Sherri Winston
Prepare for your greatest mission yet. Jada Sly, Artist & Spy, is ready to take you on a journey across Manhattan and behind the scenes at her family’s museum. Fast-paced and quick-witted, Jada leads us into her conspiratorial world with great panache and determination. Perfect for cool middle grade spies.
Sherri Winston has eight published works of fiction, and lives in Orlando, FL.
If you like author Sherri Winston here is the list of authors you may also like
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Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Kimberly Brubaker Bradley's next book, The Night War, will be published April 9, 2024. She is the author of nineteen previous books, including the Newbery Honor winners Fighting Words and The War that Saved My Life. The sequel to the latter, The War I Finally Won, appeared on many state-award and best-books lists and was described as “stunning” by The Washington Post and “honest” and “daring” by The New York Times. She is also the acclaimed author of She Persisted: Rosalind Franklin. Kimberly and her husband have two grown children and live with their dogs, two highly opinionated mares, and a surplus of cats on a fifty-two-acre farm in Bristol, Tennessee. Visit her at kimberlybrubakerbradley.com.
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Elisa Stone Leahy
Elisa Stone Leahy is a queer, Peruvian American children’s author who lives with her husband and kids in Columbus, Ohio. Her first middle grade book, Tethered to Other Stars, was a finalist for the Cybils Award and the Ohioana Book Award, made the 2024 Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices list, the Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year list, and received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews, which called it “beautifully executed.” Her second book, Mallory in Full Color, was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, made the NYPL Best Books for Kids list, was named on SLJ’s Best Books of 2024 list, and received starred reviews from The Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books and School Library Jou
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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 -
Kereen Getten
Kereen Getten grew up in Jamaica where she would climb fruit trees in the family garden and eat as much mango, guinep and pear as she could without being caught. She now lives in Birmingham with her family and writes stories about her childhood experiences. When Life Gives You Mangos is her debut novel.
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Visit her on n Instagram @Kereengetten -
Justine Pucella Winans
Justine Pucella Winans (they/she) is a critically acclaimed and award winning author of queer fiction. They have written a variety of funny and/or scary books across age ranges, receiving accolades such as a Stonewall Honor, Indies Introduce, Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selections, and multiple starred reviews. When not writing, she can be found taking too many photos of her cats, training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, actively avoiding real life scary situations, and working their true goal of becoming a Pokémon trainer.
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Wendy Parris
Wendy Parris grew up in the Midwest loving books and hoping to glimpse a ghost. After graduating from Northwestern University with a bachelor’s degree in radio/television/film, she acted in Chicago storefront theaters, performed improv comedy, and freelanced in public relations. She lives with her family near Chicago in an old house that is probably not haunted. Her debut novel FIELD OF SCREAMS (Delacorte Press 2023) is a Junior Library Guild Gold Star Standard Selection. Her second novel STAGE FRIGHT (Delacorte Press 2024) is a 2025 Illinois Reads book for grades 6-8. Find her on BlueSky & Insta @wendyparrisauthor
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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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Sofiya Pasternack
Sofiya Pasternack is a mental health professional, the highly-distractible author of Jewish MG and YA fantasy, and prone to oversharing gross medical stories. She enjoys speaking to crowds about writing and mental health. She does not enjoy running but she does it anyway. She is actually a gremlin in a bad wig.
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Her upcoming middle grade fantasy, BLACK BIRD, BLUE ROAD, is all about death, demons, and dessert. It will be available 9/20/22!
Sofiya does stuff all over the internet!
Twitter: @sofipasternack
Insta: @sofipasternack
YouTube: youtube.com/c/sofiyapasternack -
Will McIntosh
Will McIntosh is a Hugo Award-winning science fiction author, and a winner or finalist of many other awards. His alien invasion novel Defenders, is currently optioned for a feature film, while his Middle Grades novel The Classmate has been optioned for a TV series by Disney/ABC.
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Along with ten novels that have been translated into nine different languages, Will has published over sixty short stories in magazines such as Asimov's Science Fiction, Clarkesworld, and Lightspeed.
Will was a psychology professor before turning to writing full time. He lives in Williamsburg, Virginia, and is the father of twins. You can follow him on Twitter @willmcintoshSF. -
Melissa Thomson
Melissa Thomson is the author of the KEENA FORD series (Dial) and TITO THE BONECRUSHER (FSG, 2017), as well as ALONE ON THE ICE, a short story about a child who must survive on an ice floe with only a friendly polar bear to protect him. It was written when she was in third grade and won last place in the school district writing contest. If anyone would like to publish it, please contact her.
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When she is not writing new stories or figuring out how to monetize old ones, Melissa is an elementary literacy coach and mom-wife-friend-person in Northern Virginia (and everywhere else, when she travels). Her favorite things in life are working with young readers and writers, playing pretend games with confusing rules invented by her preschooler son, -
Tracy Badua
Tracy Badua is an award-winning Filipino American author of books about young people with sunny hearts in a sometimes stormy world. By day, she is an attorney who works in national housing policy, and by night, she squeezes in writing, family time, and bites of her secret candy stash. She lives in San Diego, California.
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Nicole Melleby
Nicole Melleby, a Jersey native, is the author of highly praised middle-grade books, including the Lambda Literary finalist Hurricane Season and ALA Notable Children's book How to Become a Planet. She lives with her wife and their cats, whose needs for attention oddly align with Nicole’s writing schedule.
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Feel free to follow her on Twitter @LadyMelleby
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Caroline Fernandez
Caroline Fernandez loves to write children's books for curious kids. She's won awards for her fantastic stories, like the exciting chapter book series "Asha and Baz" which highlights real-life historical women in STEM. She has written numerous picture books including; "Hide And Seek: Wild Animal Groups in North America" and "The Adventures of Grandmasaurus" (series) and "Stop Reading This Book". For those looking for a big adventure, her middle-grade historical novel "Plague Thieves" is now out.
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Caroline writes, drinks tea, and bakes in Toronto, ON.
Follow on Twitter and Instagram: @ParentClub -
G.F. Miller
G. F. Miller absolutely insists on a happy ending. Everything else is negotiable. She is living her Happily Ever After with the love of her life, three kids, two puppies, and some chickens. She cries at random times. She makes faces at herself in the mirror. She believes in the Oxford comma. And she’s always here for a dance party.
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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 -
Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Kimberly Brubaker Bradley's next book, The Night War, will be published April 9, 2024. She is the author of nineteen previous books, including the Newbery Honor winners Fighting Words and The War that Saved My Life. The sequel to the latter, The War I Finally Won, appeared on many state-award and best-books lists and was described as “stunning” by The Washington Post and “honest” and “daring” by The New York Times. She is also the acclaimed author of She Persisted: Rosalind Franklin. Kimberly and her husband have two grown children and live with their dogs, two highly opinionated mares, and a surplus of cats on a fifty-two-acre farm in Bristol, Tennessee. Visit her at kimberlybrubakerbradley.com.
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Jewell Parker Rhodes
Jewell Parker Rhodes has always loved reading and writing stories. Born and raised in Manchester, a largely African-American neighborhood on the North Side of Pittsburgh, she was a voracious reader as a child. She began college as a dance major, but when she discovered there were novels by African Americans, she knew she wanted to be an author. She wrote six novels for adults, two writing guides, and a memoir, but writing for children remained her dream.
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Now she is the author of eleven books for youth including the New York Times bestsellers Will's Race for Home, Ghost Boys and Black Brother, Black Brother. Her other books include Soul Step, Treasure Island: Runaway Gold, Paradise on Fire, Towers Falling, and the Louisiana Girls Trilogy: Nin -
Tracey Baptiste
From Thompson-Gale: "Something About the Author"
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I have always loved books. My favorite, was an oversized complete Grimm's Fairy Tales with beautiful illustrations, which I lost when my family moved to the United States. I was fascinated by the stories of the tailor who went up against a giant, and clever Hans, who wasn't so clever as well as the more traditional princess stories. When I was about thirteen, after spending a summer in the library reading Paul Zindel and Judy Blume among other authors, I announced to my best friend that I was going to be a writer. I didn't decide what I wanted to write until I read "The Friends" by Rosa Guy. I had recently moved to Brooklyn, NY, and the book spoke to my situation precisely. It remains one of m -
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. -
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 -
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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Deva Fagan
I write fantasy and science fiction for readers of all ages. I live in Maine with my husband and our dog. When I'm not writing I spend my time reading, playing video games, doing geometry, and drinking copious amounts of tea.
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NOTE: My comments on books I've read are not meant to be critical reviews, but are just my own reactions. I don't generally use stars, but I do occasionally mark a book with five stars if it's one that feels like it will become a long-term favorite, because it's exactly my sort of book, and caters to my specific tastes as a reader. There are plenty of books I read and really admire that are clearly excellent books, but which are not so exactly "for me" that I give them five stars. I will unabashedly stop reading books I -
Adam Gidwitz
To read my bio and learn more about me, and find a FAQ, visit:
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http://www.adamgidwitz.com/about-the-... -
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 -
Saadia Faruqi
Saadia Faruqi is a Pakistani American author, essayist and interfaith activist. She writes the children’s early reader series “Yasmin” published by Capstone and other books for children, including middle grade novels “A Place At The Table” (HMH/Clarion 2020) co-written with Laura Shovan, and “A Thousand Questions” (Harper Collins 2020). She has also written “Brick Walls: Tales of Hope & Courage from Pakistan” a short story collection for adults and teens. Saadia is editor-in-chief of Blue Minaret, a magazine for Muslim art, poetry and prose, and was featured in Oprah Magazine in 2017 as a woman making a difference in her community. She resides in Houston, TX with her husband and children.
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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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Mylisa Larsen
Mylisa Larsen has been telling stories for a long time. This has caused her to get gimlet-eyed looks from her parents, her siblings and, later, her own children when they felt that certain stories had been embellished beyond acceptable limits. She now writes children’s books where her talents for hyperbole are actually rewarded.
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She is the author of the middle grade novels Quagmire Tiarello Couldn't Be Better and Playing Through The Turnaround and the picture books All Of Those Babies, If I Were A Kangaroo, How To Put Your Parents To Bed and Ho Ho Homework.
She has lived in eight states and two countries and has loved things about all of them. The first place she always finds is the library.
You can visit her online at http://mylisalarsen.com -
Tehlor Kay Mejia
TEHLOR KAY MEJIA (he/him) is a bestselling and award winning author of books for all ages.
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His debut young adult novel, WE SET THE DARK ON FIRE, received six starred reviews, as well as the Oregon Spirit Book Award for debut fiction, and the Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award runner up honor for debut speculative fiction. It has been featured on Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, and O by Oprah Magazine’s best books lists, and was a 2019 book of the year selection by Kirkus and School Library Journal.
Tehlor’s debut middle grade novel, PAOLA SANTIAGO AND THE RIVER OF TEARS, was published by the Rick Riordan Presents imprint at Disney/Hyperion. It received four starred reviews, and was named Amazon’s best book of 2020 in the 9-12 age range.
Tehlor stri -
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 -
John Schu
John Schu is the creator of the popular blog Mr. Schu Reads (mrschureads.blogspot.com), was the Ambassador of School Libraries for Scholastic Book Fairs, a part-time lecturer at Rutgers University, and a former classroom teacher and school librarian. He has visited schools all over the world and has met with over 130,000 students, teachers, and administrators as he advocates for the people and things he cares about most: kids, books, schools, and the libraries — and librarians — that connect them. This Is a School is his picture book debut. John Schu lives in Naperville, Illinois. You can find him at JohnSchu.com and on social media at @MrSchuReads.
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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 -
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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Justine Pucella Winans
Justine Pucella Winans (they/she) is a critically acclaimed and award winning author of queer fiction. They have written a variety of funny and/or scary books across age ranges, receiving accolades such as a Stonewall Honor, Indies Introduce, Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selections, and multiple starred reviews. When not writing, she can be found taking too many photos of her cats, training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, actively avoiding real life scary situations, and working their true goal of becoming a Pokémon trainer.
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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 -
Ali Terese
Ali Terese is a middle grade and YA author who writes funny and heartfelt stories including FREE PERIOD (Scholastic - 2024) and VOTE FOR THE G.O.A.T. (Aladdin / Simon & Schuster - 2025). Her work has received the National Book Award - Longlist honor, a School Library Journal starred review, an Audiofile Magazine Earphones Award, and a Kids’ Indie Next selection. FREE PERIOD is part of the Chicago Battle of the Books and Texas's Lone Star Reading ListVisit Ali online for book bonuses, giveaways, and resources like discussion guides, recipes, craftivism projects, and more at aliterese.com.
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Ali Terese
Ali Terese is a middle grade and YA author who writes funny and heartfelt stories including FREE PERIOD (Scholastic - 2024) and VOTE FOR THE G.O.A.T. (Aladdin / Simon & Schuster - 2025). Her work has received the National Book Award - Longlist honor, a School Library Journal starred review, an Audiofile Magazine Earphones Award, and a Kids’ Indie Next selection. FREE PERIOD is part of the Chicago Battle of the Books and Texas's Lone Star Reading ListVisit Ali online for book bonuses, giveaways, and resources like discussion guides, recipes, craftivism projects, and more at aliterese.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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Laura Shovan
Laura Shovan is a children's novelist, arts educator, and Pushcart Prize-nominated poet. Her chapbook, Mountain, Log, Salt, and Stone won the inaugural Harriss Poetry Prize. She has edited literary journals and anthologies. Laura Shovan’s middle grade debut, THE LAST FIFTH GRADE OF EMERSON ELEMENTARY, won multiple awards including the Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for New Voices honor book. Her middle grade sports novel TAKEDWON was selected for Junior Library Guild, PJ Our Way, and the ALA’s RISE Project. A PLACE AT THE TABLE, co-written with Saadia Faruqi, was a Sydney Taylor Notable. Laura is a longtime poet-in-the-schools and serves on the faculty of Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program in writing for children and young adults. Her firs
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Tracey Baptiste
From Thompson-Gale: "Something About the Author"
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I have always loved books. My favorite, was an oversized complete Grimm's Fairy Tales with beautiful illustrations, which I lost when my family moved to the United States. I was fascinated by the stories of the tailor who went up against a giant, and clever Hans, who wasn't so clever as well as the more traditional princess stories. When I was about thirteen, after spending a summer in the library reading Paul Zindel and Judy Blume among other authors, I announced to my best friend that I was going to be a writer. I didn't decide what I wanted to write until I read "The Friends" by Rosa Guy. I had recently moved to Brooklyn, NY, and the book spoke to my situation precisely. It remains one of m -
Amra Sabic-El-Rayess
Amra Sabic-El-Rayess is from Bihac, Bosnia and Herzegovina. She is an ethnic cleansing survivor. She emigrated to the United States in 1996. She earned a BA in Economics from Brown University and two Masters degrees and a Doctorate from Columbia University. Currently she is a professor at Columbia University’s Teachers College with research focus on how and why societies fall apart and what role education can play in rebuilding decimated countries. She has published numerous articles and research papers on education-related issues and has lectured around the world.
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Kalena Miller
Kalena Miller is the author of several books for children and teens. She graduated from Carleton College before receiving an MFA in creative writing from Hamline University. She currently lives with her husband and lovable, if slightly neurotic, dog in College Station, Texas, where she runs a bookstore with her mom. When she is not writing, reading, or selling books, Kalena enjoys tap dancing, crocheting, and watching an embarrassing amount of reality television.
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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 -
Robin Gow
Gow grew up in rural Pennsylvania and lives in Allentown Pennsylvania with their two pugs, Eddie and Gertie and their queer family. He works at Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center coordinating supportive services for the local LGBTQIA+ community.
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Awarded the Jerry Cain and Scott James Creative Writing Fellow, Gow earned their MFA in Creative Writing from Adelphi University where they also taught writing courses as an adjunct professor.
Gow runs the trans & queer reading series Gender Reveal Party and co-edits the new magazine The Comments Section.
Robin is the author of the chapbook Honeysuckle by Finishing Line Press and the collection Our Lady of Perpetual Degeneracy by Tolsun Books.
Their first YA novel in verse, A Million Quiet Revolut -
Rebecca Lim
Rebecca Lim is an Australian writer, illustrator and editor and the author of over twenty books, including Tiger Daughter (a Kirkus, Amazon and Booklist Best Book, CBCA Book of the Year: Older Readers and Victorian Premier’s Literary Award-winner), Two Sparrowhawks in a Lonely Sky (NSW History Award-winner and Book Links Children’s Historical Fiction Award-winner) and the bestselling Mercy. Her work has been twice shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award, shortlisted for the Queensland Literary Awards, ARA Historical Novel Prize and Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards, shortlisted multiple times for the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, Aurealis Awards and Davitt Awards, and longli
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Christine Day
Christine Day (Upper Skagit) grew up in Seattle, nestled between the sea, the mountains, and the pages of her favorite books. Her debut novel, I CAN MAKE THIS PROMISE (Harper), was a best book of the year from Kirkus, School Library Journal, NPR, and the Chicago Public Library, as well as a Charlotte Huck Award Honor Book, and an American Indian Youth Literature Award Honor Book. Her second novel, THE SEA IN WINTER (Harper/Heartdrum), is coming to shelves on January 5, 2021. She also wrote the forthcoming SHE PERSISTED: MARIA TALLCHIEF (Philomel), an early reader biography in a new series inspired by Chelsea Clinton's bestselling picture book. Christine lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband.
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Her work is represented by Suzie Townsen -
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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Mylisa Larsen
Mylisa Larsen has been telling stories for a long time. This has caused her to get gimlet-eyed looks from her parents, her siblings and, later, her own children when they felt that certain stories had been embellished beyond acceptable limits. She now writes children’s books where her talents for hyperbole are actually rewarded.
Buy books on Amazon
She is the author of the middle grade novels Quagmire Tiarello Couldn't Be Better and Playing Through The Turnaround and the picture books All Of Those Babies, If I Were A Kangaroo, How To Put Your Parents To Bed and Ho Ho Homework.
She has lived in eight states and two countries and has loved things about all of them. The first place she always finds is the library.
You can visit her online at http://mylisalarsen.com -
Katrina Kittle
Hello! Welcome to my GoodReads profile, fellow book lover. I've made it a New Year's resolution to keep better track of my reading this year. My profile makes it look like I never, ever read, which is sooooo far from the truth. I'm just terrible at tracking, but I resolve to be better! People have teased me that my reviews are all so high that I don't seem very critical (like a teacher who gives out all A's). Let me explain: First of all, life is too short to finish a book I don't love, and I'd never, ever review a book I hadn't finished. Secondly, I feel much more comfortable recommending works I admire than I do criticizing something I didn't. There. Just so ya know! :-)
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I'm the author of five novels, four for adults and one for tweens. I -
Tina Wells
Tina Wells is the author of the best-selling tween fiction series Mackenzie Blue, and its spinoff series, The Zee Files. Tina lives on the East Coast but likes to travel and share her passion to encourage and uplift young people.
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Shanthi Sekaran
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Shanthi Sekaran was born and raised in California, and now lives in Berkeley. Her recent novel, Lucky Boy, was named an IndieNext Great Read, an Amazon Editors' Pick, and a Best Book of 2017. It was also the Penguin Random House "One World, One Book" selection for 2017. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, Huffington Post, Mutha Magazine, and The Rumpus. Her first middle grade novel, The Samosa Rebellion(Harper Collins), comes out in Fall 2021. When she's not writing books, she writes for the NBC drama, "New Amsterdam." -
John Cochran
I grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. I studied journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and worked for daily newspapers in Missouri, Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina, reporting on everything from crime to state government. I went on to cover Congress and national politics for Congressional Quarterly in Washington, D.C., where I received the National Press Foundation’s Everett McKinley Dirksen Award. I live on Capitol Hill in D.C. with my wife and our two children. Breaking into Sunlight is my first novel.
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I am represented by Isabelle Bleecker of Nordlyset Literary Agency. -
Alicia D. Williams
What's there to know about Alicia D? Well, that depends on who you ask.
Buy books on Amazon
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 -
Mindy Nichols Wendell
Mindy Nichols Wendell is a middle grade author. Before beginning her writing career, she taught English for thirty years. She always felt lucky to get paid for doing a job she loved. Mindy and her husband live in Western New York, not far from the ruins of the sanatorium that inspired Light and Air. These days, when she’s not writing or reading or taking long walks in quiet places, Mindy is probably visiting her grandsons.
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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 -
G. F. Miller
G. F. Miller absolutely insists on a happy ending. Everything else is negotiable. She is living her Happily Ever After with the love of her life, three kids, two puppies, and some chickens. She cries at random times. She makes faces at herself in the mirror. She believes in the Oxford comma. And she’s always here for a dance party.
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A.J. Sass
A. J. Sass (he/they) is an author whose narrative interests lie at the intersection of identity, neurodiversity, and allyship. He is the critically acclaimed author of the ALA Rainbow Book List Top 10 titles Ellen Outside the Lines, which was also a Sydney Taylor Honor Book, and Ana on the Edge, as well as the co-author of Camp QUILTBAG (with Nicole Melleby). All three books are Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selections.
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A. J. is the author of the upcoming middle-grade book Just Shy of Ordinary (Little, Brown, 2024), and a contributor to the This Is Our Rainbow (Knopf Books for Young Readers), Allies (DK/Penguin Random House), and On All Other Nights (Abrams, 2024) anthologies. His debut picture book with illustrator Noa Kelner, Shabbat -
Jen Wilde
Jen Wilde (she/they) is the queer, disabled author of QUEENS OF GEEK, THE BRIGHTSIDERS and GOING OFF SCRIPT.
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They write unapologetically queer stories about unlikely heroes, awkward romantics and chosen families. Jen’s books have been praised in Teen Vogue, Buzzfeed, Autostraddle, Vulture and Bustle. Their debut, QUEENS OF GEEK, made the 2018 Rainbow Book List and the Amelia Bloomer List.
Originally from Melbourne, Australia, Jen lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her wife, where she collects books, candles and foster cats. When she isn’t writing, Jen spends her time shouting about queer books on TikTok.
Connect with her online @jenwildebooks or visit her website: jenwildebooks.com. -
Kate Allen
Kate Allen grew up in Massachusetts and lives in Minneapolis, USA, with her family. She studied writing in college. The Line Tender is her first novel.
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Celia C. Pérez
Celia C. Pérez is the author of The First Rule of Punk, a 2018 Pura Belpré Author Honor Book. Celia is a longtime maker of zines inspired by her love of punk music and writing. Originally from Miami, Florida, Celia lives in Chicago with her family where she works as a community college librarian.
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Marti Dumas
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Writer:
Marti Dumas is a native New Orleanian with a passion for storytelling. When she is not teaching or parenting, she is reading or writing. She prefers to do some combination of the above within view of ancient oak trees or the banks of the river. Or both.
Narrator:
For over a decade Marti has narrated and produced audio books for use in educational settings, using her melodic voice to captivate audiences of children and adolescents. More recently, her honeyed tones have been featured in radio plays and television spots, and her first commercially available audio books were released in December of 2012.
Marti is a bel canto trained mezzo soprano and a versatile vocal performer, with a wide dramatic range and more than 20 years of experienc -
Craig Kofi Farmer
Craig Kofi Farmer is the Coretta Scott King John Steptoe New Talent Award-winning author of the middle grade novels Kwame Crashes the Underworld and A Method for Magic and Misfortune. Craig grew up in Prince George's County, went to Towson University for his Bachelor of Science degrees, and earned a Master of Education degree from the University of Maryland, College Park. He currently works in student affairs, helping college students achieve work-life balance and self-actualization. When he's not writing or working, he's exploring Baltimore City, analyzing superhero movies, watching psychological thrillers, and deciding exactly what he's going to eat that day.
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Linda Williams Jackson
Born and raised in the Mississippi Delta in the teeny-tiny town of Rosedale , Linda Williams Jackson likes to spin stories about everyday people in small-town settings. Though she has lived in a few other states (Alabama, Missouri, and Kansas), Linda currently makes her home in a not-so-small city in Mississippi with her husband and three children.
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While a degree in Math and Computer Science from the University of Alabama allowed her to enjoy careers in Information Technology, Linda now prefers manipulating words rather than numbers and symbols. -
Tom Llewellyn
TOM LLEWELLYN is the author of five novels for middle-grade and young-adult readers, and one picture book. His books have been translated into five languages.
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His first novel, The Tilting House, was published by Random House in 2010. Regarding his 2024 novel, The Five Impossible Tasks of Eden Smith (Holiday House), Booklist said: "A truly memorable setting for a terrific tale."
Tom graduated with honors from the University of Washington's creative writing program. When he's not making books, he writes thought leadership for an investment company and serves as the co-founder of the street art project, Beautiful Angle. Tom was born in Tacoma, Washington, where he raised his four brilliant children. He lives in Tacoma with his amazing wife, Deb. -
Anna Lapera
Anna Lapera is a writer and educator based in the DC area. She comes from a Guatemalan mother and Hawaiian-Filipino-German father, and was raised all over the world.
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She teaches by day and writes stories about girls stepping into their power in the early hours of the morning before the teaching day begins. She is a member of Las Musas, a 2022 Macondista and Kweli Journal mentee, and has received financial support from Tin House, Kweli Journal and SCBWI.
When she’s not writing or teaching, you can find her visiting trails and coffee shops in DC and Maryland, where she lives with her family.
Mani Semilla Finds Her Quetzal Voice is her debut novel, and she’s currently working on a historical fiction young adult novel as well as a short story co -
Rene Colato Lainez
René Colato Laínez is the Salvadoran award winning author of I Am René, the Boy/ Soy René, el niño, Waiting for Papá/ Esperando a Papá, and Playing Lotería/ El juego de la lotería. His picture books have been honored by the Latino Book Award, the Paterson Prize for Books for Young People, the California Collection for Elementary Readers, the Tejas Star Book Award Selection and the New Mexico Book Award. He was named “Top Ten New Latino Authors to Watch (and Read)” by latinostories.com. René is a graduate of the Vermont College MFA program in Writing for Children & Young Adults.
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His goal as a writer is to produce good multicultural children's literature; stories where minority children are portrayed in a positive way, where they can see thems