Elly Swartz
Elly Swartz is the acclaimed author of six middle grade novels: Finding Perfect, Smart Cookie, Give and Take, Dear Student, Hidden Truths, and Stand By Me (coming 2025).
Swartz’s books reflect her commitment to raising awareness about mental health and neurodiversity. Her debut novel, Finding Perfect, was named one of the Best Children’s Books About Mental Health by the Child Mind Institute, Dear Student was recommended by Parents Magazine, and Hidden Truths has received starred reviews from Kirkus and from School Library Journal, and is an Amazon Best Book for November and and Amazon Editors’ pick.
Swartz travels the country meeting with thousands of students each year to empower their own personal narrative. Swartz resides in Massachusett
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Kate Albus
Kate Albus grew up in New York but now lives in rural Maryland with her husband and children. She loves reading, baking, knitting, hiking, and other activities that are inherently quiet.
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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 -
Tom Phillips
As a dyslexic child, Tom Phillips eagerly listened to any story his mom or older sister would tell him. Today, he writes books that kids can not only enjoy on their own, but also can be read aloud and shared. Tom employs his passion for storytelling as an artist and video editor in Los Angeles, California. His work includes editing for the acclaimed LeVar Burton Kids, and he is currently at work on a screenplay for a major studio. An armchair detective and Sherlockian, he is an obsessive watcher of crime dramas. Tom can often be found walking his dog, Dr. Watson, with his wife Autumn.
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Sugar Snap Studio
Jessie Ford, of Sugar Snap Studio, is an English illustrator, whose colourful view of the world has been brightening up people's lives for the past 17 years.
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Her graphic shapes, textured layers and silhouetted figures culminate in a printed, 'hand-made' effect. With a love of all things bright, bold and graphic, Jessie's faux naive charm has been used extensively within the publishing, advertising, editorial, packaging and design sectors. Her strong and confident use of colour has won her many fans over the years.
Jessie is the one of the creators of the 'ABC For Me' range, and her children's book ‘ABC What Can She Be?’ is a worldwide bestseller.
Jessie lives by the sea in Hove, in the South of England, where she works from her seaside studi -
Maggie C. Rudd
Maggie C. Rudd is from rural North Carolina where she lives with her two boys. When she isn't writing, she is teaching high school, making forts, or outside getting muddy with her kids. She is the author of the picture book I'll Hold Your Hand.
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Jessica Kara
Jessica Kara is the contemporary pen name of fantasy author Jess E. Owen. Jessica writes quiet, optimistic contemporary stories of teens overcoming their misbeliefs and personal challenges. She is the author of A Furry Faux Paw and Don't Ask If I'm Okay (2023), as well as The Summer King Chronicles and the forthcoming Dragon Star Saga.
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Jess currently resides in northwest Montana. -
Flora Ahn
Flora Ahn is an attorney by day and an author and illustrator by night. Her work includes A Spoonful of Time (Quirk), The Golden Orchard (Audible Original), a children's chapter book series, Pug Pals (Scholastic), as well as her popular blog, Bah Humpug. Raised in California by her Korean immigrant parents, Ahn lives in Virginia with her three pugs and practices law in DC. She is always looking for opportunities to further pursue her love of food, books, drawing, and writing, and is especially excited to find ways to combine them.
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Dianne K. Salerni
DIANNE K. SALERNI, a former fifth grade teacher, is the author of YA and MG novels.
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Her upcoming dark MG fantasy, THE CARREFOUR CURSE, explores gothic themes in a story Publisher's Weekly calls "genre-bending" in a starred review.
The EIGHTH DAY fantasy series follows the adventures of Jax Aubrey, who discovers a secret day between Wednesday and Thursday. ELEANOR, ALICE, & THE ROOSEVELT GHOSTS portrays an alternate historical reality where ghosts are known to be real and threaten the future of a famous family. JADIE IN FIVE DIMENSIONS is an adventure in geometry, physics, and conspiracy theories. -
Amanda Panitch
Amanda Panitch spent most of her childhood telling stories to her four younger siblings, trying both to make them laugh and scare them too much to sleep. Now she lives in New York City, where she writes dark, funny stories for teens, kids, and the pigeons that nest on her apartment balcony. You can follow her on Twitter @AmandaPanitch, and visit her online at www.amandapanitch.com
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Rebecca Caprara
Rebecca Caprara graduated from Cornell University and practiced architecture before shifting her focus from bricks to books. She writes stories for readers of all ages and loves experimenting with narrative forms and new genres. Her work ranges from poetry and picture books to middle grade and young adult novels.
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Melanie Conklin
Melanie Conklin is the author of Counting Thyme, Every Missing Piece, and A Perfect Mistake. Melanie grew up in North Carolina and worked as a product designer before she began her writing career. When she’s not writing, Melanie spends her time doodling and dreaming up new ways to be creative. She lives in New Jersey with her family.
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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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Sarah Allen
Sarah Allen is an award winning author whose books are filled with quirky, neurodiverse characters, STEAM elements, and a sense of finding Joy in the weirdest and most unlikely of places. Her books have been Jr. Library Guild selections, Whitney Award winners, A Mighty Girl Best Of pick, and state award winners. Sarah received her MFA in creative writing from BYU and regularly teaches at writing conferences and presents at schools across the country. She lives in Florida with her two fluffy black cats! Learn more at her website: https://www.sarahallenbooks.com/
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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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Michele Weber Hurwitz
Award-winning author of five middle grade novels. HELLO FROM RENN LAKE (Random House/Wendy Lamb Books) is the 2021 Nature Generation Green Earth Book Award winner for children's fiction. Other books include THE SUMMER I SAVED THE WORLD...IN 65 DAYS, CALLI BE GOLD (both Random House) and ETHAN MARCUS STANDS UP and ETHAN MARCUS MAKES HIS MARK (both Simon & Schuster/Aladdin). Michele's books have been nominated for many state reading awards and received starred reviews. More at micheleweberhurwitz.com.
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Lindsay Lackey
Lindsay Lackey has trained as an opera singer, worked in children’s and teen services at the public library, and for a major publishing house in publicity and marketing. Born and raised in Colorado, she now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and their spoiled dog. All the Impossible Things is her debut novel.
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Sarvenaz Tash
Sarvenaz Tash is the author of of nine novels (and counting) for kids, young adults, and adults including The Geek's Guide to Unrequited Love, A Whole Song and Dance, and The Queen of Ocean Parkway. Her books have won awards and recognition from the Junior Library Guild, the American Library Association, Amazon, Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly to name a few. She was born in Tehran, Iran and grew up on Long Island, NY. She received her BFA in Film and Television from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, which means she got to spend most of college running around and making movies (it was a lot of fun). Sarvenaz currently lives in Brooklyn, NY with her family.
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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 -
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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McCall Hoyle
McCall Hoyle lives in the foothills of the North Georgia Mountains with her husband, children, and an odd assortment of pets. She is a middle school librarian and teacher. When she's not reading, writing, or teaching, she's probably training one of many dogs. You can learn more about her at mccallhoyle.com.
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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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Angela Cervantes
Angela Cervantes is the award-winning author of several popular children's novels including Lety Out Loud, which won the Pura Belpré Honor Award in 2020.
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Her other novels include The Cursed Moon, which won Florida's Sunshine State Young Readers Award. Angela's other middle grade novels include the Frida Kahlo-inspired mystery, Me, Frida and The Secret of the Peacock Ring; Allie, First At Last; and Gaby, Lost and Found.
Her latest children’s novel is Anomalies 53: Into the Shadows which is book 1 of a two-book series published by Harper Collins.
Additionally, Angela authored the junior novelization for Disney/Pixar's animated-film, Coco and Disney's animated film, Encanto. She also collaborated with American Girl Dolls for the novel Maritza: -
Benjamin Klas
Pronouns: ze/zem/zer or he/him/his
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Benjamin Klas is a Queer author from Saint Paul, MN. He lives with his partner and son. Second Dad Summer (One Elm, 2020) was his first novel; the sequel, Everything Together, came out 2021. -
Shana Keller
Shana Keller is passionate about history. She began her studies of African American history at the University of Miami in Florida and has delved deep into our nation’s diverse past ever since. She is the author of several award-winning picture books including Do You Know Them? Families Lost and Found After the Civil War, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection; Ticktock Banneker’s Clock, Best STEM book, Children’s Book Council; and Bread for Words: A Frederick Douglass Story, an Irma Black Award Honor. Other titles include Fly, Firefly!; The Peach Pit Parade: A World War I Story; The Sole Man: Jan Matzeliger’s Lasting Invention, a EUREKA! Nonfiction Children’s Book Award Honor; and soon to be released, CeeCee: Underground Railroad Ci
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Jaime Berry
Jaime Berry is a native of rural Oklahoma and a former New York City public school teacher. After years with two small boys in a too-small Brooklyn apartment, Jaime and her husband moved to the wilds of suburban New Jersey and added another boy and a dog to the mix. There, they live in a Victorian house that, despite slowly falling apart, they all love. And where telling, reading, and writing stories takes up most of her day.
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Melissa Roske
Melissa Roske is a writer of contemporary middle-grade fiction. Before spending her days with imaginary people, Melissa interviewed real ones, as a journalist in Europe. In London, she landed a job as an advice columnist for Just Seventeen magazine, where she answered hundreds of letters from readers each week. (Her column was called “Life Sucks,” but it was Melissa’s job to insist it didn’t.) Upon returning to her native New York, Melissa contributed to several books and magazines, selected jokes for Reader’s Digest, and got certified as a life coach. She lives on the Upper East Side of Manhattan with her husband, Henry, daughter, Chloe, and the occasional dust bunny. KAT GREENE COMES CLEAN is her debut novel.
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DoanPhuong Nguyen
DoanPhuong Nguyen was born in Vietnam and immigrated to the United States when she was in elementary school. After growing up in the South, she settled in the Midwest. DoanPhuong loves anything pink and cute but enjoys writing incredibly sad, emotionally evocative novels. She received her MFA in Creative Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. This is her first middle grade novel. Find her at doanphuong.com.
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Chad Morris
Chad Morris coauthored The Wild Journey of Juniper Berry, Virtually Me, Mustaches for Maddie, Squint, and Willa and the Whale, with his wife, Shelly Brown. He is also the author of the Cragbridge Hall series (The Inventor's Secret, The Avatar Battle, and The Impossible Race). He has won the Utah Book Award, the Buckeye Award, and the Nebraska Book Award, and the Silver Foreword INDIES award for Juvenile fiction. Chad also wrote one of the short stories in True Heroes: A Treasury of Modern-day Fairy Tales Written by Best-selling Authors. His story was based on JP Gibson, an amazing boy who faced cancer with courage, heart, and a basketball dream.
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Chad grew up wanting to become a professional basketball player or a rock star. (Inspired by Ani -
Yvette Clark
Yvette Clark is a Brit by birth and a New Yorker by design. An avid reader, writer, and trampoliner, Yvette lives in Manhattan with her husband, two children, and a blue cat named Beau. She is a Writing 360 mentor @ https://www.girlswritenow.org/
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GLITTER GETS EVERYWHERE is her debut novel and is available for pre-order now! -
Matt Forrest Esenwine
As a radio broadcaster, Matt spent a good deal of time writing and producing commercials and comedy bits. He also wrote poetry, which was published in various national journals and anthologies including the Donald Hall tribute, "Except for Love" (Encircle, 2019). Little did he know all this short-form writing would lead to his debut picture book, the Kirkus-starred "Flashlight Night" (Astra Young Readers, 2017), which was selected by the New York Public Library as one of the Best Books for Kids 2017 and even showed up on Encyclopedia Brittanica’s list of “11 Children’s Books That Inspire Imagination.”
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Matt now has more than a dozen books to his credit including "I Am Today" (POW! Kids Books, 2022), which received the 2023 NH State Literary -
Sita Jit
Sita Jit is a children’s book author
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and elementary school teacher. Just
like Divya, she grew up close with her
extended family in Canada and India.
In her free time, Sita loves to read, listen
to music, and play board games.
Hear my name: https://namedrop.io/sitajit
DIVYA FAR FROM HOME
DIVYA'S SUPERSECRET PLAN
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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 -
Alda P. Dobbs
Alda P. Dobbs' upcoming novel, BAREFOOT DREAMS OF PETRA LUNA, was inspired by her great-grandmother's experience during the Mexican Revolution in 1913. Alda was born in a small town in northern Mexico and moved to San Antonio, Texas as a child. She studied physics and worked as an engineer before pursuing her love of storytelling. She is as passionate about connecting children to their past, their communities, different cultures, science, and nature as she is about writing.
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Alda's writings have won various awards including the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund Award and the Sustainable Arts Foundation Grant. She has also written articles for Highlights Children's Magazine, Guideposts, and La Prensa newspaper.
Alda lives with her husband and two -
Olga Herrera
Olga is an Author and Illustrator of children's picture books. Born in Miami, Florida to a Cuban mother and an Ecuadorian father. She grew up in Ecuador and returned to the United States as a teenager. From a young age she displayed an artistic ability that would shape her career path.
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She earned her BFA from the Ringling College of Art and Design with a major in Illustration. She began her career in her 40s proving it is never too late to start.
Olga is the Co-founder of ILLO CHAT, a podcast about illustration and how to navigate the world of publishing.
She also teaches creative writing for picture books, mentors illustrators and writers and gives portfolio critiques to emerging artists.
Her husband’s military career landed them in Maryland -
Martha Freeman
Martha Freeman was born in Southern California in 1956. It is not actually true that pterodactyls ruled the skies then, but her three children believe this.
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Martha graduated from Glenoaks Elementary, Woodrow Wilson Junior High, and Glendale High School. Until Martha came along, Glendale High's most famous graduate was a fellow named Marion Michael Morrison. He later went into the film game and changed his name to John Wayne, which you might very well do, too, if you were a boy named Marion in unenlightened times. In 1978, Martha graduated from Stanford University with a degree in history. She remains Stanford's most illustrious graduate if not its most wealthy.
Stink Bomb Mom
Martha's First Book.
Martha worked as a newspaper reporter, copy edit -
Lisa Schmid
Lisa Schmid is an author and co-host of the podcast Writers With Wrinkles. When not scaring up ghostly adventures, she visits schools and libraries to discuss writing and books. She lives in Northern California with her husband, son, two dogs, and one very sneaky hamster.
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Frances Greenslade
Follow me on Instagram @franciegreenslade
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I was born in the Niagara Peninsula and grew up playing in the orchards and vineyards around our family's farm. I can remember climbing under the thickest cover of grape vines to read and write stories in the long grass there. At about age 11, when we moved to Winnipeg, I wrote my first novel, on a desk made of boards, in the crawlspace of our house. The story involved an attic, a girl and a mystery.
Red Fox Road, a novel for middle grade readers, was written to the girl in the crawlspace, writing her book in a Hilroy scribbler. A story of resilience and survival, Red Fox Road is about thirteen-year-old Francie (of course!) who is stranded alone on a remote road in the Oregon wilderness after the fam -
Deeba Zargarpur
DEEBA ZARGARPUR is an Afghan-Uzbek American. She credits her love of literature across various languages to her immigrant parents, whose eerie tales haunted her well into the night. If given the choice, Deeba would spend her days getting lost in spooky towns with nothing but a notebook and eye for adventure to guide her.
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Her debut YA novel, House of Yesterday, releases from FSG BYR in Fall 2022.
Her debut MG novel, Farrah Noorzad and the Ring of Fate, releases from Labyrinth Road in Summer 2023. -
Darshana Khiani
Darshana Khiani is an author, engineer, and advocate for South Asian children’s literature. She is infinitely curious about the world and enjoys sharing her findings with young readers. If she can make a child laugh even better. Her debut picture book, How to Wear a Sari (Versify), was an Amazon Editors’ Pick. She enjoys hiking, solving jigsaw puzzles, and traveling. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family and a furry pup. Learn more at her website, www.darshanakhiani.com.
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Christine Mott
Christine Mott is an author, attorney and animal advocate with over fifteen years of experience leading legal and policy efforts to protect animals. She advises alternative protein companies, animal sanctuaries and other animal protection and sustainability-focused organizations. Christine is a former Chair of the Animal Law Committee of the NYC Bar Association and has served on the boards of various animal advocacy organizations. Christine received her J.D. from NYU Law and her B.A. from Smith College. Christine’s work has been featured in the New York Times and various media. A native New Yorker, Christine currently lives in California with her family.
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Maya Prasad
Maya Prasad is a South Asian American writer, a Caltech graduate, and a former software engineer. She currently resides in the Pacific Northwest, where she enjoys hiking, kayaking, and raising her budding bookworm kiddo.
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Her YA novels include Drizzle, Dreams, and Lovestruck Things, a 2023 Children’s Book Council Young Adult and Librarian Favorite. Her STEM chapter book series starts with Sejal Sinha Battles Superstorms, an OWL Awards shortlist title and a NECBA Windows & Mirrors pick. She’s passionate about creating joyful representation for kids and teens across genres. -
Wendy S. Swore
Wendy S Swore farms on the Sho-Ban reservation where her corn maze and pumpkin patch is home to her five kids, two dogs, two geese, seven peacocks, eleven ducks, nineteen cats, and two hundred thirty seven chickens. She farms in the summers, writes in the winters, and would rather chew her leg off than eat something spicy.
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Rep'd by Stacey Glick, Member SCBWI, Her debut novel, A Monster Like Me, comes out in March 2019.