Ann Braden
Ann Braden writes books about kids learning to stand up for themselves even when it’s hard. Her debut middle grade novel, THE BENEFITS OF BEING AN OCTOPUS, was called one of “the essential middle school reads from the last decade” by Edutopia, and FLIGHT OF THE PUFFIN sparked a coast-to-coast read aloud with tens of thousands of students taking part. Her newest book, OPINIONS AND OPOSSUMS, was a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year. Ann founded the Local Love Brigade, which sends love postcards to those who are facing hate. She also founded GunSenseVT, a grassroots group which helped pass landmark common ground gun safety legislation. Previously a middle school teacher, Ann lives in southern Vermont with her husband, two kids, and t
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Allie Millington
Allie first wrote her debut novel, OLIVETTI, on her own antique typewriter--who turned out to have an awful lot to say. She lives with her husband, their dog Crumpet, and a collection of clacking machines. You can find her on instagram (@allieinink) or possibly in her pillow fort.
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Allie's second Middle Grade novel, ONCE FOR YES, releases with Macmillan Publishers in 2025. She has two picture books that will quickly follow, WHEN YOU FIND A HOPE and WHEN YOU FIND A QUESTION (Hachette Book Group). -
Megan E. Freeman
Megan E. Freeman attended an elementary school where poets visited her classroom every week to teach poetry, and she has been a writer ever since. Her New York Times bestselling novel in verse, ALONE, won the Colorado Book Award, the Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, and Vermont Children’s Book Awards, the High Plains Book Award, is an NCTE Notable Verse Novel, and is included on over two dozen "best of" and state reading lists.
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Megan is also a Pushcart Prize-nominated poet and the author of the poetry chapbook Lessons on Sleeping Alone. An award-winning teacher with decades of classroom experience, Megan is nationally recognized for her work leading workshops and speaking to audiences across the country.
Megan used to -
Mike Jung
Mike Jung is the author of the middle-grade novels Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities (Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, 2012), Unidentified Suburban Object (Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, 2016), and The Boys in the Back Row (Levine Querido, 2020). His essays can be found in the anthologies Dear Teen Me (Zest, 2012), Break These Rules (Chicago Review Press, 2013), 59 Reasons to Write (Stenhouse, 2015), (Don't) Call Me Crazy (Algonquin, 2018), and The Hero Next Door (Crown, 2019). He's a founding member of We Need Diverse Books.
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Phil Bildner
Phil Bildner is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous books for kids. His latest book is the groundbreaking, #OwnVoices middle grade novel, A High Five for Glenn Burke. He is the author of many children’s picture books including the Margaret Wise Brown Prize winning Marvelous Cornelius, the Texas Bluebonnet Award winning Shoeless Joe & Black Betsy, Martina & Chrissie, Twenty-One Elephants, and The Soccer Fence. Phil is also the author of A Whole New Ballgame, Rookie of the Year, Tournament of Champions, and Most Valuable Players in the critically acclaimed middle grade Rip & Red series.
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Phil grew up in Jericho, New York, a Long Island suburb of New York City. He studied political science at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, -
Ellie Terry
Ellie Terry grew up in South Dakota, Arizona, and Nevada as the second of eight children. She currently lives in the desert of southern Utah with her husband and three creative kids. Her debut middle-grade novel, FORGET ME NOT, is out now from Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan.
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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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Brie Spangler
Author/illustrator of children's picture books and YA novels, Brie Spangler loves to draw and write stories and drink massive amounts of caffeine, but not quite Dave Grohl "Fresh Pot!"/require hospitalization levels. Writing down the ideas in her head was scary as a kid, so she turned to making pictures instead. Brie worked as an illustrator for several years before she began to write and immediately became a frothing addict. BEAST is her debut novel. Hit her up on twitter! @BrieSpangler
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Camryn Garrett
Camryn Garrett was born and raised in New York. In 2019, she was named one of Teen Vogue’s 21 Under 21 and a Glamour College Woman of the Year. Her first novel, Full Disclosure, received rave reviews from outlets such as Entertainment Weekly, the Today Show, and The Guardian, which called a “warm, funny and thoughtfully sex-positive, an impressive debut from a writer still in her teens.” Her second novel, Off the Record received three starred reviews. Her third novel, Friday I’m in Love, was an IndieNext Pick and received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly. Camryn is also interested in film and recently graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. You can find her on Twitter @dancingofpens, tweeting from a laptop named Stevie.
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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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Caroline Starr Rose
Caroline Starr Rose is a middle grade and picture book author whose books have been ALA-ALSC Notable, Junior Library Guild, ABA New Voices, Kids’ Indie Next, Amazon’s Best Books of the Month for Kids, and Bank Street College of Education Best Books selections. In addition, her books have been nominated for almost two dozen state award lists. Caroline was named a Publishers Weekly Flying Start Author for her debut novel, May B. She spent her childhood in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and New Mexico and taught social studies and English in four different states. Caroline now lives with her family in her hometown, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
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Jessica Kim
Jessica Kim writes about Asian American girls finding their way in the world. Before she was an author, Jessica studied education at UC Berkeley and spent ten years teaching third, fourth, and fifth grades in public schools. Like Yumi, Jessica lives with her family in Southern California and can’t get enough Hot Cheetos, stand-up comedy, and Korean barbecue.
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Amy Noelle Parks
Amy Noelle Parks is a professor of elementary education at Michigan State University, where she helps future teachers recover from the trauma inflicted on them by years of school mathematics.
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At night, she writes stories about smart girls falling for feminist boys in quirky midwestern settings and likes using One Direction lyrics as the inspiration for entire novels. Social media still scares her, but she’s working on it. -
Jerry Spinelli
When Jerry Spinelli was a kid, he wanted to grow up to be either a cowboy or a baseball player. Lucky for us he became a writer instead.
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He grew up in rural Pennsylvania and went to college at Gettysburg College and Johns Hopkins University. He has published more than 25 books and has six children and 16 grandchildren.
Jerry Spinelli began writing when he was 16 — not much older than the hero of his book Maniac Magee. After his high school football team won a big game, his classmates ran cheering through the streets — all except Spinelli, who went home and wrote a poem about the victory. When his poem was published in the local paper, Spinelli decided to become a writer instead of a major-league shortstop.
In most of his books, Spinelli writes -
Bill Harley
A two-time Grammy award-winning artist and recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the RI Council for the Humanities, Bill uses song and story to paint a vibrant and hilarious picture of growing up, schooling and family life. His work spans the generation gap, reminds us of our common humanity and challenges us to be our very best selves. A prolific author and recording artist, Bill tours nationwide as an author, performing artist and keynote speaker.
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Pablo Cartaya
Pablo Cartaya is a professional code switcher and lover of all things Latinx. He talks a lot and writes a lot which are paradoxical conundrums to overcome on a daily basis. He is the author of the acclaimed middle-grade novel, The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora (Viking Children’s Books/Penguin Random House) which earned him a Publisher's Weekly "Flying Start" and starred reviews from Kirkus, Booklist, and Publisher's Weekly. For his performance recording the audiobook of his novel, Pablo received an Earphone Award from Audiofile Magazine and a Publisher's Weekly Audiobooks starred review. His novel Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish, also with Viking, is set for publication in summer 2018, with two forthcoming titles to follow in 2019 and 2020.
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Paris Rosenthal
Paris Rosenthal is the coauthor of two New York Times bestselling picture books, Dear Girl (with her mother, Amy Krouse Rosenthal) and Dear Boy (with her father, Jason Rosenthal), along with Dear Baby and Dear Teacher. A graduate of Quest University, in British Columbia, Canada, she now lives and works in New York City.
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Beth Ferry
Beth Ferry is the author of the picture books Stick and Stone and Land Shark. Her family has cared for myriad pets, including two land sharks, a hedgehog, a blue-tongued skink, and a heap of hamsters, but her absolutely perfect pet is an English bulldog named Winston. She lives in New Jersey.
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Claire Swinarski
Claire Swinarski is the author of multiple books for both kids and adults. Her writing has been featured in The Washington Post, Seventeen, Milwaukee Magazine, and many other publications. She lives in small town Wisconsin with her husband and three kids, where she writes books, wears babies, and wrangles bread dough. You can follow her on Instagram @claireswinarski.
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Sarah Guillory
Sarah Guillory is an award-winning teacher and author. She lives in Louisiana with her husband and dogs.
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Erin Soderberg Downing
I read and write lots of funny, adventurous, & heartwarming books for kids, tweens, and teens (and even a few romantic comedies for adults, too!) that are ultimately about finding your place, finding your people, and finding your voice. I always love book recommendations, so please send them my way. As a reader, I'm partial to contemporary romantic comedy, thrillers that keep the pages turning and have well-built characters, funny/original voices, quirky characters, and always kids' books with humor and heart.
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Jessica Vitalis
JESSICA VITALIS is an award-winning, Columbia MBA-wielding middle grade author with Greenwillow/HarperCollins. Her books have been translated into three languages, received multiple starred reviews, been designated as Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selections, and appeared on “Best Book” lists for Kirkus and CCBC. Her latest novel, Coyote Queen, won the Reading the West Book Award and the Women Writing the West 2024 WILLA Literary Award in Children’s Fiction and Non-Fiction. It is also a High Plains Book Award and SCBWI Crystal Kite Book Award finalist. A historical novel in verse, Unsinkable Cayenne, is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection arriving October 29th, 2024. Jessica has American and Canadian citizenship; she current
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Padma Venkatraman
American author, Padma Venkatraman, has worked as chief scientist on oceanographic ships and spent time under the sea, directed a school, and lived in 5 countries. Her 5 novels, BORN BEHIND BARS, THE BRIDGE HOME, A TIME TO DANCE, ISLAND’S END and CLIMBING THE STAIRS, were released to multiple starred reviews (22 as of 8/30/21), and won numerous honors and awards (e.g. WNDB Walter Award 2020; SCBWI Golden Kite Award 2020; Paterson Prize; Julia Ward Howe Young Readers Award; South Asia Book Award; ALA, IRA Notable; Booklist, Kirkus, NYPL, Yalsa BBYA; CCBC choice; IBBY outstanding etc.). Her latest novel, BORN BEHIND BARS, a JLG selection, is available for order. She provides keynote addresses and commencement speeches, travels to internationa
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Chris Baron
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Chris Baron is the award winning author of Novels for Children including ALL OF ME, an NCTE Notable Book, THE MAGICAL IMPERFECT a Sydney Taylor Book Award Notable Book/ a SLJ Best Book of 2021 & the forthcoming novels, THE GRAY a ProjectLIT 23-24 Selection and SPARK from Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan, and SECRET OF THE DRAGON GEMS, a Middle Grade novel co-authored with Rajani LaRocca from Little Bee Books, and editor of ON ALL OTHER NIGHTS: A MIDDLE GRADE PASSOVER ANTHOLOGY, from Abrams (24), He is a Professor of English at San Diego City College and the director of the Writing Center. He grew up in New York City, but he completed his MFA in Poetry in 1998 at SDSU. HE lives in San Diego with his family. He is represented by Rena Rossner from t -
Kathryn Erskine
Kathryn Erskine spent many years as a lawyer before realizing that she'd rather write things that people might actually enjoy reading.
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She grew up mostly overseas and attended eight different schools, her favorite being the Hogwarts-type castle in Scotland.
The faculty, of course, did not consist of wizards, although... how did the headmistress know that it was the wee redhead who led the campaign to free the mice from the biology lab?
Erskine draws on her childhood and her second childhood through her children for her stories. She still loves to travel but nowadays most trips tend to be local, such as basketball and tennis courts, occasional emergency room visits, and the natural food store for very healthy organic chocolate with life savi -
E.E. Charlton-Trujillo
The author/filmmaker deemed rockstar by the kids she meets won the prestigious Delacorte Dell Yearling Award, Parents' Choice Silver Honor, National Council For The Social Studies Notable Book and the NY Public Library List for Teens for PRIZEFIGHTER EN MI CASA. FEELS LIKE HOME received critical praise, but it was FAT ANGIE that generated buzz from The New York Times Bestselling Author Gregory Maguire and Ellen Hopkins. Winner of the Stonewall Award, the ALA Rainbow List, Westchester Fiction Award and a Choose To Read Ohio Book, FAT ANGIE garnered starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal. Her trek across America to hold free writing workshops with youth on the fringe is the focus of the documentary At-Risk Summer. H
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Laurie Morrison
Laurie Morrison taught middle school English for ten years and now writes middle grade novels. She is the co-author of Every Shiny Thing and the author of Saint Ivy (May 18, 2021) and Up for Air, which earned starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly and was a Junior Library Guild Selection, a Publishers Weekly Best Summer Read, and an Amazon Prime Book Box pick. She holds a BA in English from Haverford College; an MA in Rhetoric, Composition, and the Teaching of English from The University of Arizona; and an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @LaurieLMorrison and visit her website at lauriemorrisonwrites.com
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Thomas Wheeler
Thomas "Tom" Wheeler is an American screenwriter and producer. He sold his first screenplay at age twenty-two, to Twentieth Century Fox. He has continued to work on major Hollywood features for the last several years. He served as the executive producer and show runner for the NBC superhero series The Cape.
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Wheeler began his television career writing and executive producing the ABC mini-series Empire in 2005. He then wrote two television pilots, The World According to Barnes and Captain Cook's Extraordinary Atlas, neither of which were taken to series. His series The Cape, about a police officer framed for a crime he did not commit who takes on the guise of his son's favorite comic book hero in order to clear his name, premiered on NBC on Ja -
Cathy Carr
Cathy Carr grew up in Wisconsin, where a steady supply of her dad’s stories about his Alaskan adventures sparked her interest in the forty-ninth state. A former copy editor, library clerk, and technical writer, she now lives in New Jersey with her family and writes fiction. See what's new with her at www.cathycarrwrites.com.
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Gordon Korman
Gordon Korman is a Canadian author of children's and young adult fiction books. Korman's books have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide over a career spanning four decades and have appeared at number one on The New York Times Best Seller list.
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Laurie Halse Anderson
UPDATE! Rebellion 1776 is out! The New York Times wrote, "Filled with immersive detail, expert delineations of complex characters, and both harsh and loving reality, Rebellion 1776 provides young readers with a true experience of a historic moment in time that resonates with today's world." Huzzah!
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Laurie Halse Anderson is the New York Times-bestselling author of many award-winning books including the groundbreaking, modern classic Speak, a National Book Award finalist which has sold over 3.5 million copies and been translated into 35 languages.
In 2023, Anderson was named the Laureate of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, long considered to be the de facto 'Nobel Prize for Children's Literature.'
A passionate spokesperson for the need to c -
Carolyn Mackler
Carolyn Mackler is the author of the popular teen novels, The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things (A Michael L. Printz Honor Book), Infinite in Between, Tangled, Guyaholic, Vegan Virgin Valentine, and Love and Other Four-Letter Words. Carolyn's novel, The Future of Us, co-written with bestselling author Jay Asher, received starred reviews and appeared on several bestseller lists. Carolyn has also written Best Friend Next Door, a novel for younger readers. Carolyn's novels have been published in more than twenty countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, Korea, the Netherlands, Denmark, Israel, and Indonesia.
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Carolyn lives in New York City with her husband and two sons. Her new novel for teens, The Univ -
Gary D. Schmidt
Gary D. Schmidt is an American children's writer of nonfiction books and young adult novels, including two Newbery Honor books. He lives on a farm in Alto, Michigan,with his wife and six children, where he splits wood, plants gardens, writes, feeds the wild cats that drop by and wishes that sometimes the sea breeze came that far inland. He is a Professor of English at Calvin College.
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Jewell Parker Rhodes
Jewell Parker Rhodes has always loved reading and writing stories. Born and raised in Manchester, a largely African-American neighborhood on the North Side of Pittsburgh, she was a voracious reader as a child. She began college as a dance major, but when she discovered there were novels by African Americans, she knew she wanted to be an author. She wrote six novels for adults, two writing guides, and a memoir, but writing for children remained her dream.
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Now she is the author of eleven books for youth including the New York Times bestsellers Will's Race for Home, Ghost Boys and Black Brother, Black Brother. Her other books include Soul Step, Treasure Island: Runaway Gold, Paradise on Fire, Towers Falling, and the Louisiana Girls Trilogy: Nin -
Jeanne Birdsall
Jeanne Birdsall grew up in the suburbs west of Philadelphia, where she attended wonderful public schools. Jeanne had lots of great teachers, but her favorites were: Mrs. Corkhill, sixth grade, who encouraged her intellectual curiosity; Mr. Tremonte, eighth grade algebra, who taught Jeanne to love and respect math; and Miss Basehore, second and fourth year Latin, to whom Jeanne (and Mr. Penderwick) will be forever grateful.
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Although she first decided to become a writer when she was ten years old, it took Jeanne until she was forty-one to get started. In the years in between, Jeanne had many strange jobs to support herself, and also worked hard as a photographer, the kind that makes art. Some of Jeanne's photographs are included in the permane -
Rebecca Stead
Rebecca Stead is the New York Times bestselling author of When You Reach Me, Liar & Spy, First Light, Goodbye Stranger, Bob, and, most recently, The List of Things That Will Not Change. Her books have been awarded the Newbery Medal, the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award for Fiction and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize.
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Rebecca lives in New York City, where she is always on the lookout for her next story idea. -
Kwame Alexander
Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, and New York Times Bestselling author of 21 books, including The Crossover, which received the 2015 John Newbery Medal for the Most Distinguished Contribution to American literature for Children, the Coretta Scott King Author Award Honor, The NCTE Charlotte Huck Honor, the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, and the Passaic Poetry Prize. Kwame writes for children of all ages. His other works include Surf's Up, a picture book; Booked, a middle grade novel; and He Said She Said, a YA novel.
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Kwame believes that poetry can change the world, and he uses it to inspire and empower young people through his PAGE TO STAGE Writing and Publishing Program released by Scholastic. A regular speaker at colleges and confere -
Lauren Wolk
Lauren Wolk is an award-winning poet and author of the bestselling Newbery Honor–winning Wolf Hollow, described by the New York Times Book Review as "full of grace and stark, brutal beauty." She was born in Baltimore and has since lived in California, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Canada, and Ohio. She now lives with her family on Cape Cod.
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Vera Brosgol
Vera Brosgol was born in Moscow, Russia in 1984 and moved to the United States when she was five. She received a diploma in Classical Animation from Sheridan College, and currently works at Laika Inc. in Portland, Oregon drawing storyboards for feature animation.
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She has done illustration work for clients such as Nickelodeon, Sony Computer Entertainment, and Simon & Schuster. Her first graphic novel, Anya's Ghost, was published in 2011 by First Second Books.
She loves knitting, baking, and trying not to kill her plants. She hopes you are enjoying looking at her drawings! -
Padma Venkatraman
American author, Padma Venkatraman, has worked as chief scientist on oceanographic ships and spent time under the sea, directed a school, and lived in 5 countries. Her 5 novels, BORN BEHIND BARS, THE BRIDGE HOME, A TIME TO DANCE, ISLAND’S END and CLIMBING THE STAIRS, were released to multiple starred reviews (22 as of 8/30/21), and won numerous honors and awards (e.g. WNDB Walter Award 2020; SCBWI Golden Kite Award 2020; Paterson Prize; Julia Ward Howe Young Readers Award; South Asia Book Award; ALA, IRA Notable; Booklist, Kirkus, NYPL, Yalsa BBYA; CCBC choice; IBBY outstanding etc.). Her latest novel, BORN BEHIND BARS, a JLG selection, is available for order. She provides keynote addresses and commencement speeches, travels to internationa
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Kate Messner
Kate Messner is an award-winning author, TED 2012 speaker, and former middle school English teacher. Her books for kids include THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z.,SUGAR AND ICE, and EYE OF THE STORM (Walker/Bloomsbury Dec. 2010) the MARTY MCGUIRE series (Scholastic), SEA MONSTER'S FIRST DAY, and OVER AND UNDER THE SNOW (Chronicle, Books). Kate also wrote SPITFIRE and CHAMPLAIN AND THE SILENT ONE, both Lake Champlain historical novels published by North Country Books.
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Kate lives with her family on Lake Champlain, where she loves to read, write, hike, swing on birch trees, and eat chocolate. She also hangs out in various places online.
Visit Kate's website: http://www.katemessner.com
Find Kate on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/KateMessner
...or f -
Katherine Applegate
#1 New York Times bestselling author Katherine Applegate has written many books for young readers, including THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN, winner of the 2013 Newbery Medal.
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Katherine’s picture books include THE BUFFALO STORM, illustrated by Jan Ormerod (Clarion Books); THE REMARKABLE TRUE STORY OF IVAN, THE SHOPPING MALL GORILLA, illustrated by G. Brian Karas (Clarion Books); SOMETIMES YOU FLY, illustrated by Jennifer Black Reinhardt (Clarion Books); and ODDER: AN OTTER’S STORY, illustrated by Charles Santoso (Feiwel & Friends).
She’s written or co-written three early chapter series for young readers: ROSCOE RILEY RULES, a seven-book series illustrated by Brian Biggs (HarperCollins); DOGGO AND PUPPER, a three-book series illustrated by Charlie Alde -
Pam Muñoz Ryan
Pam Muñoz Ryan is the author of the New York Times Best Seller, ECHO, a 2016 Newbery Honor Book, and winner of the Kirkus Prize. She has written over forty books for young people—picture books, early readers, and middle grade and young adult novels. She the author recipient of the NEA's Human and Civil Rights Award, the Virginia Hamilton Literary Award, the Willa Cather Award, the Pura Belpré medal, the PEN USA award, and many others. Her novels include Esperanza Rising, Riding Freedom, Becoming Naomi León, Paint the Wind, The Dreamer, and Echo. She was born and raised in Bakersfield, California, holds a bachelor's and master's degree from San Diego State University and lives in north San Diego county with her family.
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Pablo Cartaya
Pablo Cartaya is a professional code switcher and lover of all things Latinx. He talks a lot and writes a lot which are paradoxical conundrums to overcome on a daily basis. He is the author of the acclaimed middle-grade novel, The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora (Viking Children’s Books/Penguin Random House) which earned him a Publisher's Weekly "Flying Start" and starred reviews from Kirkus, Booklist, and Publisher's Weekly. For his performance recording the audiobook of his novel, Pablo received an Earphone Award from Audiofile Magazine and a Publisher's Weekly Audiobooks starred review. His novel Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish, also with Viking, is set for publication in summer 2018, with two forthcoming titles to follow in 2019 and 2020.
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Caroline Starr Rose
Caroline Starr Rose is a middle grade and picture book author whose books have been ALA-ALSC Notable, Junior Library Guild, ABA New Voices, Kids’ Indie Next, Amazon’s Best Books of the Month for Kids, and Bank Street College of Education Best Books selections. In addition, her books have been nominated for almost two dozen state award lists. Caroline was named a Publishers Weekly Flying Start Author for her debut novel, May B. She spent her childhood in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and New Mexico and taught social studies and English in four different states. Caroline now lives with her family in her hometown, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
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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 -
Dusti Bowling
DUSTI BOWLING grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona, where, as her family will tell you, she always had her nose in a book. She released her first middle grade novel in 2017 and hasn't stopped writing since.
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Dusti's books have won the Reading the West Award, the Sakura Medal, a Golden Kite Honor, the William Allen White Children's Book Award, and have been nominated for a Cybil and over fifty state awards. Her books are Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selections and have been named best books of the year by the Chicago Public Library, Kirkus, Bank Street College of Education, A Mighty Girl, Shelf Awareness, and many more.
Dusti currently lives in Eagar, Arizona with her husband, three daughters, and a bunch of farm animals.
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Chris Baron
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Chris Baron is the award winning author of Novels for Children including ALL OF ME, an NCTE Notable Book, THE MAGICAL IMPERFECT a Sydney Taylor Book Award Notable Book/ a SLJ Best Book of 2021 & the forthcoming novels, THE GRAY a ProjectLIT 23-24 Selection and SPARK from Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan, and SECRET OF THE DRAGON GEMS, a Middle Grade novel co-authored with Rajani LaRocca from Little Bee Books, and editor of ON ALL OTHER NIGHTS: A MIDDLE GRADE PASSOVER ANTHOLOGY, from Abrams (24), He is a Professor of English at San Diego City College and the director of the Writing Center. He grew up in New York City, but he completed his MFA in Poetry in 1998 at SDSU. HE lives in San Diego with his family. He is represented by Rena Rossner from t -
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Beth Ferry
Beth Ferry is the author of the picture books Stick and Stone and Land Shark. Her family has cared for myriad pets, including two land sharks, a hedgehog, a blue-tongued skink, and a heap of hamsters, but her absolutely perfect pet is an English bulldog named Winston. She lives in New Jersey.
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Megan E. Freeman
Megan E. Freeman attended an elementary school where poets visited her classroom every week to teach poetry, and she has been a writer ever since. Her New York Times bestselling novel in verse, ALONE, won the Colorado Book Award, the Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, and Vermont Children’s Book Awards, the High Plains Book Award, is an NCTE Notable Verse Novel, and is included on over two dozen "best of" and state reading lists.
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Megan is also a Pushcart Prize-nominated poet and the author of the poetry chapbook Lessons on Sleeping Alone. An award-winning teacher with decades of classroom experience, Megan is nationally recognized for her work leading workshops and speaking to audiences across the country.
Megan used to -
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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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 -
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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Lorien Lawrence
Lorien Lawrence is a writer and middle school English teacher from Connecticut. When she's not reading or writing, she can be found hunting ghosts with her family. THE STITCHERS is her debut novel.
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Alex Thayer
Alex Thayer is a former film and television actress and elementary school teacher. She lives in New England with her two sons. She is the author of Happy & Sad & Everything True and Bad Cheerleader.
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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 -
Janae Marks
Janae Marks is an author of middle grade novels. Her debut From the Desk of Zoe Washington is an indie bestseller and was named a Best Book of the Year by Parents Magazine, Book Riot, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, Chicago Public Library and the Boston Globe. Her second novel is A Soft Place to Land. She has an MFA in Writing for Children from The New School, and lives in Connecticut with her husband, daughter and miniature schnauzer.
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Lauren Wolk
Lauren Wolk is an award-winning poet and author of the bestselling Newbery Honor–winning Wolf Hollow, described by the New York Times Book Review as "full of grace and stark, brutal beauty." She was born in Baltimore and has since lived in California, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Canada, and Ohio. She now lives with her family on Cape Cod.
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Robin Gow
Gow grew up in rural Pennsylvania and lives in Allentown Pennsylvania with their two pugs, Eddie and Gertie and their queer family. He works at Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center coordinating supportive services for the local LGBTQIA+ community.
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Awarded the Jerry Cain and Scott James Creative Writing Fellow, Gow earned their MFA in Creative Writing from Adelphi University where they also taught writing courses as an adjunct professor.
Gow runs the trans & queer reading series Gender Reveal Party and co-edits the new magazine The Comments Section.
Robin is the author of the chapbook Honeysuckle by Finishing Line Press and the collection Our Lady of Perpetual Degeneracy by Tolsun Books.
Their first YA novel in verse, A Million Quiet Revolut -
Andy Hirsch
Andy Hirsch is a cartoonist living in Dallas, Texas. He is the author and artist of a stack of entries in hit series Science Comics from First Second Books, covering topics from dogs to geology to outer space. His most recent book, Good Boy, follows a mismatched boy and his dog as they overcome obstacles from bar jumps to anxiety dreams in the exciting world of canine sports. His work is consistently selected by the Junior Library Guild and has appeared on the American Library Association's Best Graphic Novels for Children reading list.
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Schuyler Bailar
Schuyler is the first trans athlete to compete in any sport on an NCAA D1 men’s team, and the only to have competed for all four years. He is an internationally-celebrated inspirational speaker and a respected advocate for inclusion, body acceptance, and mental health awareness.
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Schuyler graduated from Harvard College in May 2019 with a degree in Cognitive Neuroscience and Evolutionary Psychology. His studies focused on social emotional learning, emotional intelligence, and education. He is a tireless advocate for inclusion through speaking engagements and social media. Schuyler also holds on-going advisory roles with Monte Nido & Affiliates (the leading eating disorder treatment provider), USA Swimming, the Harvard Medical School Primary Ca -
Sydney Dunlap
Sydney Dunlap is an award-winning author and former elementary school teacher who has worked extensively with youth facing challenging circumstances. She enjoys reading and writing heartfelt, hopeful books that explore tough topics not often addressed in middle grade literature. Her 2023 debut novel, IT HAPPENED ON SATURDAY, tackles social media safety and has received a Crystal Kite Honor, several medals, and is featured on four state reading lists. Her subsequent novel, RACING THE CLOUDS, received a starred review from School Library Journal and was praised by Highlights Foundation for its outstanding mental health representation. A lifelong animal lover, Sydney lives with her husband and their two dogs and three cats, all rescues. You ca
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James Bird
There is more than one author in the Goodreads catalog with this name. This entry is for James ^2 Bird.
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James Bird is a screenwriter and director at the independent film company, Zombot Pictures; his films include We Are Boats and Honeyglue. A California native of Ojibwe descent, he now lives in Swampscott, Massachusetts with his wife, the author and actor Adriana Mather, and their son. The Brave is his debut novel. -
Steven Banbury
Steven Banbury grew up surrounded by farmland before eventually moving to a part of California with notably fewer cows. Somewhere along the way he married his legend of a wife, adopted their annoyingly cute dog, and developed a penchant for writing he hasn’t seemed to shake. The Pumpkin Princess and the Forever Night is his debut novel.
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Meg Eden Kuyatt
Meg Eden Kuyatt is a 2020 Pitch Wars mentee, and teaches creative writing at Anne Arundel Community College. She is the author of the 2021 Towson Prize for Literature winning poetry collection “Drowning in the Floating World” (Press 53, 2020) and children’s novels, most recently “Good Different” (Scholastic, 2023). Find her online at www.megedenbooks.com or on Twitter at @ConfusedNarwhal and Instagram at @meden_author.
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Naomi Milliner
Naomi’s love of literature led her to an English degree at the University of Maryland; her love of cinema led her to the University of Southern California, where she earned an MFA in Screenwriting. After ten years in Hollywood, her fear of earthquakes (especially hiding under a kitchen table with her baby) led her back to Maryland, where she happily resides with her husband and sons Jeremy and Jesse. Her debut middle grade novel, SUPER JAKE & THE KING OF CHAOS, was inspired by the chaotic – and magical – goings-on when her youngest son, Jake, was alive. If you’d like to know more about Jake, please visit Naomi’s blog at: https://naomimilliner.wordpress.com/b...
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Tamika Burgess
Tamika Burgess is a storyteller with over a decade of novel, TV/film, and personal essay writing.
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Born to parents who migrated from Panamá, Tamika has always taken a particular interest in writing themes that explore her Black Latina identity. Because of her passion for spreading knowledge of Black Panamanian culture, Tamika has been featured on various websites, podcasts, and panels.
When she is not writing, Tamika is somewhere cozy online shopping, sipping lemon ginger tea and reading, or listening to a podcast.
Tamika resides in sunny Southern California and is currently working on her second novel with HarperCollins, scheduled for Winter 2024. -
Kate Fussner
Kate Fussner writes books for young people and bakes the perfect chocolate chip cookie. She holds a B.A from Vassar College, an M.Ed. from University of Massachusetts Boston, and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing for Young People from Lesley University. After over a decade of teaching English for the Boston Public Schools, Kate now spends her time writing and walking her dramatic dog, Mrs. Weasley. She is represented by Eric Smith at P.S. Literary. Her writing has appeared in the Boston Globe, WBUR’s Cognoscenti, and elsewhere. She and her wonderful wife live in MA.
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Kate Allen
Kate Allen grew up in Massachusetts and lives in Minneapolis, USA, with her family. She studied writing in college. The Line Tender is her first novel.
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Anne Blankman
Anne Blankman may have been meant to be a writer because her parents named her for Anne of Green Gables. She grew up in an old house with gables (gray, unfortunately) in upstate New York. When she wasn't writing or reading, she was rowing on the crew team, taking ballet lessons, fencing and swimming. She graduated from Union College with degrees in English and history, which comes in handy when she writes historical fiction.
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After earning a master's degree in information science, Anne began working as a youth services librarian. Currently, she lives in southeastern Virginia with her family. When she's not writing young adult fiction, she's playing with her daughter, training for races with her husband, working at her amazing library branch, -
Kailei Pew
Kailei Pew is a wife, mother, and children's book author represented by the amazing Emily Forney of Bookends Literary.
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Her upcoming books include: THE MONSTER ABOVE THE BED (illustrated by Steph Lew, out from Clarion/Harper November 7, 2023- PREORDER NOW), KID-VENTORS (illustrated by Shannon Wright from Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan Spring 2024), and I SEE COLOR (co-authored with Valerie Bolling, illustrated by Laylie Frazier from Harper Children's, Summer 2024).
Kailei also does work for hire projects and has completed work for KiwiCo and Scholastic Book Club.
Kailei loves writing picture books and middle grade books that help kids see they can do anything they set their minds to. She is the co-founder of the PB Rising Stars mentorship and the -
Kimberly Newton Fusco
Kimberly Newton Fusco, recipient of the American Library Association's Schneider Family Book Award, adores her young readers and is always excited to meet them!
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Her 4 previous novels, TENDING TO GRACE, THE WONDER OF CHARLIE ANNE, BEHOLDING BEE, and CHASING AUGUSTUS were released to starred reviews and many accolades, including the Parents' Choice Silver Medal, the ALA Best Book for Young Adults, the NYPL Book for the Teen Age, the IRA Notable Book list, and Bank Street College's Best Books of the Year list. Her books were twice named RI Book of the Year by The Alliance for the Study and Teaching of Adolescent Literature at Rhode Island College - ASTAL, and she was a finalist for the Julia Ward Howe Young Readers Award. She has been a Junior -
Emily Deibert
Emily Deibert spent most of her life in Toronto, Canada, but now lives in La Serena, Chile where she writes children’s books by day and works as an astronomer by night. BEA MULLINS TAKES A SHOT is her debut novel. In her spare time, Emily likes to play ice hockey—but like her novel’s protagonist, she’s not very good at it.
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Linda Joan Smith
Linda Joan Smith is the author of The Peach Thief, an upper middle-grade historical novel from Candlewick Press (March 2025). She loves to time travel via the magic of books, and writes about the past for today’s kids so that they can do the same. Linda formerly worked as editor of Country Home magazine, freelanced for other national publications, and wrote garden books, yet her most fulfilling roles have been as a parent and library fundraiser. Born and raised in southern California, she graduated from Amherst College and has enjoyed living in Arizona, Massachusetts, and Iowa. She now calls the central coast of California her home, where she writes, grows boysenberries, works on an old house with her husband, and has lively discussions abo
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Matthew Fox
Winner of the Bath Children's Novel Award
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Barnes & Noble Children's Book Award Shortlist 2024
Financial Times Best Children's Books 2023
Waterstones Best Childrens Fiction Books 2022
Publishers Weekly ★ Review of The Sky Over Rebecca
Booklist ★ Review of The Sky Over Rebecca
Praise for The Lovely Dark:
★★★★★ "A book to teach children about death, and move adults to tears. Fox is a beguiling writer, whose prose cocoons us through the unusual adventures that follow. It is only at the end that the true hero of this deeply affecting story emerges." - Emily Bearn, The Telegraph
"A triumph of a MG novel, exploring death and friendship and hope and perseverance. ... This novel broke me apart and put me back together (thank goodness!). It’s an absolute mus -
Cameron Staley
Cameron Staley is a clinical psychologist and an advocate for truth, equality, and compassion. He lives with his wonderful wife and four incredible children in southeast Idaho. You can learn more about his professional work and resources on his website: https://cameronstaley.com/
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