Pocono Believe 2025: Faculty Bios

Alison Green Myers is a passionate educator, novelist, and speaker. As the Program Director at the Highlights Foundation, Alison supports storytellers with fellowships and care throughout their careers. Alison is the author of the Schneider Award-winning A BIRD WILL SOAR and the forthcoming THIS WAY TO HAPPY (Dutton/2025). A National Writing Fellow and teaching artist with Bethel Woods' educational programs, Alison is always happy to spend time in the company of curious kids! Alison lives in the woods of Pennsylvania with two extraordinary humans and two dear dogs.

Carol Ly is a book designer based in New York. After graduating from the Tyler School of Art with a BFA in Graphic and Interactive Design, she left Philadelphia to work in children’s publishing. She’s been making fun stuff ever since. Currently an Associate Art Director at Random House Children’s Books, she has previously worked at Scholastic and Macmillan. Carol has also designed books for clients such as Zando and Levine Querido. Her experience covers everything from jackets to interiors, board books to young adult, and more. Accolades include art direction recognition by the Society of Illustrators and the Book Industry Guild of New York as well as a feature in Spine Magazine. Carol’s work has also been showcased by Applied Arts, Graphis, and Creative Quarterly.

Sara Sargent is a Senior Executive Editor at Random House Books for Young Readers. She has previously held positions at HarperCollins Children’s Books, Simon & Schuster, New York Magazine, and Meet the Press. Sara has worked with New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USAToday bestselling authors such as the #1 New York Times bestselling duo Katty Kay and Claire Shipman, plus TV star Daymond John, celeb power couple Ciara and Russell Wilson, Olympians Laurie Hernandez and Karen Chen, TV personality Ainsley Earhardt, YouTube star StacyPlays, and fiction writers Abbi Glines, Rosamund Hodge, and Lisa Maxwell. Sara has also worked with internationally bestselling author and actress Lily Collins; National Book Award finalist Deb Caletti; and social media influencers Laci Green, Matthew Espinosa, Baby Ariel, and Arden Rose. Sara received her Master of Science in journalism from Northwestern University. She lives in Brooklyn.

Reiko Davis joined DeFiore in 2016. Before that, she was at Miriam Altshuler Literary Agency for four years. She grew up in Kansas City, received her BA in Comparative Literature and Art History from Brown University, and is a graduate of the Columbia Publishing Course. She represents both adult and children's books. For children's literature, Reiko is actively looking for middle grade projects that aren't afraid to tackle big questions or important emotional truths, and do so through remarkable storytelling, humor, and heart. In addition to MG novels, she has a soft spot for MG non-fiction in the areas of mental health, science, political activism, environmentalism, and narrative history. She loves works that empower kids to make a difference in their communities. She also represents select picture books and the occasional YA novel. Her clients include Sean O’Brien, Andrea Debbink, Stephanie Seales, Dawn Cusick, and Lindsey Klingele.

Kevin Lewis is the author of many children’s picture books for toddler and early elementary grades including the classics Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo, My Truck is Stuck, and The Runaway Pumpkin. He's also the author of the Brown Sugar Baby board book series. For over two decades, Kevin was one of the most highly regarded children’s book editors in the industry, working for Scholastic, Inc., Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, and Disney Press. He's now an agent for the Erin Murphy Literary Agency, focusing on writer-illustrators and diverse voices.