Gary D. Schmidt is the bestselling author of The Labors of Hercules Beal; Just Like That; National Book Award finalist Okay for Now; Pay Attention, Carter Jones; Orbiting Jupiter; the Newbery Honor and Printz Honor Book Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy; and the Newbery Honor Book The Wednesday Wars. He is also coauthor, with Ron Koertge, of Styx and Stones. He lives in rural Michigan.Jarrett J. Krosoczka, known since boyhood as “JJK,” is the New York Times bestselling author-illustrator behind more than forty books for young readers, including his wildly popular Lunch Lady graphic novels, select volumes of the Star Wars: Jedi Academy series, and Hey, Kiddo, which was a National Book Award finalist. In addition to his work in print, Krosoczka produced, directed, and performed in the award-winning, full-cast audiobook adaptations of his graphic novels. Krosoczka has delivered three TED Talks, which have accrued millions of views online. Krosoczka has garnered millions more views online via the comics tutorials he has produced for YouTube and TikTok. As well as working on his books’ film and television adaptations, Krosoczka has written for The Snoopy Show (Apple TV+) and served as a consultant for Creative Galaxy (Prime Video). Krosoczka lives in western Massachusetts.Leah Henderson is the author of many critically acclaimed books for young readers, including The Magic in Changing Your Stars; Your Voice, Your Vote; The Courage of the Little Hummingbird; and Together We March. She holds an MFA in writing and teaches in Spalding University’s graduate writing program. Because she has serious wanderlust, when she isn’t creating stories, she’s off someplace in the world getting lost, then found, discovering new ones. Visit her at leahhendersonbooks.com.Pablo Cartaya is an award-winning author, screenwriter, speaker, and occasional actor. He is the Pura Belpré Honor Book Award winner for The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora; an Audie finalist for Audiobook of the Year in the middle grade category (for which he narrated); an ALSC notable book of the year for Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish; and the 2020 Schneider Family Book Award Honor winner for his middle grade novel Each Tiny Spark. His newest title, The Last Beekeeper, contemplates a future where bees are central to a rebuilding world. His novels focus on the themes of family, community, culture, and the environment. He lives in the hyphens between his Cuban and American identities and with his familia in Miami. Visit him at pablocartaya.com Nikki Grimes is a New York Times bestselling author and recipient of the Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement, the ALAN Award for significant contributions to young adult literature, the Children’s Literature Legacy Award, and the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. She is the author of Coretta Scott King Award winner Bronx Masquerade and the recipient of five Coretta Scott King Author Honors. Her recent books include Printz Honor and Sibert Honor Book Ordinary Hazards; Between the Lines, a YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults title; the much-acclaimed Garvey’s Choice; ALA Notables Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance and Southwest Sunrise; Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice; and Garvey in the Dark. Nikki lives in Corona, California. Jarrett J. Krosoczka, known since boyhood as “JJK,” is the New York Times bestselling author-illustrator behind more than forty books for young readers, including his wildly popular Lunch Lady graphic novels, select volumes of the Star Wars: Jedi Academy series, and Hey, Kiddo, which was a National Book Award finalist. In addition to his work in print, Krosoczka produced, directed, and performed in the award-winning, full-cast audiobook adaptations of his graphic novels. Krosoczka has delivered three TED Talks, which have accrued millions of views online. Krosoczka has garnered millions more views online via the comics tutorials he has produced for YouTube and TikTok. As well as working on his books’ film and television adaptations, Krosoczka has written for The Snoopy Show (Apple TV+) and served as a consultant for Creative Galaxy (Prime Video). Krosoczka lives in western Massachusetts.Remy Lai is a winner of the Sid Fleischman Humor Award and Golden Kite Honor. She was born in Indonesia, grew up in Singapore, and now lives in Brisbane, Australia. Remy writes illustrated prose and graphic novels, including Pawcasso, Pie in the Sky, and Fly on the Wall. She is also the author-illustrator of a young reader graphic novel adventure series, Surviving the Wild: Star the Elephant, Rainbow the Koala, and Sunny the Shark. Her most recent graphic novel, Ghost Book, is inspired by Chinese mythology.Kyle Lukoff is the author of the Stonewall Award–winning When Aidan Became a Brother, the middle grade novel Too Bright to See, and many other books for young readers. A former school librarian, he lives and writes in Brooklyn.Daniel Nayeri is the author of Everything Sad Is Untrue (A True Story), winner of the Printz Award, and The Many Assassinations of Samir, The Seller of Dreams, winner of the Newbery Honor and The Teacher of Nomad Land, winner of the National Book Award and the Newbery Honor. Meg Medina was the 2023–2024 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. She was born in Alexandria, Virginia, and grew up in Queens, New York. An author of Cuban descent, Meg writes stories that celebrate Latino culture, as in The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind; Mango, Abuela, and Me; Burn Baby Burn; and Evelyn Del Rey Is Moving Away. Her teen novel Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass won the Pura Belpré Award and was published as a graphic novel in 2023. Her middle grade novel Merci Suárez Changes Gears won the Newbery Medal—and led to two additional Merci Suárez novels: Merci Suárez Can’t Dance and Merci Suárez Plays It Cool. Her nonfiction titles include She Persisted: Sonia Sotomayor and She Persisted: Pura Belpré.Linda Sue Park, Newbery Medal winner for A Single Shard and #1 New York Times bestseller for A Long Walk to Water, is the renowned author of picture books and novels for young readers. She lives in Western New York. Learn more at lindasuepark.com.Mitali Perkins was born in Kolkata, India, and before middle school in California she had lived in Ghana, Cameroon, London, New York City, and Mexico. As she says, in all those places, she navigated the culture of where she was living and the Bengali culture of her family. So, she writes, “When I began to write fiction, my protagonists were often—not surprisingly—strong characters crossing all kinds of borders, seeking community, and promoting justice.” These types of characters appear in her novels, including Rickshaw Girl; Bamboo People; Tiger Boy; You Bring the Distant Near, which was nominated for a National Book Award; and Forward Me Back to You; as well as the picture books Between Us and Abuela: A Family Story from the Border; Home Is in Between; The Story of Us; and Bare Tree and Little Wind: A Story for Holy Week. Her most recent middle grade novel is Hope in the Valley.Pam Muñoz Ryan was born in Bakersfield, California. Like her character in “Matchmaker,” she was an obsessive reader by seventh grade. She has written over forty books, including Esperanza Rising, inspired by her Mexican grandmother’s immigration story. It garnered many awards, including the Pura Belpré Award. Later novels include Becoming Naomi León; Echo, which won a Newbery Honor and the Kirkus Prize; and Mañanaland; as well as The Dreamer, another recipient of the Pura Belpré Award. She is also the author of the historical fiction picture book, Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride and the biography When Marian Sang, both illustrated by Brian Selznick. In 2018, Pam was the US candidate for the Hans Christian Andersen Award.Author and filmmaker Brian Young is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. He grew up on the Navajo reservation in Arizona. Brian earned his BA in film studies at Yale University and his MFA in creative writing at Columbia University. Brian currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.Ibi Zoboi is the New York Times bestselling author of American Street, a National Book Award finalist; Nigeria Jones, a Coretta Scott King Award winner; Pride; My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich; Okoye to the People: A Black Panther Novel for Marvel; and the Walter Award and LA Times Book Prize–winning Punching the Air, cowritten with Exonerated Five member Yusef Salaam. She is also a two-time Coretta Scott King Honor Award winner for her picture book The People Remember and her middle grade biography of Octavia Butler, Star Child. She is the editor of the anthology Black Enough. Born in Haiti and raised in New York City, she now lives in New Jersey with her family. You can find her online at ibizoboi.net.
