VanBrakle
Khadijah VanBrakle is a Muslim woman of color, born and raised in Canada to American parents. She’s an alumni of the Highlights Foundation Muslim Storytellers fellowship. Her debut Young Adult novel, Fatima Tate Takes The Cake, was a 2024 NAACP Image Award finalist for Outstanding Youth/Teen Literature, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, and […]
Phan
Aimee Phan was born and raised in Orange County, California. She received her BA in English from UCLA and her MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She is the author of The Lost Queen, a young adult fantasy duology, as well as two books for adults, We Should Never Meet: Stories and the novel The […]
Mann
J. Albert Mann is a disability activist and award-winning author of books for young people. Her work focuses on history, social justice, equity, disability, eugenics, gender, economics, and labor. So…all the fun stuff. Her first work of historical fiction—SCAR: A REVOLUTIONARY WAR NOVEL—highlights the large role Indigenous Nations played in the war, a conflict which they […]
Tyson
Alana Tyson is an award-winning storyteller, author, and retired Intelligence Officer. She’s also a mom, actress, journalist, and native New Yorker. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY Alana always had a passion for reading and writing. She earned two degrees in mass media, was a freelance writer for a NY-based business publication, and a production […]
McNamee
Libby Carty McNamee is a speaker, lawyer, and award-winning author of three upper middle grade novels in the “Remember the Ladies” Series: Susanna’s Midnight Ride: The Girl Who Won the Revolutionary War, Dolley Madison and the War of 1812: America’s First Lady, and The Union Spymistress: The Story of Elizabeth Van Lew, as well as […]
Wagner Lloyd
Megan Wagner Lloyd is the Eisner-nominated writer of bestselling and award winning graphic novels and other books for kids. Megan’s graphic novels ALLERGIC and SQUISHED, co-created with illustrator Michelle Mee Nutter, have won numerous state readers’ choice awards, in addition to both being instant indie bestsellers. ALLERGIC was nominated for an Eisner award and named […]
Erdely
In addition to being a published author, Ashley Erdely is an educator, writer, devoted parent, and passionate nature enthusiast. She grew up on a 130-acre llama ranch in Northern Michigan, where having llamas as best friends felt completely normal. Her childhood was shaped by camping trips and visits to national parks across the country—experiences that […]
Salomon
Nadia Salomon is an award-winning journalist and children’s author. She holds a journalism and public policy degree from Emerson College. Her award-winning bedtime picture book, Goodnight Ganesha is illustrated by Poonam Mistry, is a Bank Street Best Children’s Book, an ALSC Día Selection, and #NCTEWow Poetry Honor book. A Voice of Hope is her acclaimed […]
Chase
Co-founder of the award-winning blog, The Brown Bookshelf, Paula Chase is a longtime Inclusion advocate for diversifying the type of fiction featuring Black characters that’s highlighted among educators, librarians and parents. Chase was the 2021 recipient of the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN) Konigsberg Award for her advocacy. She is the author of ten […]
Erebia
Federico Erebia is a retired physician, woodworker, author, poet, and illustrator. He received the 2024 Lambda Literary Exceptional New Writer Award. His debut novel, Pedro & Daniel (Levine Querido 2023), received numerous awards, starred reviews, and other commendations. His work is included in Just YA, an Anthology for grades 7-12. He is on the SCBWI […]