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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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 -
Grant Snider
Grant Snider began drawing and writing before he knew what he was doing. Soon it was too late to stop.
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He is the author of the picture books WHAT COLOR IS NIGHT? and WHAT SOUND IS MORNING? and the creator of Incidental Comics. His comics were collected and published in the books THE SHAPE OF IDEAS and I WILL JUDGE YOU BY YOUR BOOKSHELF. Grant's comics about creativity and the human condition have appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Best American Comics.
Grant lives in Wichita, Kansas with his wife, daughter, and three sons, where he also practices orthodontics. You can often find him carrying a sketchbook, lost in his own thoughts. -
Sylvia Liu
Sylvia Liu grew up with books and daydreams in Caracas, Venezuela. Once an environmental attorney protecting the oceans, she now spins stories for children, inspired by high tech, ghost crabs, and strong girls. Sylvia lives in Virginia with her family and a very fluffy cat.
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Visit her website at enjoyingplanetearth.com and follow her on Bluesky (@sylliu) or Twitter (@artsylliu). -
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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Frank L. Cole
Frank L. Cole has lived in such exotic places as the Philippines and Kentucky, and currently lives with his wife and three children out west. While he strived for years to earn his publishing credits, Frank considers sharing his message of “Exercising Your Imagination” to over 100,000 kids across the country as his greatest accomplishment. Frank has been published with Cedar Fort Books, Delacorte Press, and Shadow Mountain Publishing. The Legend of the Last Library is Frank's 15th published book. You can learn more about his writing at frankcolewrites.com
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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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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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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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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 -
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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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 -
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).
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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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Tina M. Cho
Tina M. Cho is also known as Tina Cho.
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Tina Cho is the author of Rice from Heaven: The Secret Mission to Feed North Koreans (Little Bee Books 2018), Korean Celebrations (Tuttle 2019), My Breakfast with Jesus: Worshipping God around the World (Harvest House 2020), The Ocean Calls: A Haenyeo Mermaid Story (Kokila/Penguin Random House 2020), God’s Little Astronomer (Waterbrook 2024), God’s Little Oceanographer 2025, & The Princess & the Grain of Rice (FSG 2025). Her lyrical middle grade graphic novel, The Other Side of Tomorrow, debuts from Harper Alley 11/12/2024. After living in South Korea for ten years, Tina, her husband, and two kids reside in Iowa where Tina also teaches kindergarten. -
Jasmine Warga
Jasmine Warga is a writer from Cincinnati, Ohio who currently resides in Chicago, Illinois. She is the internationally bestselling author of My Heart and Other Black Holes and Here We Are Now. Her books have been published in over twenty-five countries and optioned for film. Her debut middle grade novel, Other Words For Home, will be published in Spring 2019. Jasmine lives in an apartment filled with books with her husband, two tiny daughters, large dog, and mischievous cat.
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**I am only on Goodreads when one of my publishers sets up a Q&A for me, so the best way to contact me is through my website: www.jasminewarga.com or on twitter: @jasminewarga. Thank you so much for reading my books!** -
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 -
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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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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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 -
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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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. -
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 -
Susan Hood
Susan Hood is the award-winning author of many books for young readers, including Ada's Violin; Lifeboat 12; The Last Straw: Kids vs. Plastics; Shaking Things Up; Titan and the Wild Boars: The True Cave Rescue of the Thai Soccer Team; and We Are One: How the World Adds Up.
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Susan is the recipient of an E. B. White Read-Aloud Picture Book Honor, the Christopher Award, the Américas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature, the Golden Kite Award, and the Bank Street Flora Stieglitz Straus Award, given annually for “a distinguished work of nonfiction that serves as an inspiration to young people.”
COMING IN MARCH, 2022!
Susan's newest book is Alias Anna: A True Story of Outwitting the Nazis. Co-authored with Anna's (a.k.a. Zhanna's) son Gr -
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 -
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 -
Melody Maysonet
Melody Maysonet has been an English teacher, editor, columnist, and ghostwriter. A self-proclaimed geek, she loves reading fantasy but prefers writing edgy, real-world fiction—as evidenced by her first novel, A WORK OF ART, which won the 2016 Hoffer Award for best fiction and was named a Best Book of 2015 by YA Books Central. Melody lives in Coconut Creek, Florida, with her husband, son, and two cats. Visit Melody's website at www.melodymaysonet.com, or follow her on Facebook or Twitter.
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David Barclay Moore
Photo: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
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Follow DAVID BARCLAY MOORE online at DavidBarclayMoore.com, on Twitter at @dbarclaymoore and on Instagram at dbarclaymoore.
David is a Coretta Scott King / John Steptoe Award-winning author whose novel, The Stars Beneath Our Feet, is being made into a film by actor/director Michael B. Jordan.
Wanna know more?
Writer, filmmaker, photographer, super geek, cherry cobbler gobbler. Knows the Death Star plans backward and forward. Adores Mark Twain, Haruki Murakami and old Prince songs. Loves the ocean. Sincerely wants to fly. David is constantly trying to see the world differently.
He was born and raised in Missouri where he read too many novels and comic books as a child. After studying creative writing at Iowa St -
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Tina M. Cho
Tina M. Cho is also known as Tina Cho.
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Tina Cho is the author of Rice from Heaven: The Secret Mission to Feed North Koreans (Little Bee Books 2018), Korean Celebrations (Tuttle 2019), My Breakfast with Jesus: Worshipping God around the World (Harvest House 2020), The Ocean Calls: A Haenyeo Mermaid Story (Kokila/Penguin Random House 2020), God’s Little Astronomer (Waterbrook 2024), God’s Little Oceanographer 2025, & The Princess & the Grain of Rice (FSG 2025). Her lyrical middle grade graphic novel, The Other Side of Tomorrow, debuts from Harper Alley 11/12/2024. After living in South Korea for ten years, Tina, her husband, and two kids reside in Iowa where Tina also teaches kindergarten. -
Linda Sue Park
Linda Sue Park is a Korean American author of children's fiction. Park published her first novel, Seesaw Girl, in 1999. To date, she has written six children’s novels and five picture books for younger readers. Park’s work achieved prominence when she received the prestigious 2002 Newbery Medal for her novel A Single Shard.
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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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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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Brian Slattery
Born in Montreal, I've lived all over the world - including Dar es Salaam, Hong Kong, and Oxford - but my home is now Toronto. I have a passion for languages and can get along in Swahili, French, and Italian, although I tend to mix them up. My other great passion is the martial arts, and I hold a 2nd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. I'm a law professor but my heart lies in writing adventure novels - and having my own adventures. For more on Escape to Ponti, see: https://brianjohnslattery.com
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Freeman Ng
Freeman Ng is a former Google software engineer and the author of a novel of Joan of Arc, a personalizable picture book, and a daily haiku feed. He lives in Oakland, CA.
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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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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 -
Ginger Reno
Ginger Reno has always been a writer – it just took a while for her to figure that out. (Her first clue should have been her family always calling her “the wordy one.”) An enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation, her desire to learn about Cherokee history and culture has naturally spilled over into her writing. FIND HER, her debut novel, is part of that journey. Ginger lives in northeast Oklahoma within the Cherokee Nation and likes to spend as much time as possible on her lakefront porch with her two favorite people—her husband and their twelve-year-old German shepherd.
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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 -
Katryn Bury
Katryn Bury works with middle grade readers as a youth library technician. A lifelong true crime nerd, she has a bachelor's degree in sociology and criminology. Her short and serialized fiction can be found in Suspense Magazine and The Sleuth. She lives in Oakland, California with her family and a vast collection of Nancy Drew mysteries.
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Website: katrynbury.com Instagram/Twitter: @katrynwrites -
Alysa Wishingrad
Alysa Wishingrad writes fantastical stories for young readers, tales that ask; is the truth really true? Her favorite stories are those that meld the historical with the fantastic, and that find ways to shine a light on both the things that divide and unite us all.
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She is the author of Between Monsters and Marvels and The Verdigris Pawn, which was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection.
Alysa lives in the Hudson Valley with her family and two demanding rescue dogs, who are either monsters or marvels, depending on the day.
You can find her at www.alysawishingrad.com
Twitter at @awishingrad
Instagram at @alysawishingradwrites. -
Ginger Reno
Ginger Reno has always been a writer – it just took a while for her to figure that out. (Her first clue should have been her family always calling her “the wordy one.”) An enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation, her desire to learn about Cherokee history and culture has naturally spilled over into her writing. FIND HER, her debut novel, is part of that journey. Ginger lives in northeast Oklahoma within the Cherokee Nation and likes to spend as much time as possible on her lakefront porch with her two favorite people—her husband and their twelve-year-old German shepherd.
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Emi Pinto
Emi is a Canadian writer and Doctorate of Education graduate, who writes everything from middle grade to young adult. She's a huge fan of all things fantasy and spooky and hijinks (hello cute ghosts and awkward witches), and loves to weave her mixed Indian and French-Canadian heritage into her stories (dosa with a side of poutine anyone?). When she isn’t reading or writing or pretending to work, you can find her taking long walks in forest trails with her family, looking for fairy doors.
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Valerie Biel
Valerie Biel's love for travel and insatiable curiosity inspires her storytelling. Her award-winning Circle of Nine series is set partially in Ireland where she was inspired by the ancient stone circles which dot the countryside. Beltany, an actual stone circle in County Donegal, Ireland, plays an important part in this novel. "There's something eerie and beautiful about these circles which rise up out of the greenest grass you've ever seen. Who built them? Why did they build them? If that's not enough to start a story, nothing is." Her other books include HAVEN, a middle-grade novel that sensitively handles the tough topic of domestic abuse through the eyes of an 11-year-old, and BEYOND THE CEMETERY GATE, a mystery suspense novel.
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She hold -
Valerie Sherrard
I was born in 1957 in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and grew up in various parts of Canada. My dad was in the Air Force so the family moved often, and was sent to live in Lahr, West Germany, when I was eleven. It was there that a teacher encouraged me toward writing. I didn't rush into it, though. It wasn't until 2002 that my first book was released, but since then I've had several dozen books for young people published.
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One reason I chose to write for children and teens was my experience in working with them. Over the years I fostered about 70 teens in my home, and I also worked as the Director of a group home for teens in my community for more than a decade. -
