has guided countless writers through the process of crafting, publishing, and marketing successful books. With a background in education, Vicky is passionate about breaking down complex industry concepts into actionable steps. Whether securing book deals for her clients or sharing insights on the ever-evolving publishing market, she is dedicated to helping authors turn their creative dreams into reality.

Jazmia Young is an associate agent at Curtis Brown Ltd. She received her bachelor’s degree in English with a concentration in Creative Writing at the City College of New York and was a graduate of the Publishing Certificate Program at CCNY. She is interested in representing children’s books, picture books through YA, focusing on middle-grade fiction/non-fiction with the goal of amplifying underrepresented voices and experiences. She particularly loves stories with friendship ties, complicated family dynamics, and grief or loss. Being a New York native, anything based in the great NYC has her heart. Jazmia is also the Administrative Assistant of the Association of American Literary Agents.