by Philana Marie Boles

Joy Peskin’s personality is so unassuming that it can seem at odds with the magnitude of the rank and importance of her current role as Executive Editorial Director for Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers.

She graduated from Vassar College and earned a certificate from Columbia University’s Radcliffe Publishing Course before starting off her career as an assistant for a small education publishing company called Course Crafters in Massachusetts. Next, she worked for powerhouses such as Puffin Books, Scholastic, and Viking Children’s Books before settling into her current role at FSG in 2012.

Over the years, she has guided such acclaimed authors as Dashka Slater, Mariama J. Lockington, Christina Wyman, Tameka Fryer Brown, and Hope Larson through the editorial trenches.

The remarkable and refreshing contrast in Joy’s career, however, is her balance of extraordinary editorial credentials with a tender approach with writers.