Joy Peskin will join Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group on February 6 as division v-p and editorial director of Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers. She will report to Simon Boughton, senior v-p and publisher of FSG Books for Young Readers and Roaring Brook Press.

Peskin has worked at Viking Children’s Books since 2003, most recently as associate publisher. Prior to that, she was an editor at Puffin from 1997 to 2001 and then spent two years at Scholastic before rejoining the Penguin family. “Working under Craig Walker’s leadership at Scholastic was an amazing experience, but I’d always wanted to work for Regina Hayes [president and publisher of Viking Children’s Books]. So when I was given that opportunity it was a no-brainer, and working with Regina was every bit as awesome as I’d hoped,” says Peskin of her move to Viking.

Peskin had a similar reaction when she received a call from Boughton about the FSG position. “When I met with Simon, I felt we had a philosophical kinship,” Peskin said. “He, Jonathan Yaged [president of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group] and the editors at FSG are such a vibrant group and have so much enthusiasm about what they’re doing. I look forward to joining such a well respected company and to having the opportunity to help energize the list.”

Among the authors Peskin worked with at Viking are Laurie Halse Anderson, Amy Efaw, and Madeleine George.

“Joy's appointment puts in place leadership and direction for the future,” says Boughton. “FSG has a distinguished history and is looking forward to a strong 2012 with the 50th anniversary of A Wrinkle in Time and a raft of exciting books from both new and established authors. At a time of great change, success is still built on a fundamental love of and ability to find and publish great stories—and Joy is both a savvy businesswoman and an editor with a great love of the book. Her outlook and vision are an ideal match for FSG; she'll bring new authors and new vitality to a great program. I'm very excited for the imprint’s future under her direction.”