JEWELL PARKER RHODES is the acclaimed author of Ghost Boys, a New York Times bestseller in both hardcover and paperback editions, Ninth Ward, winner of a Coretta Scott King Honor, and Sugar, winner of the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award. Her additional novels for young readers include Towers Falling and Bayou Magic. She has also […]

Juana Martinez-Neal is the recipient of the 2019 Caldecott Honor for Alma and How She Got Her Name (Candlewick Press), her debut picture book as author-illustrator. She also the recipient of the 2020 Robert F. Sibert Medal for Fry Bread: A Native American Story (Roaring Brook) and the 2018 Pura Belpré Medal for Illustration for […]

Ismée Williams is the critically-acclaimed author of the YA contemporary #OwnVoices Water in May (2017) and This Train Is Being Held (2020), a Junior Library Guild selection, published by Amulet Books. Ismée has been an invited speaker at The Virginia Festival of the Book, The NYC Teen Author Festival, The Southern Kentucky Book Festival, and […]

J. Anderson Coats has received two Junior Library Guild awards, two Washington State Book Awards, and earned starred reviews from Kirkus, School Library Journal, the Horn Book Review, and Shelf Awareness. Her newest books are Spindle and Dagger, a historical YA set in medieval Wales that deals with power dynamics and complicated relationships, and The […]

Jacqueline Woodson was the 2018–2019 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. She received the 2018 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award and Children’s Literature Legacy Award. Her New York Times bestselling memoir, Brown Girl Dreaming, won the National Book Award, as well as the Coretta Scott King Award, a Newbery Honor, and the NAACP Image Award. She […]

Janella Angeles is a Filipino-American author who got her start in writing through consuming glorious amounts of fanfiction at a young age–which eventually led to penning a few of her own, and later on, creating original stories from her imagination. A lifelong lover of books, she’s lucky enough to be working in the business of […]

Jason Reynolds is an award-winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author. Jason’s many books include Miles Morales: Spider Man, the Track series (Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and Lu), Long Way Down, which received a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, and a Correta Scott King Honor, and Look Both Ways, which was a National Book Award […]

Isabel Sterling is an LGBTQ advocate and educator by day and a YA author by night. When she’s not writing about magic and murder, Isabel can be found lost in a good book, marathoning her favorite shows, or relaxing by the lake. She lives in central NY with her wife and their brood of furry […]

Debut author Erin Yun grew up in Frisco, Texas. She received her BFA in English from New York University and served as president of its policy debate team. This experience came in handy for her job as the debate consultant for the Tony-nominated Best Play on Broadway—What the Constitution Means to Me. Erin is a […]

Ernesto Cisneros was born and raised in Santa Ana, California, where he still teaches. He holds an English degree from the University of California, Irvine; a teaching credential from California State University, Long Beach; as well as a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from National University. As an author, he believes in providing […]