By Teesta Bhola-Shah
In a story as personal and emotionally layered as A Mosquito in the Ear, the role of a literary agent is to refine language and shape pacing throughout the story, but also to preserve what is important and what isn’t. For Alessandra Sternfeld, senior agent at am-book, the responsibility was to protect Andrea Ferraris’s story by maintaining it’s honesty. From the earliest stages of reading the manuscript, Sternfeld recognized that this was not a typical adoption narrative, and that distinction would guide every step of her involvement with the project.
“What initially drew me to work on A Mosquito in the Ear was that the story had a very heartfelt quality to it,” Sternfeld explains. “It was easy to empathize with Andrea and Daniela’s struggles as new parents of a girl who didn’t want to have much to do with them.” That immediate emotional connection became the foundation for how she approached the book. Her philosophy was to keep it as authentic as possible, rather than changing it to be more palatable and without idealizing adoption.
Rather than focusing solely on traditional adjustments, Sternfeld’s work centered on positioning the story in a way that honored its complexity. “When we started pitching the book to potential publishers we highlighted the fact that it was a true, honest story that—to some extent—strayed from the dominant narrative that adoption is an easy magic waiting to happen,” she says. “We stressed that it is indeed a nuanced process that moves forward by trial and error, and that, even in the best conditions possible, requires an effort and a certain amount of grief and pain from both sides.” In doing so, Sternfeld helped ensure that the book would reach audiences as more than a simple success story. The book is about more than adoption, it’s a reflection of human emotion.
This commitment to authenticity is what ultimately defines Sternfeld’s perspective on the book’s impact. In her view, what makes A Mosquito in the Ear resonate so strongly with readers is its refusal to place its subjects on a pedestal. “It is told in a very open tone that doesn’t put Andrea and Daniela on a pedestal as ‘saviors’ of Sarvari and actually shows their struggle and shortcomings during their very first days with her,” Sternfeld explains. “They appear as two genuine people who are grateful and humbled to have been given the opportunity of crossing Sarvari’s path as adoptive parents.” This portrayal, she notes, allows readers, especially those navigating adoption themselves, to see something real reflected back at them.
Even beyond the thematic framing of the book, Sternfeld’s role extended into the practical realities of bringing the story to a wider audience through the film. While she and her team were not involved in the film adaptation’s scriptwriting process, they played a key role in preparing the English-language edition of the graphic novel. “We took care of hiring a translator and doing the translation revision, as well as creating the ebook,” she says. “This involved designing the cover and the layout of the movie tie-in edition, which also features the movie stills and the afterwords.” Through this work, Sternfeld helped bridge the gap between the original Italian publication and its international readership, ensuring that the story’s emotional depth remained the same across languages and formats.
Her experience with graphic novels also informs how she understands the editorial process itself. Unlike traditional prose, where the focus is primarily on text, graphic storytelling requires a different approach, looking at each drawing individually. “You can’t consider the text only,” Sternfeld explains. “You have to take into account the rhythm of the panels and the ‘direction’ choices that the cartoonist takes and the way they match—or don’t—with the text and the general atmosphere of the story.” In other projects, she notes, this has even meant requesting visual changes to strengthen the narrative. “We had instances in which we asked to redraw specific scenes in order to change the point of view or the shading, so that the panel had a stronger impact or worked better with the flow of the narration.” Her advice focused on the words but also the visual aspects.
At its core, Sternfeld sees A Mosquito in the Ear as an opportunity to reshape how adoption is understood in literature and media. Too often, she suggests, these stories are framed in overly simplistic or idealized ways. Her goal, and the goal of the team behind the book, was to offer something more honest. “What I hope readers take away from the story is that adoption is not a stroll in the park to be taken lightly,” she says. “There are real human beings involved, with their qualities but also their flaws and their fears.” It’s a perspective that challenges readers to move beyond surface-level narratives and engage with the emotional realities behind them.
That emphasis on truth extends to Sternfeld’s advice for writers tackling deeply personal material. In an industry that often encourages stories to be shaped for broader appeal, she advocates for the opposite approach. “Be true to your story, write something you believe in,” she says. “Do not stray from your experience trying to make something ‘palatable.’ Use it to create something truthful and honest.” For Sternfeld, authenticity is not just a creative choice—it’s what separates meaningful storytelling from the ordinary. “In my experience, honesty shines through and sets apart a quality story from an ordinary one.”
