Agents flag YA and MG trends

At the 2026 Bologna Children’s Book Fair, agents and rights directors said young adult romantasy is still driving attention, while middle grade is drawing fresh interest. (publishersweekly.com) Diane Roback’s April 13 report for *Publishers Weekly* quoted Erica Rand Silverman of Stimola Literary Studio saying buyers are asking for “older middle grade and younger YA,” alongside romantasy, dystopia, and fantasy. (publishersweekly.com) Alessandra Birch of Writers House said romantasy still leads young adult, but a handful of big-name authors dominate that space, making it harder to launch new series. She said scouts are also asking for near-future dystopia, fantasy-thriller blends, horror, and a smaller number of commercial young adult romantic comedies. (publishersweekly.com) In middle grade, Birch said the strongest sellers are short illustrated series of about 30,000 words or less, with doodle-style art and funny, low-conflict plots. She said graphic novels are still selling when they feel “hooky” and high-concept rather than realistic or heavy. (publishersweekly.com) Those conversations are happening at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, which runs April 13-16, 2026, at the Bologna Exhibition Centre. The fair’s organizers call it the 63rd edition, and *Publishers Weekly* said it is bringing together about 1,500 exhibitors from 90 countries and more than 33,000 expected visitors. (bolognachildrensbookfair.com) (publishersweekly.com) Bologna matters because it is one of the main annual markets for translation and territorial rights in children’s publishing, where agents test what editors in different countries think they can sell next. This year, Birch said export is a central issue because English-language exports are cutting into translation sales and pushing some foreign publishers to make smaller offers or none at all. (bolognachildrensbookfair.com) (publishersweekly.com) The middle grade chatter also lines up with the broader release calendar. *Publishers Weekly*’s spring 2026 preview for middle grade comics described a “stacked season” led by Kwame Alexander, Christina Diaz Gonzalez, Faith Erin Hicks, Maia Kobabe, and Emma Steinkellner. (publishersweekly.com) Young adult romance is also showing up in new formats. In its spring 2026 children’s coverage, *Publishers Weekly* said romance “continues to reign supreme,” with young adult graphic novel romance gaining ground. (publishersweekly.com) For now, Bologna’s early signal is not that romantasy has faded. It is that agents are looking for the next lane beside it, and many of them think middle grade may be one of the first places that growth shows up. (publishersweekly.com)