Mazeika
Katie Mazeika is an award-winning author and illustrator specializing in telling stories based on real people and events. She is passionate about highlighting disabled voices in her work. Her author/illustrator debut, Annette Feels Free: The True Story of Annette Kellerman, World-Class Swimmer, Fashion Pioneer, and Real-Life Mermaid, was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, […]
Lawson
Jenny Lawson (aka “The Bloggess”) is is a #1 NYT bestselling author and award-winning humor writer best known for her inspiring candor in sharing her struggle with depression, anxiety and chronic pain. She lives in Texas with her husband and daughter and was constantly “buying too many books” (“Not a real thing,” she insists), so […]
Stewart
Erin Stewart writes relatable, realistic fiction for tackles tough topics. Her novel, THE WORDS WE KEEP, received the prestigious Schneider Family Book Award from the American Library Association for its portrayal of the disability experience. The novel features mental health themes such as anxiety in what Kirkus calls “a sprawling, engrossing read” with “an overpowering […]
Hammonds
Jas Hammonds (they/she) was raised in many cities and between the pages of many books. They have received support for their writing from the Highlights Foundation, Baldwin for the Arts and Lambda Literary. They are also a grateful recipient of the MacDowell James Baldwin Fellowship. Their debut novel, We Deserve Monuments, won the 2023 Coretta […]
Kim
Angie Kim moved as a preteen from Seoul, South Korea, to the suburbs of Baltimore. After graduating from Interlochen Arts Academy, she studied philosophy at Stanford University and attended Harvard Law School, where she was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. Her debut novel, Miracle Creek, won the Edgar Award, the ITW Thriller Award, […]
Harvey Garner
Chelsea Harvey Garner is a psychotherapist, writer, and founding director of Big Feels Lab, a nonprofit promoting collective mental health. Clinically, she specializes in working with trauma survivors, self-identified misfits, and unconventional families. In both her creative and therapeutic work, she helps clients turn pain into purpose and find true belonging with themselves and each […]
Charlton-Trujillo
Described as a “force of nature” by Kirkus Reviews, e.E. Charlton-Trujillo is unquestionably one of the most dynamic and inspiring speakers for youth today. The one-time, small-town Texas native is an award-winning author, filmmaker, and youth literacy activist. They have written several books for teens and children such as the ALA winning Fat Angie series […]
Day
Christine Day is a citizen of the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe. Her first novel, I Can Make This Promise, was a best book of the year from NPR, as well as a Charlotte Huck Award Honor Book, and an American Indian Youth Literature Award Honor Book. Her second novel, The Sea in Winter, was a […]
Cummings
As a therapist, attorney, CEO of Make A Way Media, and author of fifteen children’s books, Deedee Cummings has a passion for ensuring equality, inclusion, and social justice for the next generation. Since her first book published in 2014, Cummings has been on a mission to help young dreamers and doers “see themselves” in the […]
Lee
Julia Lee is a Korean American writer, scholar, and teacher. She is the author of Our Gang: A Racial History of The Little Rascals and The American Slave Narrative and the Victorian Novel, as well as the novel, By The Book, which was published under the pen name Julia Sonneborn. She is an associate professor of English at Loyola Marymount University, where […]