Mirelle Ortega is an award-winning Mexican artist and writer for kidlit and animation based in Los Angeles, California. She is the author-illustrator of RIVER OF MARIPOSAS and MAGIC: ONCE UPON A FARAWAY LAND, for which she received a 2023 Pura Belpré Award Honor for illustration and an International Latino Book Awards medal. She’s a prolific children’s books illustrator creating covers for best-selling middle grade series such as FROM THE DESK OF ZOE WASHINGTON, CECE RIOS and LOVE SUGAR MAGIC, artwork for acclaimed chapter books series such as THE MYTHICS, VOTE FOR EFFIE and MERMAIDS ROCK, and ..read more

G. Neri is the Michael L. Printz and Coretta Scott King award-winning author of such books as the bestselling Yummy: the Last Days of a Southside Shorty and Ghetto Cowboy, which was made into the movie, Concrete Cowboy, starring Idris Elba. His books have been translated into multiple languages in over 25 countries. They include My Antarctica, Safe Passage, The Collectors, Tru & Nelle, Grand Theft Horse, Christo and Jeanne-Claude Wrap the World, Hello, I’m Johnny Cash, and Chess Rumble. In 2017, he was awarded the first of two National Science Foundation grants that sent him to Antarctica ..read more

When Reem Faruqi taught second grade, her favorite time was “Read Aloud” time. Now, her favorite time at home is reading with her daughters. Reem Faruqi is the award-winning author of “Lailah’s Lunchbox,” a picture book based on her own experiences as a young Muslim girl immigrating to the United States. Of Pakistani origin, Reem moved to Peachtree City, Georgia, from Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, when she was 13 years old. She’s also the author of her three middle grade novels in verse, “Unsettled”(HarperCollins 2021), “Golden Girl” (HarperCollins 2022), “Call Me Adnan”(HarperCollins 2 ..read more

Michael Leali (he/him) is an author and educator born and raised in the Chicago suburbs and currently living in the San Francisco Bay Area. He holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. When Michael isn’t writing, he enjoys reading, playing board games, and a nice long walk. His debut novel, The Civil War of Amos Abernathy, won the Golden Kite Award for Middle Grade Fiction from SCBWI and was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award and the Jane Addams Award. Additionally, it was an ALA Rainbow Book List Top 10 selection, a Junior Library Guild Gold ..read more

Author, magazine writer, and speaker Elizabeth Rusch tackles vital, high-interest topics such as young people suing over climate change, pioneering space exploration, life-saving science, the battle for equal pay, and the state of our democracy. Her narrative nonfiction, which can read like fiction, often blurs the boundary between current events and history, covering important recent moments that have the potential to change the future in surprising ways. Rusch is the award-winning author of more than 24 books, which have received multiple starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, Horn ..read more

Deborah Hopkinson is the award-winning author of more than 70 books for young readers including picture books, historical fiction, and nonfiction. Deborah’s nonfiction includes Titanic, Voices from the Disaster, which received a YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction honor and a Robert F. Sibert Honor, Courage & Defiance, Stories of Spies, Saboteurs, and Survivors in WWII Denmark, winner of the OCTE Oregon Spirit Award, and Shutting out the Sky, Life in the Tenements of New York 1880-1924, which received an NCTE Orbis Pictus honor. Deborah’s historical fiction title, The Great Trouble, A Mystery o ..read more

Colleen AF Venable is the author of indie bestseller Katie the Catsitter graphic novel series with Stephanie Yue (nominated for 14 state awards), as well as the National Book Award Longlisted Kiss Number 8, a graphic novel co-created with Ellen T. Crenshaw. Her other books include The Oboe Goes Boom Boom Boom with Lian Cho, The Swayze Year with Meghan Daly, Mervin the Sloth is About to Do the Best Thing in The World with Ruth Chan, and the Guinea Pig, Pet Shop Private Eye series, also with Stephanie Yue. Colleen splits her time between Brooklyn, New York, and an old house in North Adams, Massa ..read more

Rose Bousamra is an experienced comics professional, specializing in illustration and graphic novels for kids and young adults. Their first graphic novel, Frizzy, written by Claribel A. Ortega and published with First Second Books, earned a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, the Pura Belpre award for Children’s Text, an Eisner Award nomination (Best Publication for Kids), and five starred reviews. Ever since they could hold a pencil, Rose has been trying to replicate the magic they felt from fantasy stories like Princess Mononoke, The Little Mermaid, and The Lord of the Rings. From ..read more

Kevin Johnson (aka “Captain Create”) is a proud Temple University alumnus, who grew up just south of Philadelphia, PA. There, he spent his childhood seeking adventure with friends, watching movies, reading comics, and falling in love with the magic of storytelling. Kevin is the author of the critically-acclaimed picture book CAPE along with an upcoming unannounced graphic novel. As the adopted son of two lifelong educators, Kevin dedicates his focus and energy to helping children embrace the power of imagination and storytelling. As an author, he believes children should have access to a wide ..read more

Jen Malia speaks to students, parents, teachers, librarians, administrators, community leaders, and writers about children’s books, autism, and neurodiversity. An autistic mom of three autistic kids, she is the author of the children’s chapter book series The Infinity Rainbow Club and the picture book Too Sticky! Sensory Issues with Autism. With over twenty-five years of teaching experience, Jen is currently Professor of English and Creative Writing Coordinator at Norfolk State University. She has written for or appeared on the New York Times, the Washington Post, NPR, Parents, Glamour, Woman ..read more