Melissa See (YA Contemporary)

Author: Melissa See (@melissasee)

Age Range: Young Adult

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Agent: Emily Forney, Bookends Literary

The Query Letter:

Dear Emily Forney,

YOU, ME, AND OUR HEARTSTRINGS is an #ownvoices dual-POV YA contemporary romance novel complete at 80,000 words.

Cello prodigy Noah Moray is first-chair in the senior class orchestra at his elite Manhattan music school. With the weight of his illustrious family’s music legacy on his shoulders, he knows he must be perfect if he wants a chance at Juilliard. Never mind the undiagnosed anxiety disorder he’s struggling with. This means hiding the fact that he’s rehearsing so much, his blisters are starting to bleed.

Daisy Abano is the orchestra’s only violinist with cerebral palsy. She must radiate confidence onstage to avoid being underestimated due to her disability, and despite knowing her family could never afford it, she dreams of Juilliard and a career in a professional orchestra. Unlike Noah, she hasn’t forgotten the joy that playing music brings her.

They’ve sat across the stage from each other for the last four years, barely talking—until they’re paired up to perform a duet for the winter holiday concert, and their performance goes viral. Soon their relationship is reduced to inspirational news stories, prejudiced social media posts, TV appearances, and prayers asking that Daisy be healed of her disability. With their looming Juilliard auditions, Daisy and Noah know they somehow need to change people’s minds. As Noah’s anxiety finally becomes too much for him to keep inside and Daisy’s carefully constructed confidence starts to break, they must either face the world with their music once again or lose something they’ve grown to love even more: each other.

YOU, ME, AND OUR HEARTSTRINGS will appeal to fans of the perfectionist pressures in YOU ASKED FOR PERFECT, as well as the romance in, and music aspect of, YOU’D BE MINE.

Along with being a former violinist, I drew on my own experiences with anxiety and cerebral palsy for Noah and Daisy’s characters. I also currently reside north of Manhattan. My writing has previously appeared in ANIME IMPACT: THE MOVIES AND SHOWS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD OF JAPANESE ANIMATION. As the title suggests, when I’m not busy writing, I can usually be found curled up with my cat, watching anime. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Best Wishes,

Melissa See