Cole Nagamatsu's fiction has appeared online and in print at Tin House, cream city review, West Branch, Bartleby Snopes, PodCastle, Gingerbread House Literary Magazine, Timber Journal, and other publications. She is the editor-in-chief of Psychopomp Magazine and is a visiting assistant professor of Creative Writing at St. Olaf College in Minnesota.

Catherine Newman is a beloved and widely read parenting blogger and author of Waiting for Birdy (Penguin) and Field Guide to Catastrophic Happiness (Little, Brown). Her work has been published in numerous publications, including The New York Times, Real Simple, O Magazine, and Whole Living.

Dr. Eucabeth Odhiambo is a professor of Teacher Education at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania. She has served the education community in a variety of positions during the past 25 years. As a classroom teacher, she has taught all grades between kindergarten and middle school. She currently teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the Early Childhood and Curriculum and Instruction programs. She teaches child development and social studies methods and has made numerous professional presentations at local, state, national, and international conferences. In addition to her writing for children, she has authored publications on teaching, pre-service training, and diversity.

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David Opie grew up in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, where he spent a lot of time roaming around the woods. He went on to earn his BFA in illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design and his MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. His illustrations have appeared in many magazines and newspapers and he has worked for educational publishers including Heinemann/Houghton Mifflin, Macmillan, Learning A-Z, McGraw-Hill, National Geographic School Publishing, Scholastic, and Soundprints/Smithsonian.

David has taught at the Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago and the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, and was a full-time instructor in the illustration department of the American Academy of Art in downtown Chicago. He currently teaches at the University of New Haven. David and his wife live with their dog in Connecticut.

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Emma Otheguy is the author of the picture books Martí’s Song for Freedom/Martí y sus versos por la libertad, illustrated by Beatriz Vidal, which received five starred reviews, was named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, and the New York Public Library, and was the recipient of the International Literacy Association’s Children’s and Young Adult Book Award in Intermediate Nonfiction, and A Sled for Gabo, illustrated by Ana Ramirez Gonzalez, which was an NCTE Charlotte Huck Recommended Book and a Best Book of the Year by the Chicago and New York Public Libraries and Parents Latina magazine. Her middle-grade novels include Silver Meadows Summer, which was called “a magnificent contribution to the diversity of the new American literature for young readers” by Pura Belpré-winning author Ruth Behar; Secrets of the Silver Lion: A Carmen Sandiego Novel; and Sofía Acosta Makes a Scene. Emma also co-authored The Madre de Aguas of Cuba: Unicorn Rescue Society middle grade fantasy with Newbery Honor-winner Adam Gidwitz.

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Dan’s writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and McSweeney’s, among other publications. He studied Geography and City Planning at West Chester University of Pennsylvania and Science Writing at Johns Hopkins University. Dan is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and the National Association of Science Writers (NASW).

Dan’s recent books include THEY HOLD THE LINE: WILDFIRES, WILDLANDS, AND THE FIREFIGHTERS WHO BRAVE THEM.

Edith Pattou is the author of three award-winning fantasy novels for young adults as well as the New York Times bestselling picture book, MRS. SPITZER’S GARDEN. 

She was born in Evanston, Illinois, grew up in Winnetka, and was a teenager in the city of Chicago. She completed her B.A. at Scripps College in Claremont, California where she won the Crombie Allen Award for creative writing. She later completed a Master’s degree in English Literature at Claremont Graduate School followed by a Masters of Library and Information Science at UCLA. She currently resides with her husband, Charles, in Columbus, Ohio. 

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Nicki Pau Preto is the author of YA fantasy trilogy Crown of Feathers and the forthcoming YA duology, Bonesmith. Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents is her MG debut.

Shawn Peters has spent more than two decades writing professionally for television and advertising.

Nadine Pinede is the daughter of Haitian exiles from the Duvalier dictatorship. She earned her literature degree from Harvard and studied French and English at Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. Her MFA is in Fiction and Poetry. Her PhD in Philosophy of Education focused on literature and the moral imagination. Pinede, twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize and shortlisted for a Hurston-Wright award, has to her credit fiction and poetry published as well as two nonfiction works. As a member of the Authors Guild and Women Writers of Haitian Descent, and a We Need Diverse Books mentee and grantee, her poetry has been widely anthologized.

Nadine lives and works in Belgium and is an editor for Enchanted Lion Books. WHEN THE MAPOU SINGS is Nadine’s first young adult novel in verse.

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Maya Prasad is the YA author of Fall Winter Spring Summer (Disney, 2022) & a story in the anthology Foreshadow (Algonquin YR, 2020)

Elvis Presley is one of the most influential pop culture figures of the 20th century. Often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", Elvis’ commanding voice and charismatic stage presence unleashed a musical and cultural revolution that changed the world forever. Over the course of his career, Elvis was nominated for 14 Grammy Awards (3 wins), sold over 1 billion records world-wide, received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and was named One of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation by the United States Jaycees. In addition to his musical accolades, Elvis starred in 33 films and made numerous television appearances. Today Elvis continues to inspire musicians, fashion designers, and social influencers and captivate audiences around the world.

Nick Pyenson is a paleontologist at the Smithsonian Institution where he studies the evolution and ecology of whales. Along with his scientific collaborators, he has named over a dozen new fossil species, discovered the richest fossil whale graveyard on the planet, and described an entirely new sensory organ in living whales. He has received the highest research awards from the Smithsonian for his work, including the Secretary’s Research Prize and a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from President Barack Obama’s Administration. Pyenson is also a member of the Young Scientists community at the World Economic Forum, and the father of two young kids.

Suhasini Raj is an award winning journalist, who has worked for over a decade as an investigative journalist with Indian and international news outlets. She joined The New York Times in 2014 and has reported extensively on stories ranging from the rise of Hindu nationalism under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to how the country has reeled under the effects of Covid 19 to climate change, amongst others. Prior to her time at The New York Times, Ms. Raj worked undercover on a story that exposed a bribe-taking scheme involving eleven members of India’s Parliament. As a result of her reporting, the politicians were expelled from their positions. Ms. Raj is originally from Lucknow, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, where she also attended university. She is married with one son, and enjoys classical music — and a good story!

Aimee Reid is an author with a background in education and editing. She taught high school English, Music, and Special Education before she began to work full-time as a writer. As a child, Aimee was a voracious reader and could often be found—curled in a corner, tucked in the crook of a tree limb, or crouched by a book rack in the grocery store aisle—carried away to the world of a book. Now Aimee sends her own stories out into the world. It brings her great joy to think of other children nestled on a lap or cuddled on a couch reading good books to share.

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Michael Relth is a veteran animator based in Los Angeles.

Rob Renzetti is a veteran of TV animation, whose work on Cartoon Network earned him an Emmy. He created the Nickelodeon show MY LIFE AS A TEENAGE ROBOT, acted as the supervising producer for Disney’s GRAVITY FALLS, and served as executive producer on the first two seasons of Disney’s BIG CITY GREENS, as well as many other credits. He has also published four books for Disney Publishing, including the New York Times #1 Best Seller GRAVITY FALLS: JOURNAL THREE.

When he’s not writing, Rob likes to play boardgames, watch horror movies, and chase after his very naughty rabbit, Zigzag.

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Jennifer’s endless curiosity has taken her from Philadelphia to Frankfurt and has led to careers in the U.S. Foreign Service, secondary education, finance, editing, audio description for television, and copywriting. Throughout all the changes in locales and jobs, writing was one constant. The other was her husband, whom she met in Germany while on her first tour as a foreign service officer.

Jennifer’s poetry, short stories, and novels draw heavily from her many interests and hobbies—with a particular focus on birding and astronomy. She’s passionate about expanding young people’s horizons and imaginations as well as promoting racial harmony over division. Now a resident of Maryland, Jennifer writes in a small upper-floor room overlooking her bird feeders. She also enjoys hiking, crocheting, and following the latest news from NASA. 

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A former fashion editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, Roberts is an artist, illustrator, photographer, and stylist whose work also appears in Tatler, Italian Vogue, and other international publications.

Jodi Rodgers is a qualified sexologist, counsellor, and special-education teacher with 30 years’ experience working within the education, disability, and sexuality fields. She is featured as the relationship specialist on Love on the Spectrum, Netflix’s hit docuseries that follows autistic people on their search for love. With her unique combination of qualifications and experience, Jodi has developed counseling and training programs for neurologically diverse individuals and their support networks. Her private practice, Birds and Bees, helps neurodivergent people learn about the complex areas of sexuality and relationships and, even more fundamentally, how to create love and connection.

Michael J. Rosen is the creator of a wide variety of more than 150 books for both adults and young readers. A poet, fiction- and non-fiction writer, humorist, illustrator, and editor. For over 45 years, ever since working as a counselor, youth-services director, and teacher at local community centers, Michael has engaged with children, parents, and teachers. He has taught poetry and other forms of creative expression at literature conferences, colleges, libraries, and many nontraditional learning environments. As a visiting author, in-service speaker, and workshop leader, he has traveled to well over 700 schools and conferences around the nation.

He lives on a 50-acres in the foothills of Appalachia, east of Columbus where he served for nearly 20 years as literary director of The Thurber House, a cultural center in James’s restored boyhood home. 

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A novelist, playwright, and screenwriter, Rudnick has written three books and frequently writes for The New Yorker. His articles and essays have also appeared in the New York Times, Vogue, Esquire, Vanity Fair, and Spy. His screenplays include InandOut and Addams Family Values, and his plays include I Hate Hamlet. Using the pseudonym Libby Gelman-Waxner, Rudnick wrote film criticism for Premiere magazine.

Katheryn Russell-Brown is a children’s book author, Professor of Law, and Director of the Race and Crime Center for Justice at the University of Florida. She is the author of the picture book biographies Little Melba and Her Big Trombone, illustrated by Frank Morrison, which received the Coretta Scott King Honor for Illustration, the Eureka! Honor Award, and was named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, and the Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature; A Voice Named Aretha, illustrated by Laura Freeman, which was named a Best Book of the Year by The Brown Bookshelf; and She Was the First! The Trailblazing Life of Shirley Chisholm, illustrated by Eric Velasquez, which won the 2021 NAACP Image Award and was named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews and The Chicago Public Library, and included in the Rise: A Feminist Book Project List. Katheryn was born in New York City and grew up in Oakland, California. She lives in Gainesville, Florida.

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Geo Rutherford is an artist, professor, and TikTok sensation who is known for her work educating viewers on the science of hydrology.

Aminah Mae Safi is the author of four novels, including Tell Me How You Really Feel (Feiwel & Friends) and the forthcoming Travelers Along the Way: a Robin Hood Remix (Feiwel & Friends, 2022). She’s an erstwhile art historian, a fan of Cholula on popcorn, and an un-ironic lover of the Fast and the Furious franchise. Her writing has been featured on Bustle and Salon and her award-winning short stories can be found in Fresh Ink (Crown Books) and the forthcoming Freshman Orientation (Candlewick Press, 2023).

Rob Sanders is a teacher who writes and a writer who teaches. He is known for his funny and fierce fiction and nonfiction picture books and is recognized as one of the pioneers in the arena of LGBTQ+ literary nonfiction picture books. 

A native of Springfield, Missouri, he has lived in Texas, Alabama, and Tennessee. After earning a B.S. in Elementary Education and a Master’s Degree in Religious Education, Rob worked for fifteen years in children’s religious educational publishing as a writer, educational consultant, trainer, editor, editorial group manager, and product developer.

In 2006, Rob moved to Florida and began working as an elementary school teacher. Soon he was serving as a district writing trainer and resource teacher. But he spent most of his career teaching fourth graders about books and words and reading and writing. Rob now writes full time. 

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Kaitlin M Sikes is a mother, pediatric nurse practitioner, and lifelong learner. She writes poetry and lyrical children’s books, both fiction and nonfiction. She grew up on a small island in Florida and spent her free time writing stories, making potions, and cracking open coconuts to see what was inside. As an adult, she was drawn to medical science and received her Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Florida. Having a family of her own reintroduced her to the wonders of nature. She gravitates towards stories that illuminate the invisible tapestry woven between every rock, plant, animal, and human being. She has a particular interest in reaching neurodiverse readers. She can usually be found in her backyard, listening for the whisper of inspiration, and inviting the wild edges in.

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Maya Soetoro-Ng is the Director of Community Outreach and Global Learning for the Matsunaga Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution at the University of Hawaii in Manoa. She holds a Masters degree in Secondary Education from NYU and a PhD in Multicultural Education from the University of Hawaii. Her first picture book, The New York Times bestselling Ladder to the Moon (Candlewick), was inspired by her young daughter Suhaila’s questions about her grandmother Ann Dunham, the mother of Maya and of our forty-fourth president, Barack Obama. Maya is an advocate for community service and peace education. Her debut young adult novel is being published by Candlewick.

Leslie Staub is a children’s book author and illustrator from New Orleans. An accomplished artist, her work has been exhibited nationwide. She loves animals and forests and drawing and reading and writing and making up stories. She didn't always love reading and writing because she has dyslexia.

Leslie works from her studio in the country with her dog, rabbit, and all the wild creatures who live in the woods.

Caren Stelson is the author of works for children and young adults. Caren has had a long career in education, as a teacher, writer-in-residence, and freelance writer. After receiving her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Hamline University in 2009, Caren decided it was time to write the stories that needed her attention. Accolades for her books include a Robert Sibert Honor Award, placement on the longlist for the National Book Award, and the Jane Addams Book Award.

Caren and her husband Kim have two grown children. They split their time between home in Minneapolis and the small town of Lanesboro.

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Isaiah Stephens is a freelance illustrator and animator located in Lowell, MA. He studied Media Arts and Animation at the New England Institute of Art, and has illustrated book jackets for the Italian translation of The Hunger Games, the novel The Devil Came East, and others.

Kara Storti knew she wanted to be a writer when she decided to skip her junior prom to attend the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference in Middlebury, Vermont. In the years following she spent most of her free time writing short stories, novellas, and poems, and composing pop songs. In 2006 she graduated from the University of Southern Maine with an MFA in Creative Writing, where she fell in love with writing novels for young adults. Kara has been a singer, songwriter, pianist, and flautist since she was a child and has performed throughout the world. She grew up in upstate New York and now resides in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

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Melanie Sumrow received her undergraduate degree in Religious Studies and has maintained a long-term interest in studying social issues. She also holds a Juris Doctorate and has practiced both criminal and civil law for over sixteen years, with many of the criminal cases involving teenagers.

Ellen Surrey is a Los Angeles based illustrator whose colorful work blends her love of mid-century design and vintage children’s books. Reminiscent of the classic Little Golden Book series, Ellen’s work generates feelings of nostalgia while also being contemporary.

Ellen’s work has appeared in such publications as The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Los Angeles Times. She is the illustrator of several children’s books including THIS BOOK WILL MAKE YOU AN ARTIST and DOLLY!

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Ellen Tarlow writes stories for very young children. Her published children’s books include, most recently, LOOKING FOR SMILE and BECOMING BLUE. She has been a classroom teacher and for many years worked as an editor of early childhood classroom materials. In that job she got to write hundreds of stories for young children. Now that she is working less, she is excited to work on her own stories. After spending her whole adult life in New York City, Ellen just moved to the Hudson Valley with her husband David, a painter. 

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Sarah Stewart Taylor is a fiction writer and journalist who lives with her family on a farm in Vermont; her published mysteries include the Maggie d’Arcy series, starting with The Mountains Wild, the Sweeney St. George mystery series (the first book in the series, O’ Artful Death, was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best First Novel), The Expeditioners series of adventure novels for middle grade readers, and Amelia Earhart: This Broad Ocean, a graphic novel for younger readers, which was nominated for an Eisner Award.

Leah Tinari is a widely exhibited New York based artist. Since graduating from RISD in 1998, Tinari has documented her life and friends through painting the capture the energy and exuberance of her surroundings.

Phuc Tran is a tattoo artist and co-owner of Tsunami Tattoo in Portland, Maine, where he also teaches Latin at Waynflete School. He has taught Latin, Greek, German, and Sanskrit at independent schools in New York and Maine and is a former instructor at Brooklyn College's Summer Latin Institute. See his TEDx talk on “Grammar, Identity, and the Dark Side of the Subjunctive” here. His first book, Sigh, Gone, is the winner of the 2021 Maine Literary Award & 2020 New England Book Award.

Jing Jing Tsong is a New York Times bestselling children's picture book illustrator.

Jing Jing's images are a digital collage of color, traditional printmaking techniques

and pattern. When not growing kale or surfing, Jing Jing spends her time translating

the world through her words and pictures.

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Dana VanderLugt is a writer and teacher who believes firmly in the power of stories to change hearts and minds. In addition to her writing for middle grade readers, Dana’s work has been published in Longridge Review, Relief: A Journal of Art & Faith, the Michigan Reading Journal, and The Reformed Journal, where she is also a frequent contributor on its daily blog.

A former middle school English teacher, Dana now works as an instructional coach and has an MFA in Creative Writing from The Sena Jeter Naslund-Karen Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University. She lives in Michigan with her husband, three sons, and a spoiled golden retriever.

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Allison Varnes taught English in special education for eight years, and once had to convince administrators that The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was not an actual endorsement of witchcraft. She is currently a Ph.D. student in English Education at The University of Tennessee, where she also supervises beginning English teachers during their internship year.

Illustrator Eric Velasquez was born in Spanish Harlem and he grew up in Harlem. Eric graduated from the High School of Art and Design and earned his BFA from the School of Visual Arts. He also completed a year of studies with Harvey Dinnerstein at the Art Student’s League.

Eric is the illustrator of over 30 acclaimed picture books and the recipient of numerous awards, including the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award and an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literature for Children. He lives and works in New York. He teaches book illustration at FIT (The Fashion Institute of Technology) in NYC.

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Rona Wang is currently a math major at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For her short stories, she has been named a HerCampus 22 Under 22 and nominated for the Best of the Net Anthology. She is originally from Portland, Oregon, and as a second-generation Chinese American she loves to write stories that reflect the Asian American experience. You Had Me at Hello World is her debut YA novel.

The Rev. Dr. Raphael G. Warnock serves as the Senior Pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church of Atlanta. He also has served at the Sixth Avenue Baptist Church of Birmingham, the Abyssinian Baptist Church of New York City, and Baltimore’s Douglas Memorial Community Church. The Rev. Dr. Warnock holds degrees from Morehouse College and Union Theological Seminary, and is the author of The Divided Mind of the Black Church. In January 2021, Dr. Warnock became Georgia's first Black senator.

Jesse Joshua Watson is an illustrator and fine artist. His passions are reflected in his artwork, dwelling often on social justice as well as environmental beauty and conservation. He lives in Port Townsend, Washington, with his wife and their sons. He has traveled extensively developing a deep passion for sharing the beauty of the world's cultures. In addition to writing and illustrating books, exhibiting fine art, and teaching art to kids, Jesse plays soccer religiously, music occasionally, and surfs the chilly waters of the Northwest as often as he can.

Books are herds of words and images trapped in the amber of space/time for eternity. When Richard writes or illustrates, he goes fishing in the Outer Hebrides of the cosmos to net the odd new flying fish, or spear floating mixed metaphors and chimerical memories with a fondue fork to line them up like little cheese soldiers awaiting orders from headquarters. Those cockroaches who scatter are rounded up and oxymoronically trained into wild mustangs. Richard lives in Washington state.

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Carole Boston Weatherford is an accomplished poet, writer, artist, musician, and social critic whose bibliography spans over thirty books. Her work in children's literature  has earned her widespread acclaim and awards.

Carole's picture books have been described as poetic, intimate, and ultimately educational reads. Often focused on the growth of the civil rights movement and the state of African-American culture in the United States, her works provide genuine insights into our cultural memory through their powerful storytelling.

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Jeffery Boston Weatherford is an award-winning children’s book illustrator and a performance poet. He has lectured, performed, and led art and writing workshops in the US, the Middle East, and West Africa. Jeffery was a Romare Bearden Scholar at Howard University, where he earned an MFA in painting and studied under members of the Black Arts Movement collective AfriCobra. A North Carolina native and resident, Jeffery has exhibited his art in North Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, and Washington, DC.

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Tony Weaver, Jr. is founder and CEO of Weird Enough Productions, a new media production company dedicated to creating positive media images of black men and other minority groups, and the creator of the educational webcomic The UnCommons, whose curriculum is used by over 40,000 students per month. Tony has been the recipient of the Leadership Prize and the Black Excellence Award, participated in the NBCUniversal Fellowship Program and the Peace First Fellowship, is a TEDx speaker, and was one of Forbes’ 2018 “30 Under 30” honorees—the first comic book writer to ever make the list.

Molly Webster, a graduate of NYU’s Science Writing Program and an award-winning journalist, is a Senior Correspondent at WNYC’s Radiolab. She is an accomplished writer having contributed to Scientific American, National Geographic Adventure, and Wired. Most recently she presented a TED Talk about her research on sex chromosomes.

Maya Wei-Haas is an award-winning reporter at National Geographic. She writes about all things science and has a particular affection for rocks and reactions. Maya pursued a bachelor's in geology at Smith College and then won an NSF fellowship to support her Ph.D. work in Earth Science at the Ohio State University. She's traveled the world in the name of science, scooping ice melt from the top of Antarctic glaciers and hauling up sediments from Svalbard lakes. She made the jump to journalism with the AAAS Mass Media Fellowship. Now she's working to bring these types of adventures—and the science that surrounds us—to all. In 2019, she was honored with AGU's David Perlman Award for Excellence in Science Journalism for her story about the discovery of a submarine volcano's birth. In addition to National Geographic, her work has appeared at Smithsonian.com and EOS. She's working on a forthcoming children's book about the amazing things that rocks can reveal with Phaidon Press.