Ali Terese
Ali Terese is a middle grade and YA author who writes funny and heartfelt stories including FREE PERIOD (Scholastic - 2024) and VOTE FOR THE G.O.A.T. (Aladdin / Simon & Schuster - 2025). Her work has received the National Book Award - Longlist honor, a School Library Journal starred review, an Audiofile Magazine Earphones Award, and a Kids’ Indie Next selection. FREE PERIOD is part of the Chicago Battle of the Books and Texas's Lone Star Reading ListVisit Ali online for book bonuses, giveaways, and resources like discussion guides, recipes, craftivism projects, and more at aliterese.com.
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Justine Pucella Winans
Justine Pucella Winans (they/she) is a critically acclaimed and award winning author of queer fiction. They have written a variety of funny and/or scary books across age ranges, receiving accolades such as a Stonewall Honor, Indies Introduce, Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selections, and multiple starred reviews. When not writing, she can be found taking too many photos of her cats, training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, actively avoiding real life scary situations, and working their true goal of becoming a Pokémon trainer.
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Saadia Faruqi
Saadia Faruqi is a Pakistani American author, essayist and interfaith activist. She writes the children’s early reader series “Yasmin” published by Capstone and other books for children, including middle grade novels “A Place At The Table” (HMH/Clarion 2020) co-written with Laura Shovan, and “A Thousand Questions” (Harper Collins 2020). She has also written “Brick Walls: Tales of Hope & Courage from Pakistan” a short story collection for adults and teens. Saadia is editor-in-chief of Blue Minaret, a magazine for Muslim art, poetry and prose, and was featured in Oprah Magazine in 2017 as a woman making a difference in her community. She resides in Houston, TX with her husband and children.
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Renée Watson
Renée Watson is the author of the children’s picture book, A Place Where Hurricanes Happen (Random House, June 2010), which was featured on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. Her middle grade novel, What Momma Left Me debuted as the New Voice for 2010 in middle grade fiction by The Independent Children's Booksellers Association.
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Renée’s one woman show, Roses are Red, Women are Blue, debuted at New York City's Lincoln Center at a showcase for emerging artists. Her poetry and articles have been published in Rethinking Schools, Theatre of the Mind and With Hearts Ablaze.
When Renée is not writing and performing, she is teaching. Renée has worked in public schools and community organizations as an artist in residence for several years, teachin -
Sherri Winston
Prepare for your greatest mission yet. Jada Sly, Artist & Spy, is ready to take you on a journey across Manhattan and behind the scenes at her family’s museum. Fast-paced and quick-witted, Jada leads us into her conspiratorial world with great panache and determination. Perfect for cool middle grade spies.
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Sherri Winston has eight published works of fiction, and lives in Orlando, FL. -
Violet Duncan
Violet Duncan is Plains Cree and Taino from Kehewin Cree Nation. She has toured nationally and internationally as an author, educator, dancer and storyteller.
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Violet facilitates workshops to promote spiritual wellness & cultural education across the United States, Canada & Europe.
After becoming a mother of 4 and seeing the need for Native representation in literature, she took it upon herself to author three award winning children's books, I am Native, When We Dance and Lets Hoop Dance! Her newest book, I am Native, released 2020, shares a glimpse into the wonderful world of a multigenerational Native family. This book showcases beautiful imagery of family members passing down traditions in both traditional and modern ways. She has recently -
Shifa Saltagi Safadi
Shifa Saltagi Safadi was born in Syria and immigrated to the US with her parents when she was a young girl. She is a bilingual Arabic/English speaker, and is very familiar with the challenges of learning English and navigating two languages.
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As a mom to four Arab American children and a former English teacher to Middle School students, (and an author!) she now spends her time helping kids develop a love of reading and writing too.
You can learn more about her books on her website shifasafadi.com -
Justine Pucella Winans
Justine Pucella Winans (they/she) is a critically acclaimed and award winning author of queer fiction. They have written a variety of funny and/or scary books across age ranges, receiving accolades such as a Stonewall Honor, Indies Introduce, Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selections, and multiple starred reviews. When not writing, she can be found taking too many photos of her cats, training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, actively avoiding real life scary situations, and working their true goal of becoming a Pokémon trainer.
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Aaron Reynolds
Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
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Aaron Reynolds is a New York Times Bestselling Author of many highly acclaimed books for kids, including Dude!, Creepy Carrots!, Creepy Pair of Underwear!, Nerdy Birdy, and tons more. He frequently visits schools and his highly participatory presentations are a blast for kids and teachers alike. He lives in the Chicago area with his wife, two kids, four cats, and between three and ten fish, depending on the day.
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Andrea Beatriz Arango
Andrea Beatriz Arango is the author of Newbery Honor Book Iveliz Explains It All and the Pura Belpré Honor Book Something Like Home. She was born and raised in Puerto Rico, where she first became a teacher. She then spent a decade in the United States working in public schools and nonprofits. When she’s not busy writing about middle schoolers and their families, you can find her hoping to spot manatees at the beach. Andrea lives in Puerto Rico with her family and two dogs.
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Alicia D. Williams
What's there to know about Alicia D? Well, that depends on who you ask.
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If you ask kindergartners, they'd tell you:
1. She likes chunky guacamole.
2. She likes shiny things.
3. She tells good stories.
If you ask her middle schoolers, they'd surely say:
1. She gets us.
2. She makes us laugh with all her jokes.
3. She is Da BOMB.
While all of these may be true, there are a few more points to add . . . Alicia D. is a teacher in Charlotte, NC. She is the proud mother of a brilliant college student. Her love for education stems from conducting school residencies as a Master Teaching Artist of arts-integration. Alicia D infuses her love for drama, movement, and storytelling to inspire students to write. And like other great storytellers, she made the leap -
Jamie Sumner
Jamie Sumner is the author of the critically-acclaimed middle-grade novels, Roll with It, Tune It Out, and One Kid's Trash. Her forth middle-grade novel The Summer of June hits shelves on May 31st, 2022 with Atheneum Books for Young Readers. She is also the author of the nonfiction parenting books, Eat, Sleep, Save the World and Unbound.
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She has also written for the New York Times and the Washington Post as well as other publications. She loves stories that celebrate the grit and beauty in all kids. She and her family live in Nashville, Tennessee. Connect with her at Jamie-Sumner.com -
Tehlor Kay Mejia
TEHLOR KAY MEJIA (he/him) is a bestselling and award winning author of books for all ages.
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His debut young adult novel, WE SET THE DARK ON FIRE, received six starred reviews, as well as the Oregon Spirit Book Award for debut fiction, and the Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award runner up honor for debut speculative fiction. It has been featured on Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, and O by Oprah Magazine’s best books lists, and was a 2019 book of the year selection by Kirkus and School Library Journal.
Tehlor’s debut middle grade novel, PAOLA SANTIAGO AND THE RIVER OF TEARS, was published by the Rick Riordan Presents imprint at Disney/Hyperion. It received four starred reviews, and was named Amazon’s best book of 2020 in the 9-12 age range.
Tehlor stri -
Tiffany D. Jackson
Tiffany D. Jackson is the New York Times Bestselling author of YA novels including the Coretta Scott King — John Steptoe New Talent Award-winning Monday’s Not Coming, the NAACP Image Award-nominated Allegedly, Let Me Hear A Rhyme, and her 2020 title GROWN. She received her bachelor of arts in film from Howard University, her master of arts in media studies from the New School, and has over a decade in TV/Film experience. The Brooklyn native is a lover of naps, cookie dough, and beaches, currently residing in the borough she loves, most likely multitasking.
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Jenn Bishop
Jenn Bishop is also the author of four other novels for young readers, including the Parents’ Choice Gold Award winner Things You Can’t Say. Her books have been named Junior Library Guild selections and Bank Street College of Education best books and have been finalists for state book awards. She currently calls Cincinnati, Ohio, home. What team do you think she roots for? Visit her online at jennbishop.com.
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Ryan James Black
Ryan James Black is a writer from Manitoba, Canada, where he lives with his wife, two kids, and curmudgeonly bulldog, Frank. A history enthusiast with a penchant for horror and the perpetual sense of humor of an eleven-year-old, Ryan writes books that attempt to combine all three: mirth, macabre, and twists of real life stranger-than-fiction history. When not writing Ryan enjoys football, scary movies, and exploring the Great Outdoors with his family.
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His debut middle grade historical fantasy, The Dark Times of Nimble Nottingham, is forthcoming from Nancy Paulsen Books in August, 2025. -
Jodi Meadows
I write books. I snuggle cats. I drink coffee.
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Feel free to send a friend request. I don't reply to Goodreads messages; email is preferred. -
Deva Fagan
I write fantasy and science fiction for readers of all ages. I live in Maine with my husband and our dog. When I'm not writing I spend my time reading, playing video games, doing geometry, and drinking copious amounts of tea.
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NOTE: My comments on books I've read are not meant to be critical reviews, but are just my own reactions. I don't generally use stars, but I do occasionally mark a book with five stars if it's one that feels like it will become a long-term favorite, because it's exactly my sort of book, and caters to my specific tastes as a reader. There are plenty of books I read and really admire that are clearly excellent books, but which are not so exactly "for me" that I give them five stars. I will unabashedly stop reading books I -
Ann Clare LeZotte
Deaf--bilingual, bicultural. Author of T4: A Novel in Verse (Houghton, 2008) and Show Me a Sign (Scholatic, 2020). Library Youth Services for 11 years and counting. Focus on underserved populations and inclusion. Lives with her family in Gainesville, Florida.
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Sherri Winston
Prepare for your greatest mission yet. Jada Sly, Artist & Spy, is ready to take you on a journey across Manhattan and behind the scenes at her family’s museum. Fast-paced and quick-witted, Jada leads us into her conspiratorial world with great panache and determination. Perfect for cool middle grade spies.
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Sherri Winston has eight published works of fiction, and lives in Orlando, FL. -
Stan Yan
Stan is an award-winning, first generation American-born-Chinese, Denver-based writer, illustrator, caricature artist and instructor.
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He helped to co-found the Squid Works comic creator cooperative, was a board member of the Colorado Alliance of Illustrators and is currently the co-Regional Advisor for the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (RMC-SCBWI), and a member of the Cuddlefish Gang art “cuddlective.”
His work has been seen in THE SUNDAY HA HA, VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS (BlueWater Productions / Storm Comics / Tidal Wave), THERE’S A ZOMBIE IN THE BASEMENT (Squid Works Kids), DENVER COMIX, KITE TALES, the RMC-SCBWI annual calendar, THE QUEUING DEAD (British zombie anthology), POP CULTURE CLASS -
Gayle Forman
Award-winning author and journalist Gayle Forman has written several bestselling novels for young adults, including the Just One Series, I Was Here, Where She Went and the #1 New York Times bestseller If I Stay, which has been translated into more than 40 languages and in 2014 was adapted into a major motion picture.
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Gayle published Leave Me, her first novel starring adults in 2016 and her latest novel, I Have Lost My Way, comes out in March of 2018.
Gayle lives with her husband and daughters in Brooklyn. -
Tracey Baptiste
From Thompson-Gale: "Something About the Author"
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I have always loved books. My favorite, was an oversized complete Grimm's Fairy Tales with beautiful illustrations, which I lost when my family moved to the United States. I was fascinated by the stories of the tailor who went up against a giant, and clever Hans, who wasn't so clever as well as the more traditional princess stories. When I was about thirteen, after spending a summer in the library reading Paul Zindel and Judy Blume among other authors, I announced to my best friend that I was going to be a writer. I didn't decide what I wanted to write until I read "The Friends" by Rosa Guy. I had recently moved to Brooklyn, NY, and the book spoke to my situation precisely. It remains one of m -
Gennifer Choldenko
There’s a Lego in my bum which fits with the Lego in my chair and when I sit down to write, I hear the satisfying snap of the two pieces fitting together. I love words, dictionaries, thesauruses, sharp pencils, the smell of book ink and the delicious art of carving out sentences on clean white paper. I love to slip into another person’s skin and feel what it’s like to live another life. I love when characters come to me out of nowhere and make me cry so hard my mascara runs or laugh until my stomach hurts. I love the crazy fun and infinite possibility of storytelling.
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What prepared me for a life of writing fiction? Though I have a BA from Brandeis University in English and American Literature and a BFA in illustration from Rhode Island Schoo -
Tracey Baptiste
From Thompson-Gale: "Something About the Author"
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I have always loved books. My favorite, was an oversized complete Grimm's Fairy Tales with beautiful illustrations, which I lost when my family moved to the United States. I was fascinated by the stories of the tailor who went up against a giant, and clever Hans, who wasn't so clever as well as the more traditional princess stories. When I was about thirteen, after spending a summer in the library reading Paul Zindel and Judy Blume among other authors, I announced to my best friend that I was going to be a writer. I didn't decide what I wanted to write until I read "The Friends" by Rosa Guy. I had recently moved to Brooklyn, NY, and the book spoke to my situation precisely. It remains one of m -
Luisana Duarte Armendáriz
Luisana Duarte Armendáriz is a children’s book author that hails from Ciudad Juárez, México, the most fabulous and beautiful border city in the world (Juan Gabriel’s words, not hers). She holds a dual master’s degree in Children’s Literature and Writing for Children from Simmons College.
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Luisana has had a love affair with literature since she was a little girl. She loved going to the libraries in El Paso, TX, even though her library card read ‘Lupsana’ (her mom claims the typo was through no fault of her own). Her childhood, filled by Leo Lionni, Amelia Bedelia, and Hogwarts, inspired her to create books for children so that they may also fall in love with stories. -
Stan Yan
Stan is an award-winning, first generation American-born-Chinese, Denver-based writer, illustrator, caricature artist and instructor.
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He helped to co-found the Squid Works comic creator cooperative, was a board member of the Colorado Alliance of Illustrators and is currently the co-Regional Advisor for the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (RMC-SCBWI), and a member of the Cuddlefish Gang art “cuddlective.”
His work has been seen in THE SUNDAY HA HA, VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS (BlueWater Productions / Storm Comics / Tidal Wave), THERE’S A ZOMBIE IN THE BASEMENT (Squid Works Kids), DENVER COMIX, KITE TALES, the RMC-SCBWI annual calendar, THE QUEUING DEAD (British zombie anthology), POP CULTURE CLASS -
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Dana Alison Levy
Dana Alison Levy was raised by pirates but escaped at a young age and went on to earn a degree in aeronautics and puppetry. Actually, that’s not true—she just likes to make things up. That’s why she always wanted to write books. She was born and raised in New England and studied English literature before going to graduate school for business. While there is value in all learning, had she known she would end up writing for a living, she might not have struggled through all those statistics and finance classes. The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher is her first published novel, but she has a trunk full of other attempts, which vary in degrees of awfulness.
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Her first book for young adults, Above All Else, comes out in October 2020. In addit -
Dana Alison Levy
Dana Alison Levy was raised by pirates but escaped at a young age and went on to earn a degree in aeronautics and puppetry. Actually, that’s not true—she just likes to make things up. That’s why she always wanted to write books. She was born and raised in New England and studied English literature before going to graduate school for business. While there is value in all learning, had she known she would end up writing for a living, she might not have struggled through all those statistics and finance classes. The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher is her first published novel, but she has a trunk full of other attempts, which vary in degrees of awfulness.
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Her first book for young adults, Above All Else, comes out in October 2020. In addit -
Norman Ollestad
Norman Ollestad, a New York Times BESTSELLING author, studied creative writing at UCLA and attended UCLA’s undergrad Film School. His writing has appeared in Outside, Men’s Journal and Time. He is married and has two children—a son and daughter—and lives in Venice, California.
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Tony Medina
Tony Medina is a poet, graphic novelist, editor, short story writer, and author. Born in the South Bronx and raised in the Throgs Neck Housing Projects, Medina earned a BA in English at Baruch College, CUNY, on the GI Bill, and an MA and PhD at Binghamton University, SUNY, where he received the Distinguished Dissertation Award. Medina has published 22 books for adults and young readers, the most recent of which are Che Che Colé; Death, With Occasional Smiling; Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Boy; I Am Alfonso Jones; and Resisting Arrest: Poems to Stretch the Sky. Medina’s awards include the Paterson Prize for Books for Young People, the Langston Hughes Society Award, the first African Voices Literary Award, the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetr
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A.J. Sass
A. J. Sass (he/they) is an author whose narrative interests lie at the intersection of identity, neurodiversity, and allyship. He is the critically acclaimed author of the ALA Rainbow Book List Top 10 titles Ellen Outside the Lines, which was also a Sydney Taylor Honor Book, and Ana on the Edge, as well as the co-author of Camp QUILTBAG (with Nicole Melleby). All three books are Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selections.
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A. J. is the author of the upcoming middle-grade book Just Shy of Ordinary (Little, Brown, 2024), and a contributor to the This Is Our Rainbow (Knopf Books for Young Readers), Allies (DK/Penguin Random House), and On All Other Nights (Abrams, 2024) anthologies. His debut picture book with illustrator Noa Kelner, Shabbat -
Rene Colato Lainez
René Colato Laínez is the Salvadoran award winning author of I Am René, the Boy/ Soy René, el niño, Waiting for Papá/ Esperando a Papá, and Playing Lotería/ El juego de la lotería. His picture books have been honored by the Latino Book Award, the Paterson Prize for Books for Young People, the California Collection for Elementary Readers, the Tejas Star Book Award Selection and the New Mexico Book Award. He was named “Top Ten New Latino Authors to Watch (and Read)” by latinostories.com. René is a graduate of the Vermont College MFA program in Writing for Children & Young Adults.
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His goal as a writer is to produce good multicultural children's literature; stories where minority children are portrayed in a positive way, where they can see thems -
Rona Arato
RONA ARATO was born in New York and grew up in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared in magazines and newspapers in Canada and the United States. She taught elementary school in Los Angeles and Toronto, adult creative writing for the Toronto District School Board, and has conducted business writing workshops for profit and nonprofit organizations. From 1994-1998, she was an interviewer for Survivors of the Shoa, a Steven Spielberg project that recorded the histories of Holocaust survivors. Rona Arato lives in Toronto with her husband, Paul.
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