Sterling
Michelle Sterling is a children’s book author, photographer and speech-language pathologist living in Orange County, California. Many of her stories are inspired by her heritage, family traditions, and her love of gastronomy and food history. When Lola Visits, Michelle’s first picture book illustrated by Aaron Asis, received four starred reviews, was an ALA Notable Children’s […]
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, […]
Burke Kunkel
Angela Burke Kunkel is an educator by day and a writer in the very early mornings. Her debut picture book, Digging For Words, José Alberto Gutiérrez and the Library He Built (Schwartz & Wade), celebrates perseverance, community, and the power of books. Digging For Words was named an ALA-ALSC Notable Children’s Book, and is the […]
Conklin
Lydi Conklin (they/them) has received a Stegner Fellowship, four Pushcart Prizes, a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer’s Award, a Creative Writing Fulbright in Poland, a grant from the Elizabeth George Foundation, work-study and tuition scholarships from Bread Loaf, and fellowships from MacDowell, Yaddo, Emory University, Hedgebrook, Djerassi, the James Merrill House, Lighthouse Works, and elsewhere. Their […]
Venable
Colleen AF Venable is the author of indie bestseller Katie the Catsitter graphic novel series with Stephanie Yue (nominated for 14 state awards), as well as the National Book Award Longlisted Kiss Number 8, a graphic novel co-created with Ellen T. Crenshaw. Her other books include The Oboe Goes Boom Boom Boom with Lian Cho, […]
Borba
ADAM BORBA is the author of the critically-acclaimed middle grade novels Outside Nowhere, The Midnight Brigade, and This Again, all from Little Brown Books for Young Readers. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California, and the William Morris Agency mailroom. When Adam isn’t writing, he spends his time developing and producing movies, […]
Bousamra
Rose Bousamra is an experienced comics professional, specializing in illustration and graphic novels for kids and young adults. Their first graphic novel, Frizzy, written by Claribel A. Ortega and published with First Second Books, earned a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, the Pura Belpre award for Children’s Text, an Eisner Award nomination (Best Publication […]
Rusch
In June 2023, a district court judge in Helena, Montana, ruled in favor of sixteen youth plaintiffs (ages 5 to 22) who sued the state over climate change. It was the first time in U.S. history that young people won a constitutional claim against their government on climate. It will not be the last. In […]
Johnson
Kevin Johnson (aka “Captain Create”) is a proud Temple University alumnus, who grew up just south of Philadelphia, PA. There, he spent his childhood seeking adventure with friends, watching movies, reading comics, and falling in love with the magic of storytelling. Kevin is the author of the critically-acclaimed picture book CAPE along with an upcoming […]
Tavares
New York Times bestselling author-illustrator Matt Tavares was born in Boston, and grew up surrounded by books and reading. From the time he was very young, his mother read to him every night, and his family made countless trips to the public library. Years later, as a studio art major at Bates College, he rediscovered […]