Maya Gold grew up in New Jersey, a few towns north of Diana’s home in Weehawken. Now she lives in upstate New York with her fashion–forward teenage daughter and a very friendly dog. Maya writes books and magazine articles, and in her spare time, she coaches a high school drama club. Cinderella Cleaners is her first series for young readers.
Monica Gomez-Hira is the daughter of Colombian immigrant, the wife of an Indian immigrant, the mother of a half Latina/half Indian daughter, and the quintessential Jersey girl who loves her salsa as much as her Springsteen.
After getting her BA in English at Wellesley College, Monica spent most of her professional life surrounded by books and the people who love them. She began her career working for literary agencies, moved to publicity and editorial at Simon & Schuster and Random House, and most recently was a children’s lead bookseller at Barnes & Noble. She lives with her family in Minneapolis, MN.
Jennifer Salvato Doktorski received a 2024 Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. She is the author of five YA novels, HOW MY SUMMER WENT UP IN FLAMES, FAMOUS LAST WORDS, a Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year, THE SUMMER AFTER YOU & ME, a YALSA Teens' Top 10, AUGUST & EVERYTHING AFTER and the forthcoming FINDING NORMAL 2025.
Her first paid gig was writing obituaries for the North Jersey Herald & News, where she developed a life-long taste for coffee, news, biting sarcasm, and irreverent humor. She also worked as a speech writer, bank teller, ghostwriter, bookkeeper in a lampshade factory, pet shop clerk, and music zine editor.
She lives with her family in New Jersey and spends her summers “down the shore,”
I was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, which I think is one of the cooler places to be born, because initially people think I’m being funny—like I’m saying I was born on the moon, but then they see I’m actually being serious. It feels like since then I’ve lived nearly everywhere (well, only in the US—which is a bummer because I want to travel so much). In high school, I was in band and honors society and science club and worked on the school newspaper. All this in Texas where football was king and cheerleaders were the school royalty. When people ask me what I remember about middle school and high school, I stand there for several seconds not saying anything. This isn’t because I can’t remember anything, but because I remember too many things a
