Josh Galarza
Josh Galarza writes fiction and creative nonfiction and is a multidisciplinary visual artist specializing in printmaking, book arts, and sculpture. His debut novel, The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky, was a finalist for the National Book Award and winner of the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. He holds an MFA in creative writing from Virginia Commonwealth University, a BFA in art from the University of Nevada, Reno, and a BA in English from the University of Nevada, Reno. He lives in Northern Nevada and is the three-time reigning world champion of extreme trampoline air-drumming, a sport he invented himself.
If you like author Josh Galarza here is the list of authors you may also like
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Jen Ferguson
Jen Ferguson (she/her/hers) Métis (on her father's side) and Canadian settler (on her mother's side) is an activist, a feminist, an auntie, and an accomplice armed with a PhD. She believes writing, teaching and beading are political acts. She is represented by Patricia Nelson at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.
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Her debut young adult novel, THE SUMMER OF BITTER AND SWEET, is forthcoming from Heartdrum / Harper Collins in the summer of 2022. Her first book for adults, Border Markers, a collection of interrelated flash fiction stories, is out now with NeWest Press.
She lives and works in Los Angeles.
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Visit her website to subscribe to News from the Michif Creamery, an occasional (seasonally or less) newsletter, for a chance to win The Summer of Bi -
Libba Bray
What is it about writing an author bio that gives me that deer-in-headlights feeling? It's not exactly like I'm going to say "I was born in Alabama…" and somebody's going to jump up and snarl, "Oh yeah? Prove it!" At least I hope not.
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I think what gets me feeling itchy is all that emphasis on the facts of a life, while all the juicy, relevant, human oddity stuff gets left on the cutting room floor. I could tell you the facts–I lived in Texas for most of my life; I live in New York City with my husband and six-year-old son now; I have freckles and a lopsided smile; I'm allergic to penicillin.
But that doesn't really give you much insight into me. That doesn't tell you that I stuck a bead up my nose while watching TV when I was four and thought -
Candace Fleming
I have always been a storyteller. Even before I could write my name, I could tell a good tale. And I told them all the time. As a preschooler, I told my neighbors all about my three-legged cat named Spot. In kindergarten, I told my classmates about the ghost that lived in my attic. And in first grade I told my teacher, Miss Harbart, all about my family's trip to Paris, France.
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I told such a good story that people always thought I was telling the truth. But I wasn't. I didn't have a three-legged cat or a ghost in my attic, and I'd certainly never been to Paris, France. I simply enjoyed telling a good story... and seeing my listener's reaction.
Sure, some people might have said I was a seven-year old fibber. But not my parents. Instead of calli -
Margarita Engle
Margarita Engle is a Cuban-American poet, novelist, and journalist whose work has been published in many countries. She lives with her husband in northern California.
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Maria van Lieshout
Maria grew up in the Amsterdam area, and studied Visual Communications at George Washington University in DC. Maria has a background in brand design and innovation and has illustrated/written 15 picture books for kids. Song of a Blackbird, Maria's historical graphic novel about a female artist in the Amsterdam resistance during WWII, is available NOW!
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Please follow Maria on Instagram at @vanlieshoutstudio or visit www.vanlieshoutstudio.com for more information. -
Jason Reynolds
Jason Reynolds is an American author of novels and poetry for young adult and middle-grade audience. After earning a BA in English from The University of Maryland, College Park, Jason Reynolds moved to Brooklyn, New York, where you can often find him walking the four blocks from the train to his apartment talking to himself. Well, not really talking to himself, but just repeating character names and plot lines he thought of on the train, over and over again, because he’s afraid he’ll forget it all before he gets home.
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A.S. King
A.S. King is the author of the highly-acclaimed I CRAWL THROUGH IT, Walden Award winner GLORY O'BRIEN'S HISTORY OF THE FUTURE, REALITY BOY, 2013 LA Times Book Prize winner ASK THE PASSENGERS, 2012 ALA Top Ten Book for Young Adults EVERYBODY SEES THE ANTS, and 2011 Michael L. Printz Honor Book PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ and THE DUST OF 100 DOGS as well as a collection of award-winning short stories for adults, MONICA NEVER SHUTS UP.
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Look for Amy's work in anthologies DEAR BULLY, BREAK THESE RULES, ONE DEATH NINE STORIES, and LOSING IT. Two more YA novels to come in 2016 & 2018. Find more at www.as-king.com.
p.s.- If I don't accept your friend request, don't feel sad. It's because I don't really use Goodreads even though I'm completely thrilled t -
Jorge Aguirre
Jorge A. Aguirre is an East Coast-based writer born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. He wrote the graphic novel, GIANTS BEWARE (First Second Books/Macmillan), which the New York Times called, a "rollicking fun story." He also wrote its sequel, DRAGONS BEWARE (May 2015). He has already written the third book of the CHRONICLES OF CLAUDETTE. Besides books, Jorge also produces and writes TV for kids. He's worked for Disney, Junior, Nick, Jr., and PBS.
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Rebecca E. Hirsch
Rebecca E. Hirsch is a botanist-turned-writer and the author of more than 80 science and nature books for children. Her books have won a Riverby Award, a Green Prize for Sustainable Literature, a Green Earth Book Award Honor, and many starred reviews. www.rebeccahirsch.com
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Madeline Claire Franklin
Madeline Claire Franklin holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts WCYA program. When she is not writing strange fiction for young adults, she is probably attempting to dismantle the patriarchy and/or practicing witchcraft. She lives in sin in Buffalo, NY, with her partner, two dogs, three cats, and two Roombas, in a little yellow house called Cluckleberry Farms. Her debut novel, THE WILDERNESS OF GIRLS, was released June 2024 by Zando Projects.
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Rex Ogle
Holy moly! I am so humbled and honored for y'all to read my books. Big hugs to all of ya.
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Also, check out graphic novels under my pen name REY TERCIERO.
Bio:
REX OGLE is an award-winning author and the writer of nearly a hundred children’s books, comics, graphic novels, and memoirs—most notably Free Lunch, which won the ALA/YALSA award for Excellence in Non-Fiction.
Born and raised (mostly) in Texas, he moved to New York City after college to intern at Marvel Comics before moving over to DC Comics, Scholastic, and Little Brown Young Readers. As an editor, he championed over a dozen NY Times Bestsellers and worked on (and often wrote) major brands such as X-Men, Justice League, Star Wars, LEGO, Power Rangers, Transformers, Minecraft, Assassin -
Lamar Giles
Lamar "L. R." Giles writes books for teens and adults. FAKE ID, his debut Young Adult Thriller, will be published by HarperCollins in 2014. He is represented by Jamie Weiss Chilton of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency and resides in Chesapeake, VA with his wife.
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Olivia A. Cole
Olivia Cole is an author and blogger from Louisville, Kentucky. She spent eight years in Chicago and two in South Florida before finding her way back home. She is the author of PANTHER IN THE HIVE and its sequel, THE ROOSTER’S GARDEN, as well as her latest young adult series, A CONSPIRACY OF STARS and its sequel AN ANATOMY OF BEASTS. She is on the Creative Writing faculty at the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts and is the founder of the sci-fi art show for young Kentucky women, KINDRED: MAKING SPACE IN SPACE.
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Samuel Teer
Samuel Teer was born to a deaf maintenance worker and an immigrant that spoke English as a distant second language. Obviously he became a writer. He was raised outside of St. Louis, MO. He currently lives outside of Denver, CO with his wife Andrea (an educator) and their two dogs Roxie and Olive.
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Jeff Zentner
Jeff Zentner is the author of The Serpent King, which Kirkus Reviews named one of the best books of the 21st Century, as well as In the Wild Light, Goodbye Days, Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee, Colton Gentry's Third Act, and Sunrise Nights, coauthored with Brittany Cavallaro. He has two books—Wayfarers and Love, Like Apples—forthcoming in 2026.
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Among other honors, he has won the ALA’s William C. Morris Award, the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award twice, the Muriel Becker Award, the International Literacy Association Award, been longlisted twice for the Carnegie Medal, and is a two-time Southern Book Prize finalist.
His books have been translated into fifteen languages and been featured on The Today Show, Good Morning America, and in Vanity Fa -
Randy Ribay
Randy Ribay is an award-winning author of young adult fiction. His most recent novel, Patron Saints of Nothing, earned five starred reviews, was selected as a Freeman Book Award winner, and was a finalist for the National Book Award, LA Times Book Prize, Walden Book Award, Edgar Award, International Thriller Writers Award, and the CILIP Carnegie Medal. His other works include Project Kawayan, After the Shot Drops, and An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes. His next novels, The Chronicles of the Avatar: The Reckoning of Roku (Abrams) and Everything We Never Had, (Kokila/Penguin) will be out in 2024.
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Born in the Philippines and raised in the Midwest, Randy earned his BA in English Literature from the University of Colorado at Boulder and h -
Alicia D. Williams
What's there to know about Alicia D? Well, that depends on who you ask.
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If you ask kindergartners, they'd tell you:
1. She likes chunky guacamole.
2. She likes shiny things.
3. She tells good stories.
If you ask her middle schoolers, they'd surely say:
1. She gets us.
2. She makes us laugh with all her jokes.
3. She is Da BOMB.
While all of these may be true, there are a few more points to add . . . Alicia D. is a teacher in Charlotte, NC. She is the proud mother of a brilliant college student. Her love for education stems from conducting school residencies as a Master Teaching Artist of arts-integration. Alicia D infuses her love for drama, movement, and storytelling to inspire students to write. And like other great storytellers, she made the leap -
Angela Shanté
Angela Shanté is a former K-12 classroom teacher, and award-winning author of THE NOISY CLASSROOM, a picture book that she wrote about her third-grade classroom to help soothe childhood anxiety associated with school and change. The second book in the series, THE NOISY CLASSROOM GOES TO THE MUSEUM pubs MAY 2023.
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With almost 20 years of experience in education and advocacy work, Angela is focused on using her voice and platform to support, highlight, and make space for marginalized creatives in the arts and in education. In addition to her creative work, Angela works as an educational/DEI consultant supporting creative, educational, and culturally relevant projects, training, and workshops for students, adults, and organizations.
Her debut Y -
Chaz Hayden
Chaz Hayden is the author of the YA novel The First Thing About You. Through his writing and his YouTube channel, he speaks with abundant positivity and encourages people to “Be different. Leave a trail.” He grew up in New Jersey and now lives in Pennsylvania, where he highlights accessibility in his community and spends too much time thinking about his next tattoo and what concerts to attend. Chaz Hayden is also a director at Ballers & Bookworms, a nonprofit that supports underserved student-athletes. Follow him on social media @TheChazHayden.
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Jas Hammonds
Jas Hammonds (they/she) was raised in many cities and between the pages of many books. They have received support for their writing from the Highlights Foundation, Baldwin for the Arts and more. They are also a grateful recipient of the MacDowell James Baldwin Fellowship. Their debut novel, We Deserve Monuments, won the 2023 Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe Award for New Talent. She lives in New Jersey.
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Jade Adia
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Jade Adia writes stories about Black nerds, anti-capitalism, and home. She is an English teacher at a middle and high school where her students graciously keep her grounded. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Ethnicity, Race & Migration as well as a law degree with a specialization in Critical Race Studies. Her debut novel, There Goes The Neighborhood, won the 2024 Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe Award for New Talent. Her other novels include Our Shouts Echo and Batgirl: Possession.
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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 -
Meredith Adamo
Meredith Adamo (she/her) is an author based in North Carolina, but she's originally from Rochester, New York, which is her favorite place on the planet. Her debut novel NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS was the recipient of the 2025 William C. Morris YA Debut Award and the Southern Book Prize for Young Readers, and it was named a Chicago Public Library Best of the Best, a BookPage Best Young Adult Book of 2024, a May/June Kids' Indie Next List pick, and the May 2024 Target YA Book Club pick.
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Her non-writing interests include collecting vintage bakeware, crocheting the ugliest blankets you've ever seen, and grocery shopping. -
DeAndra Davis
DeAndra, an autistic and neurodivergent Jamaican-American author, has been reading since she could remember and writing since anyone put a pen in her hand. When she isn't delving into fantasy worlds or scaring herself with thrilling tales, she is playing some role-playing game (probably The Witcher series). A young adult novelist, she enjoys exploring the intersections of different identities as much as she enjoys exploring her own.
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DeAndra graduated with her BA in English Literature from Minot State University and her MFA in Creative Writing from Florida International University. She is an Instructor of English at Florida Atlantic University where she regularly teaches creative writing, literature, and composition courses.
She is a married -
Carolina Ixta
Carolina Ixta is a writer from Oakland, California. A daughter of Mexican immigrants, she received her B.A. in Creative Writing and Spanish Language and Literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz and obtained her Master's degree in Education at the University of California, Berkeley. She is currently an elementary school teacher whose pedagogy centers critical race theory at the primary education level. Shut Up, This is Serious is her debut novel.
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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 -
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 -
DeAndra Davis
DeAndra, an autistic and neurodivergent Jamaican-American author, has been reading since she could remember and writing since anyone put a pen in her hand. When she isn't delving into fantasy worlds or scaring herself with thrilling tales, she is playing some role-playing game (probably The Witcher series). A young adult novelist, she enjoys exploring the intersections of different identities as much as she enjoys exploring her own.
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DeAndra graduated with her BA in English Literature from Minot State University and her MFA in Creative Writing from Florida International University. She is an Instructor of English at Florida Atlantic University where she regularly teaches creative writing, literature, and composition courses.
She is a married -
Meredith Adamo
Meredith Adamo (she/her) is an author based in North Carolina, but she's originally from Rochester, New York, which is her favorite place on the planet. Her debut novel NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS was the recipient of the 2025 William C. Morris YA Debut Award and the Southern Book Prize for Young Readers, and it was named a Chicago Public Library Best of the Best, a BookPage Best Young Adult Book of 2024, a May/June Kids' Indie Next List pick, and the May 2024 Target YA Book Club pick.
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Her non-writing interests include collecting vintage bakeware, crocheting the ugliest blankets you've ever seen, and grocery shopping. -
Racquel Marie
Racquel Marie grew up in Southern California where her passion for storytelling of all kinds was encouraged by her friends and big family. She received a BA in English with an emphasis in creative writing and a minor in gender and sexuality studies from the University of California, Irvine.
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Madeline Claire Franklin
Madeline Claire Franklin holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts WCYA program. When she is not writing strange fiction for young adults, she is probably attempting to dismantle the patriarchy and/or practicing witchcraft. She lives in sin in Buffalo, NY, with her partner, two dogs, three cats, and two Roombas, in a little yellow house called Cluckleberry Farms. Her debut novel, THE WILDERNESS OF GIRLS, was released June 2024 by Zando Projects.
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Matt Mendez
Matt Mendez is the author of Barely Missing Everything, his debut novel, and the short story collection Twitching Heart. Barely Missing Everything has been called a “searing portrait of two Mexican-American families” by Publishers Weekly and “accessible and artful” in a stared review by Kirkus. The New York Times says [Mendez] “has an uncanny ability to capture the aimless bluster of young boys posturing at confidence.”
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Barely Missing Everything was named a 2019 Best YA Book by Kirkus, Seventeen Magazine, NBC Latino, and Texas Monthly. It was a Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers Nominee, awarded second place in the International Latino Book Awards, a Junior Library Guild Selection, and a Land of Enchantment Black Bear Book Award winn -
Randy Ribay
Randy Ribay is an award-winning author of young adult fiction. His most recent novel, Patron Saints of Nothing, earned five starred reviews, was selected as a Freeman Book Award winner, and was a finalist for the National Book Award, LA Times Book Prize, Walden Book Award, Edgar Award, International Thriller Writers Award, and the CILIP Carnegie Medal. His other works include Project Kawayan, After the Shot Drops, and An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes. His next novels, The Chronicles of the Avatar: The Reckoning of Roku (Abrams) and Everything We Never Had, (Kokila/Penguin) will be out in 2024.
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Born in the Philippines and raised in the Midwest, Randy earned his BA in English Literature from the University of Colorado at Boulder and h -
Patricia Park
Patricia Park is the author of the award-winning novel, Re Jane, a Korean American retelling of Brontë’s Jane Eyre; and the YA novels, Imposter Syndrome & Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim, and the forthcoming, What’s Eating Jackie Oh? She is a tenured professor of creative writing at American University, a Fulbright scholar, an Edith Wharton Writer-in-Residence, Edith Wharton Writer-in-Residence, a Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, and other awards. She has written for The New York Times, New Yorker, Guardian, and others. She was born and raised in Queens.
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Abigail Hing Wen
Abigail Hing Wen is the New York Times bestselling author and executive producer of Loveboat, Taipei, now a film "LOVE IN TAIPEI" on Netflix. The companion novels, Loveboat Reunion follows Xavier and Sophie, and Loveboat Forever brings the whole gang back together six years later.
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Her sophomore universe, Kisses, Codes and Conspiracies was an instant National Bestseller, Indy Best Seller, USA Today Bestseller, SoCal Regional Best Seller, Mountains and Plains Indy Regional Bestseller and an Amazon Editor's Pick for Best YA Book of the Month.
Abigail holds a BA from Harvard, a JD from Columbia Law School, and an MFA from the Vermont School of Fine Arts, and, like some of her characters, is obsessed with musicals and dancing. When she’s not writ -
Kenneth M. Cadow
Kenneth M. Cadow is an art teacher. He lives in Norwich, Vermont. This is his first picture book.
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Cindy Callaghan
Cindy Callaghan is an award-winning and producer. She's best knows for Just Add Magic and Just Add Magic 2: Potion Problems which were developed into an Emmy-nominated Amazon Original series distributed worldwide via Nickelodeon. She has also published five mega-popular Lost in books: London, Ireland, Paris, Rome, and Hollywood, and two stand-alones: the award-winning Sydney MacKenzie Knocks ‘Em Dead and Saltwater Secrets. Saltwater Secrets is set up with a major studio.
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The Girl Who Ruined Christmas has been an Instagram sensation.
Be on the lookout for My Big Heart-Shaped Fail this fall.
When asked what it is about her books that tweens love, she chuckles and says, “The funny! Without a doubt, it’s the funny situations, characters and dia -
Anton Treuer
Dr. Anton Treuer (pronounced troy-er) is Professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University and author of many books. His professional work in education, history, and Indigenous studies and long service as an officiant at Ojibwe tribal ceremonies have made him a consummate storyteller in the Ojibwe cultural tradition and a well-known public speaker. In 2018, he was named Guardian of Culture and Lifeways by the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums. Anton's first book for young adults, Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask (Young Readers Edition), won the SCBWI Golden Kite. Where Wolves Don’t Die is his first novel.
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Samuel Miller
Samuel Miller was born and raised in Vermillion, South Dakota, and now resides in Los Angeles, where, in addition to writing, he directs music videos and coaches Little League Baseball. He began writing his first novel while on tour in a fifteen-passenger van with the rock band Paradise Fears. A Lite Too Bright is his debut novel. Currently he attends graduate school at the University of Southern California. He credits his existence entirely to two spectacular parents, three brothers, one sister, and the best and sweetest puppy dog on the whole planet, Addison.
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Judy Andrekson
Tundra author Judy Andrekson grew up in Nova Scotia with a pen in one hand and a lead rope in the other. At the age of twenty, she moved to Alberta, where she could pursue her great love of horses, and there she found her dream job managing a thoroughbred racing/breeding farm. By her thirties, Judy had also begun to write seriously. Now she combines both of her passions in her new series for young readers, True Horse Stories. Judy also works as an educational assistant. She, her husband, John, and their daughter, Kate, live in Sherwood Park, Alberta, along with a constantly changing assortment of animals.
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Marcia Argueta Mickelson
Marcia Mickelson was born in Guatemala and moved to the U.S. as an infant. She began writing her first novel her senior year of high school and finished it more than ten years later.
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Marcia graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelors Degree in American Studies. She is the author of YA novels The Huaca and Where I Belong.
She has also written 3 inspirational women's novels: Star Shining Brightly, Reasonable Doubt, and Pickup Games.
Marcia currently resides in Texas with her husband and three sons. -
Paula Yoo
Paula Yoo is an acclaimed book author, TV writer/producer, and musician. Her children’s and Young Adult nonfiction books and novels have won many awards, including the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the National Book Award Longlist for Young People’s Literature, ALA-YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Honor, Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist, the Asian Pacific American Youth Literature Award, several IRA Notables and Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selections, plus many starred reviews.
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Her latest YA nonfiction book, RISING FROM THE ASHES: LOS ANGELES, 1992. EDWARD JAE SONG LEE, LATASHA HARLINS, RODNEY KING, AND A CITY ON FIRE, was published on May 7, 2024 by Norton Young Readers (W.W. Norton & Co.). It was selected as a Junior Library Guil -
Angela Shanté
Angela Shanté is a former K-12 classroom teacher, and award-winning author of THE NOISY CLASSROOM, a picture book that she wrote about her third-grade classroom to help soothe childhood anxiety associated with school and change. The second book in the series, THE NOISY CLASSROOM GOES TO THE MUSEUM pubs MAY 2023.
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With almost 20 years of experience in education and advocacy work, Angela is focused on using her voice and platform to support, highlight, and make space for marginalized creatives in the arts and in education. In addition to her creative work, Angela works as an educational/DEI consultant supporting creative, educational, and culturally relevant projects, training, and workshops for students, adults, and organizations.
Her debut Y -
J. Albert Mann
J. Albert Mann is a disability activist, an award-winning poet and the author of eight published novels for children. She has an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults and is the Partner Liaison for the WNDB Internship Grant Committee. She lives on a little fishing boat in the Boston Harbor with her first mate, Marcella, a ginger tabby.
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Dinesh Thiru
Dinesh Thiru is a writer and stay-at-home dad currently living in Barcelona. He grew up in North Carolina, married his college sweetheart from the University of Pennsylvania, and spent over a decade in San Francisco. Dinesh is half-Indian, half-white. He loves the ocean. He used to have other interests, but he swapped them for kids. Those kids are seven, four, and a dog. Find him at DineshThiru.com or TikTok.com/@dineshmt9.
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Anna Sortino
Anna Sortino is the award-winning author of On the Bright Side and Give Me a Sign. She writes stories about disabled characters living their lives and falling in love. Find more at AnnaSortino.com.
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Alexandra Villasante
Alex Villasante has always loved telling stories—though not always with words. She has a BFA in Painting and an MA in Combined Media (that’s art school speak for making work out of *anything*). Born in New Jersey to immigrant parents, Alex has the privilegio of dreaming in both English and Spanish.
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When she’s not writing, painting or chasing chickens around the yard, Alex plans conferences and fundraisers for non-profits. You can find Alex on Instagram at @magpiewrites or on her website, alexandravillasante.com -
Isaac Blum
Isaac Blum (he/him) is a writer and educator. He’s taught English at several colleges and universities, and at Orthodox Jewish and public schools. He lives with his wife in Philadelphia where he watches sports and reads books that make him laugh while showing him something true about the world. The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen is his debut novel. You can visit Isaac online at isaacblumauthor.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @isaacblum_
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Bonnie Pipkin
Bonnie Pipkin believes in prose, performances, puppet shows, and public displays of affection. Originally from California, Bonnie now lives in Brooklyn. She has an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts, teaches literature courses at Kean University, officiates weddings, and looks after a very cute cat. Aftercare Instructions is Bonnie’s first novel.
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Carolina Ixta
Carolina Ixta is a writer from Oakland, California. A daughter of Mexican immigrants, she received her B.A. in Creative Writing and Spanish Language and Literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz and obtained her Master's degree in Education at the University of California, Berkeley. She is currently an elementary school teacher whose pedagogy centers critical race theory at the primary education level. Shut Up, This is Serious is her debut novel.
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Jared Reck
Jared Reck is the author of DONUTS AND OTHER PROCLAMATIONS OF LOVE and A SHORT HISTORY OF THE GIRL NEXT DOOR. He teaches 8th grade Language Arts, where he has been reading awesome books and writing alongside his students for more than fifteen years. He lives in Hanover, Pennsylvania, with his wife and two daughters.
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Learn more about Jared at jaredreckbooks.com and follow him on Twitter @reckj. -
Bryan Bliss
Bryan Bliss is the author of No Parking at the End Times, Meet Me Here, and We’ll Fly Away, which was longlisted for the 2018 National Book Award. He lives in Saint Paul, MN with his family.
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You can visit him online at www.bryanbliss.com and on Facebook and Twitter. -
Claire Forrest
Claire Forrest is a novelist and essayist who holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Hamline University. Where You See Yourself is based on her lived experience as a wheelchair user who has cerebral palsy. As an undergraduate at Grinnell College, she was a consultant for the Disability Services and Admissions offices, working directly to address the concerns of incoming college students with disabilities and their families.
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She lives in Minneapolis, where when she’s not writing, she spends her time swimming and planning where to travel next. Find out more about her on Instagram and Twitter at @claire4est. -
Kara A. Kennedy
Kara A. Kennedy has been telling ghost stories—and sometimes living them—since childhood. She holds a BA in Professional Writing from Penn State University, where she worked as a writing tutor and cultivated a love of coffee. She lives in a historic and possibly haunted home in Pennsylvania with her wife and their two cats. I Will Never Leave You is her debut novel.
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Carolina Ixta
Carolina Ixta is a writer from Oakland, California. A daughter of Mexican immigrants, she received her B.A. in Creative Writing and Spanish Language and Literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz and obtained her Master's degree in Education at the University of California, Berkeley. She is currently an elementary school teacher whose pedagogy centers critical race theory at the primary education level. Shut Up, This is Serious is her debut novel.
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Rocky Callen
Rocky Callen, the daughter of an Ecuadorian immigrant, has long lived a life of service ever since she was a 13-year-old advocating for the undocumented immigrants in her community. She interned at NASA at 12 years old, started lobbying congress at 13, and wrote and produced student radio stories at NPR at 14.
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A behavioral therapist for over ten years, she received an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and lives outside of Washington, DC with her husband, daughter, and baby boy. Rocky is currently developing the Bleed Ink Foundation, a creative hub and resource center for writers, and the HoldOn2Hope Project, which unites creatives in suicide prevention and mental health awareness. A Breath Too Late is her debut novel.
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Annie Cardi
Annie Cardi is the author of Red, which was chosen as Kids’ Indie Next Pick by the American Booksellers Association and The Chance You Won’t Return, which received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, and was named a Bank Street College of Education Best Book of the Year. She has an MFA from Emerson College, and she currently lives with her family and dog in the Boston area.
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Monica Hesse
Monica Hesse is the national bestselling author of the true crime love story American Fire, and the historical mystery novel Girl in the Blue Coat, which has been translated into a dozen languages and won the 2017 Edgar award in the Young Adult category. She is a feature writer for the Washington Post, where she has been a winner of the Society for Feature Journalism's Narrative Storytelling award, and a finalist for a Livingston Award and a James Beard Award. Monica lives in Maryland. with her husband and a brainiac dog.
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Chaz Hayden
Chaz Hayden is the author of the YA novel The First Thing About You. Through his writing and his YouTube channel, he speaks with abundant positivity and encourages people to “Be different. Leave a trail.” He grew up in New Jersey and now lives in Pennsylvania, where he highlights accessibility in his community and spends too much time thinking about his next tattoo and what concerts to attend. Chaz Hayden is also a director at Ballers & Bookworms, a nonprofit that supports underserved student-athletes. Follow him on social media @TheChazHayden.
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George M. Johnson
George Matthew Johnson, more commonly known as George M. Johnson, is a queer Black American author, journalist, and activist. They are best known as the author of the memoir-manifesto All Boys Aren't Blue.
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Angela Velez
Angela Velez grew up in Baltimore, under the watchful eye of her Peruvian immigrant parents. She has a BA from Columbia University and an MFA from the University of Pittsburgh. Angela lives in Pittsburgh, with her piles of books, three plastic flamingos, and one wobbly disco ball. Lulu and Milagro’s Search for Clarity is her first novel.
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Abdi Nazemian
Abdi Nazemian is the author of Only This Beautiful Moment - winner of the 2024 Stonewall Award and 2024 Lambda Literary Award - and Like a Love Story, a Stonewall Honor Book and one of Time Magazine’s Best YA Books Of All Time. He is also the author of the young adult novels Desert Echoes, The Chandler Legacies, and The Authentics. His novel The Walk-In Closet won the Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Debut Fiction. His screenwriting credits include the films The Artist’s Wife, The Quiet, and Menendez: Blood Brothers and the television series Ordinary Joe and The Village. He has been an executive producer and associate producer on numerous films, including Call Me by Your Name, Little Woods, and The House of Tomorrow. He lives in Los Angeles w
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Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock
Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock was born and raised in Alaska. She worked many years fishing commercially with her family and as a reporter for Alaska Public Radio stations around the state. She was also the host and producer of “Independent Native News,” a daily newscast produced in Fairbanks, focusing on Alaska Natives, American Indians, and Canada’s First Nations. Her writing is inspired by her family’s four generations in Alaska.
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Jade Adia
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Jade Adia writes stories about Black nerds, anti-capitalism, and home. She is an English teacher at a middle and high school where her students graciously keep her grounded. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Ethnicity, Race & Migration as well as a law degree with a specialization in Critical Race Studies. Her debut novel, There Goes The Neighborhood, won the 2024 Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe Award for New Talent. Her other novels include Our Shouts Echo and Batgirl: Possession.
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Miriam Zoila Pérez
Miriam Zoila Pérez is an award-winning queer Cuban writer and activist. Their work, which mostly looks at the intersections of race, health and gender, is motivated by a desire to understand how the world shapes our bodies, and to explore all the many solutions that already exist for some of our biggest problems, but simply don’t get the attention they deserve.
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Their debut young adult fiction novel, Camila Núñez’s Year of Disasters, will be published by Page Street YA in 2025. They will also be publishing a non-fiction book with their podcast co-host Verónica Bayetti Flores, Muévelo, published by Running Press.
Their writing has appeared in the New York Times, The Guardian and Colorlines, among other outlets. Pérez’s work has appeared in a nu -
K.A. Cobell
K.A. Cobell, Staa’tssipisstaakii, is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Nation and currently lives in the Pacific Northwest, where she spends her time writing books, chasing her kids through the never-ending rain, and scouring the inlet beaches for sand dollars and hermit crabs. LOOKING FOR SMOKE, a Reese's Book Club pick, is her debut novel.
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Frederick Joseph
Frederick Joseph is a Yonkers, NY raised three-time New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. His books include a poetry collection, We Alive, Beloved, two books of nonfiction, Patriarchy Blues, and The Black Friend, a collaboration, Better Than We Found It, a children’s book, The Courage to Dream, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and his recent bestselling, Kirkus and Publisher’s Weekly Starred reviewed YA novel, This Thing of Ours.
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A.R. Vishny
A. R. Vishny was born and raised in Massachusetts but now calls New York City home. Her essays on Jewish representation in pop culture have appeared in Teen Vogue, the Washington Post, and Hey Alma. She earned a BA in English at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a JD at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where she was a Law and Literature fellow. When she’s not writing, she’s at the theater or else hunting for the perfect slice of cheesecake.
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Lyn Miller-Lachmann
I've practiced writing ever since I was six years and invented an entire classroom of 24 kids who wanted to be my friends. The following year, my mother gave me a typewriter, and I started putting my stories on paper. It was my way of creating a world where everything worked out the way I wanted it to.
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When I became a high school teacher, I started collecting my students’ stories, and I incorporated these into my first efforts to write for others. I taught English to refugees from Latin America and organized concerts of Latin American music, and the people I met inspired and encouraged me to write the novel that years later would become Gringolandia. After Gringolandia came out in 2009, I enrolled in the MFA program in Writing for Children & -
Ream Shukairy
Ream Shukairy is a Syrian American Muslim born and raised full-time in Orange County, California and part-time over summers in Syria. Whether in California or Syria, she feels at home where her family is and wherever there’s a beach. She has a talent for learning languages and is always on the search for the next place she can travel and flex her words. The daughter of immigrants, there isn’t a stereotype she won’t try her hardest to defy. She can be found reading at the beach, with her sisters watching anime, or playing volleyball really anywhere. She currently resides in Boston for graduate school.
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Marian Hale
Marian Hale is an American author known for her historical novels for young adults. Her first novel, The Truth about Sparrows (2004), tells the story of twelve-year-old Sadie and her family's journey from Missouri to Texas during the Great Depression. The novel is praised for its historical accuracy and the development of its protagonist, Sadie. Hale's second novel, Dark Water Rising (2006), is set in 1900 and follows seventeen-year-old Seth during the devastating Galveston hurricane, blending fiction with historical events.
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Hale also writes The Goodbye Season (2009), another young adult novel that explores family and personal growth. She lives with her husband, daughter, and grandchildren on the Texas coast. -
Jas Hammonds
Jas Hammonds (they/she) was raised in many cities and between the pages of many books. They have received support for their writing from the Highlights Foundation, Baldwin for the Arts and more. They are also a grateful recipient of the MacDowell James Baldwin Fellowship. Their debut novel, We Deserve Monuments, won the 2023 Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe Award for New Talent. She lives in New Jersey.
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Maya Van Wagenen
Maya Van Wagenen lives in the Atlanta area with her fiancée, three cats, and a dog. When she’s not writing, she enjoys quilting, knitting, costume design, reading, and binge-watching detective procedural dramas.
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At fifteen, Maya became a New York Times bestselling author after Penguin Dutton published her eighth-grade journal—Popular. The book went on to win the American Library Association’s YALSA award for excellence in nonfiction, making her the youngest author and first memoirist to receive this honor. Maya’s second book and first novel, Chronically Dolores, is inspired by her experiences as a young person with an incurable bladder condition. Maya is passionate about bringing visibility to youth with chronic illness and validating the qu -
Bethany Mangle
Bethany Mangle is the author of the young adult contemporary novels PREPPED and ALL THE RIGHT REASONS. Her third book, CONDITIONS OF A HEART, is forthcoming in February 2024. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys spoiling her dog, playing video games, and spending time with her unbearably nerdy husband. She moves too much to put a location in her bio ever again.
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Bethany is represented by Jennifer Wills and Nicole Resciniti of The Seymour Agency.
Note:
I don't add readers as friends on Goodreads because of Amazon's policy on reviews. Please follow me instead. I'm also active on Twitter and Instagram @bethanymangle. Thanks for your understanding! -
James Ramos
James Ramos (he/they) is a nonbinary, unapologetically dorky Minnesota native who now calls Arizona home. Weaned on a steady diet of science-fiction, comic books, and classic literature, James wrote his first story at eight years old and hasn’t stopped writing them since. He counts Jane Austen and Frank Herbert as his biggest literary influences, and believes in the unifying power of the written word. James is passionate about storytelling, particularly stories that give voice to marginalized people, especially those within the LGBTQ community and people of color. When he isn’t writing he can usually be found cosplaying with his friends or surrounded by his amazing family of cats.
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Seema Yasmin
Muslim Women Are Everything is out as a book, ebook and an audio book now!
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I'm a medical doctor, journalist and author. My first book, The Impatient Dr. Lange: One Man's Fight to end the HIV Epidemic, tells the story of my mentor who was killed when Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot out of the sky. Dr. Lange dedicated his life to fighting HIV and was searching for a cure when he was killed.
My next books, Viral BS, (Johns Hopkins University Press, November 2020) is about medical myths and how health hoaxes can travel farther than accurate information. -
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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Jennifer Yu
Jennifer Yu is the author of three young adult novels, including the forthcoming Grief in the Fourth Dimension. When not writing, you can find her weeping intermittently about the Boston Celtics, photos of the Earth from outer space, and the etymology of the word disaster. She has hopscotched across New England, Southern California, the Rockies, and the Pacific Northwest, but is perhaps happiest when living out of the trunk of her Toyota Corolla. She earned her bachelor's degree in English from the University of Pennsylvania.
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Robin Wasley
Robin Wasley is a YA fantasy writer with a soft spot for orphans, found families, and funny girls with no special skills who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances. She grew up in a family of adoptees, never truly seeing herself reflected in the books she devoured. As an adult, when she saw an Asian American girl on the cover of a YA book for the first time, she cried.
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Robin lives in Boston and works in scientific publishing, but she writes so readers can laugh, cry, and scream “Why are you like this?” Her favorite things are genre-mashes, bubble baths, Cheetos, and pie. When not writing, she enjoys baking and binge-watching entire seasons of TV in a single day.
Her one dream in life is to become best friends with BTS. -
Daniel Aleman
Daniel Aleman is the award-winning author of INDIVISIBLE. Born and raised in Mexico City, he currently lives in Toronto. His second novel, BRIGHTER THAN THE SUN, is out now, and his adult debut, I MIGHT BE IN TROUBLE, is coming in late 2024.
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Candice Iloh
Candice Iloh is a first generation Nigerian-American writer, teaching artist, and youth educator. She is a graduate of Howard University and holds an MFA in writing from Lesley University. Her work has earned fellowships from Lambda Literary and VONA among many others. Her debut novel, Every Body Looking, was a finalist for the National Book Award.
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Yi Shun Lai
Yi Shun Lai (say "yeeshun" for her first name) is the author of the forthcoming young adult historical novel A Suffragist's Guide to the Antarctic (Atheneum Books, Spring 2024). Her prior books are PIN UPS, a memoir (Homebound Publications, 2020) and the novel NOT A SELF-HELP BOOK: THE MISADVENTURES OF MARTY WU (Shade Mountain Press, May 2016).
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She is a columnist at The Writer magazine.
She teaches in the MFA program at Bay Path University.
Visit her on Twitter or on the web. -
Kip Wilson
Kip Wilson is the critically acclaimed YA author of verse novels White Rose (Versify, 2019), The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin (Versify, 2022), and One Last Shot (Versify, 2023). Awards for her books include the Malka Penn Award and the Julia Ward Howe Award, and her books have been named a Massachusetts Book Honor title, an Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award finalist, and a Los Angeles Times Book Award finalist. Her next project, All the Love Under the Vast Sky, is a YA anthology of stories in verse (Nancy Paulsen Books, 2025). Kip holds a Ph.D. in German Literature and is an enthusiastic high school library worker. Find her online at kipwilsonwrites.com and on Instagram @kipwilsonwrites.
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Jandy Nelson
Jandy Nelson is the New York Times bestselling author of I’ll Give You the Sun, which received the Printz Award, was a Stonewall Honor Book, and was named one of TIME’s 100 Best Young Adult Books of
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all Time. Her critically acclaimed debut, The Sky Is Everywhere, is now an AppleTV+ and A24 original film starring Jason Segel and Cherry Jones, for which Jandy wrote the screenplay. Together, Sun and Sky have sold well over a million copies worldwide and have been translated into more than thirty-eight languages. Both have been YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults picks and on multiple best of the year lists, have earned many starred reviews, and continue to enjoy great international success. Currently a full-time writer, Jandy lives and writes i -
Hope Jahren
HOPE JAHREN is a teacher, scientist, and book lover living in Oslo, Norway. Recognized as one Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People, Jahren is the recipient of three Fulbright Awards and was named one of the Brilliant 10 by Popular Science magazine in 2005. She is the author of two works of nonfiction: The Story of More and Lab Girl, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for autobiography. Adventures of Mary Jane is her first work of fiction.
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Dan Clay
Dan Clay is a writer and drag queen thrilled to be making his debut as a novelist with Becoming a Queen. Until now, he focused on spreading love and positivity online through his drag persona, Carrie Dragshaw. His writing as Carrie has been featured in hundreds of magazines, newspapers, and television shows–from Cosmo to People to Watch What Happens Live–and his TED Talk on being your “whole self” details his first-hand experience with the healing power of drag.
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Dan graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in Philosophy and went on to get an MBA from Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania. When he’s not writing, he works for a climate change nonprofit and a New York-based branding agency. He lives in New York. Connect with D -
Lily Sparks
Born in Norwalk Connecticut, started my career in Los Angeles. Hid out in the mountains for a while, now I'm setting down roots by the beach.
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Telling stories is what I do to be happy and help make sense of the world.
I hope you have as much fun reading my books as I do writing them. -
John Florio
John Florio was raised in Flushing, NY. He credits the streets of Queens as one of his earliest influences, along with black-and-white movies, old superhero comics, Sports Illustrated, Humphrey Bogart, and the Hardy Boys.
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A fan of pop fiction and creative nonfiction, Florio is the author of the historical crime novels, Sugar Pop Moon and Blind Moon Alley. With Ouisie Shapiro, he has written the nonfiction books: Marked Man, Doomed, War in the Ring, One Nation Under Baseball, and One Punch from the Promised Land. Florio and Shapiro also contribute to The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Nation, and ESPN.
Florio holds an MFA from the University of Southern Maine, an MA from New York University, an MBA from St. John’s University -
Sarah Van Name
Sarah Van Name grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina and now lives and works in Durham with her family and dog. She is the author of three young adult novels: These Bodies Between Us (2024), Any Place But Here (2021), and The Goodbye Summer (2019). You can find her on Instagram @sarahvanname.
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