DIANA ABU-JABER, AUTHOR OF SILVERWORLD

After parents asked her to recommend books about Arab-American families, Diana Abu-Jaber wrote SILVERWORLD, a fantasy with an Arab-American girl at its heart. Diana often writes about the intersection of food, family, and cultural identity. Her memoir, Life Without A Recipe, was described by Ruth Reichl as “bold and luscious.” Her latest novel, Birds Of Paradise, won the Arab-American National Book Award. Her other novels include, Origin; Crescent, and Arabian Jazz. The Language of Baklava, her first memoir has been published in many languages. Diana teaches at Portland State University and lives part of the year in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

www.DianaAbuJaber
Twitter & Instagram: @dabujaber

FAYE BENDER, PARTNER, THE BOOK GROUP

Faye co-founded The Book Group in 2015 and represents fiction for readers aged eight to adult. Her authors have won numerous awards and honors, including the Newbery Medal, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the Indies Choice Book of the Year Award, the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award, and the International Latino Book Award, and have been finalists for the National Book Award and the Impac Dublin Literary Award. Faye lives in Brooklyn with her family and brand new rambunctious puppy.

thebookgroup.com
Instagram: @thebookgrp
Twitter: thebookgrp

ANGELINE BOULLEY, AUTHOR OF FIREKEEPER’S DAUGHTER

Angeline Boulley is an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians (Bahweting Anishinaabe). She writes contemporary YA thrillers set in her tribal community in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Angeline is a 2019 mentee through the We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) Mentorship Program. By day, she is a federal programs director who has worked in Indian education at the tribal and national level. Her debut novel, Firekeeper’s Daughter, was acquired by Henry Holt Books for Young Readers (Macmillan) in a 12-bidder auction for publication Spring 2021. Macmillan editor Tiffany Liao heard the first lines from Angeline's debut novel at #Kweli19. Angeline is represented by Faye Bender at The Book Group.

www.angelineboulley.com
@FineAngeline

VANESSA BRANTLEY-NEWTON, AUTHOR/ ILLUSTRATOR OF JUST LIKE ME

Vanessa Brantley-Newton is an an illustrator and author of five books. She has illustrated over 85 books in her career. Diversity is at the very heart of all her work. Her art is exuberant and happy and brings joy to the eyes and heart. Her hope is for all children to know that she sees them, and that they would see themselves in her illustrations. Vanessa lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with her husband of 25 years, their beautiful daughter Zoe, and rambunctious cat named Stripes. 

Vanessabrantleynewton.com
Instagram: @vanessabrantleynewton

COZBI a. CABRERA, Author / illustrator of ME AND MAMA & MY HAIR IS A GARDEN

Cozbi A. Cabrera is a multimedia artist of Honduran heritage. Her dolls were featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Martha Stewart Living, Land Of Nod catalogue, and many US networks. Solo exhibitions include Thread That Binds (2017-18) at the Jewish Fund Gallery, Ernest Rubenstein Galleries and the Lincoln Center Education Art Gallery. Her dolls, quilts and paintings exhibited concurrently with the Gees Bend Quilts at the Myrtle Beach Art Museum (2017).

Cozbi’s illustrated titles include: Beauty Her Basket/Sandra Belton, and Thanks A Million/Nikki Grimes, Greenwillow Books; Stitchin’ and Pullin’ A Gees Bend Quilt/Patricia McKissack, Random House; Most Loved in All the World/Tonya Cherie Hegamin, Houghton Mifflin; Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks/Suzanne Slade, Abrams Books. She authored/illustrated My Hair Is A Garden/Albert Whitman and Me and Mama/Simon & Schuster.

Instagram: @cozbi
Twitter: @cozbihandmade
Facebook: cozbi a. cabrera

KACEN CALLENDER, AUTHOR OF KING AND THE DRAGONFLIES & FELIX EVER AFTER

Born and raised in St. Thomas of the US Virgin Islands, Kacen Callender is the award-winning author of the middle-grade novels Hurricane Child and King and the Dragonflies, the young-adult novels This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story and Felix Ever After, and the adult novel Queen of the Conquered.

kacencallender.com
Twitter: @kacencallender
Insta: @kacen.callender

JOANNA CÁRDENAS, SENIOR EDITOR, KOKILA/ PENGUIN YOUNG READERS

Joanna has worked on award-winning books like The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Pérez and The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora by Pablo Cartaya, as well as the highly-anticipated Stand Up, Yumi Chung! by Jessica Kim. She is on the steering committee for Latinx in Publishing, a nonprofit organization that promotes literature by, for, and about Latino/a/x people. Joanna is also co-founder of the Representation Matters Mentor Program for aspiring editors of color. In 2015, she was a Publishers Weekly Star Watch Honoree. Joanna grew up in San Diego, California and if you can’t find her at the office, it’s probably because she’s out climbing a mountain.

https://www.penguin.com/publishers/kokila/
@joannananamc (Twitter) and @KokilaBooks (Twitter, FB, IG)

ROSHANI CHOKSHI, AUTHOR OF ARU SHAH AND THE TREE OF WISHES

Roshani Chokshi is the author of commercial and critically acclaimed books for middle grade and young adult readers that transport audiences to fantastical worlds heavily inspired by world mythology and folklore. Her work has been nominated for the Locus and Nebula awards, and has frequently appeared on Best of The Year lists from Barnes and Noble, Buzzfeed and more. Her New York Times bestselling series includes The Star-Touched Queen duology, The Gilded Wolves, and Aru Shah and The End of Time, which was recently optioned for film by Paramount Pictures.

www.roshanichokshi.com
@roshanichokshi on Instagram

JENNY CHOY, Associate Director, School & Library Marketing, ABRAMS

Jenny Choy has 15 years of school & library marketing experience in children’s book publishing. She is currently the Associate Director, School & Library Marketing at ABRAMS Children's Books. Previous publishing houses include Candlewick Press and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Over the course of her career, she's been very fortunate to work with many award-winning authors and illustrators, including Sophie Blackall, Bryan Collier, Kate DiCamillo, Jon Klassen, Grace Lin, Jewell Parker Rhodes, Dan Santat, Laura Amy Schlitz, Javaka Steptoe and Jillian Tamaki.

Susan muaddi darraj, AUTHOR OF FARAH ROCKS FIFTH GRADE

Susan Muaddi Darraj won an American Book Award for her novel-in-stories, A Curious Land. It also earned the 2016 Arab American Book Award, won the AWP Grace Paley Prize, and was shortlisted for a Palestine Book Award. Her previous short story collection, The Inheritance of Exile, was published in 2007 by University of Notre Dame Press. In 2018, she was named a 2018 Ford Fellow by USA Artists. Her debut children’s chapter book series, Farah Rocks (Capstone Books), is the first to feature a Palestinian American protagonist -- the smart, brave, and funny Farah Hajjar. The first book in the series is Farah Rocks Fifth Grade, which was published in January 2020. 

www.SusanMuaddiDarraj.com
@SusanDarraj (Twitter and Instagram)

Trisha de Guzman, Associate Editor at Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers/ Macmillan

Trisha de Guzman is an Associate Editor at Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Macmillan. She is actively building her list of picture books, MG and YA novels, as well as select graphic novels and nonfiction, with a focus on projects from diverse voices. Born in Manila, Philippines, she moved to New York City at seven years old, where she currently lives.

trishadeguzman.com
@trishadeg

Jessica Echeverria, Senior editor, Lee & Low Books

Jessica has worked on a variety of different formats including early readers, bilingual books, Middle grade fiction, and picture books to name a few. Some of the projects she has edited include the Social Justice Literature Award book Twenty-two Cents: Muhammad Yunus and the Village Bank, NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literature book Tiny Stitches: Life of Medical Pioneer Vivien Thomas, and Martí’s Song for Freedom/Martí y sus versos for la libertad, which received five starred reviews. Jessica has had the distinct pleasure of working on a number of New Voices award winner and honor books in the last few years, such as Juna’s Jar, The Three Lucys, and Take a Picture of Me, James VanDerZee! Her favorite part of the job is working with new talent.

leeandlow.com

Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie, author of layla’s happiness

Queens native Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie is the author of Layla’s Happiness (Enchanted Lion Books) illustrated by Ashleigh Corrin. The book marks both of their debuts into children's literature and explores simple often overlooked joys that make life rich. Ekere's other books include Strut (Agape Editions 2018), Dear Continuum: Letters to a Poet Crafting Liberation (Grand Concourse Press 2015) and Karma’s Footsteps (Flipped Eye 2011). Her work is the subject of the film “I Leave My Colors Everywhere.” She is a Ph.D. student in the Theatre Arts and Performance Studies program at Brown University. Ekere is the mother of three galaxies who look like daughters.

eric gansworth, author of apple: skin to the core & Give me some truth

Eric Gansworth, Sˑha-weñ na-saeˀ, is an enrolled Onondaga writer and visual artist, raised at the Tuscarora Nation. His award-winning books include If I Ever Get Out of Here, Give Me Some Truth, and Extra Indians. He is a Professor and Lowery Writer-in-Residence at Canisius College. His memoir in verse, Apple: Skin to the Core, is forthcoming from Levine Querido in Fall 2020.

ericgansworth.com

Michaela Goade, illustrator of We Are Water Protectors & Encounter

Michaela is an artist and picture book illustrator from Juneau, Alaska, traditional Lingít aaní (Tlingit land) and is enrolled with the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. Recent picture books include Encounter (Little, Brown for Young Readers, October 2019), We Are Water Protectors (Roaring Brook Press, March 2020), and Shanyaak’utlaax: Salmon Boy (Sealaska Heritage Institute, 2018), winner of the 2018 American Indian Youth Literature Award for Best Picture Book. Michaela lives in a cozy cabin by the sea, tucked away in the forest with a little studio down the trail, where she is working on her author-illustrator debut picture book.

michaelagoade.com
Instagram: @michaelagoade

Raúl the Third, Illustrator of clockwork curandera & author/illustrator of Vamos! Let’s Go eat

Raúl The Third is an award-winning illustrator, author, and artist living in Boston. His work centers around the contemporary Mexican-American experience and his memories of growing up in El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Lowriders in Space was nominated for a Texas BlueBonnet award in 2016-2017 and Raúl was awarded the prestigious Pura Belpré Award for Illustration by the American Library Association for Lowriders to the Center of the Earth. He was also a contributor to the SpongeBob Comics series. ¡Vamos! Let’s Go to The Market! is Raúl’s first authorial project, which he wrote and illustrated, and is colored by Elaine Bay. Clockwork Curandera is a YA reimagining of the Frankenstein story that blends indigenous magic with steampunk technology, set in an alternate northern Mexico/ South Texas called the Republic of Santander in the year 1865.

https://www.raulthethird.com/
Twitter @raulthe3rd
Instagram @raulthethird.info

NIKKI GRIMES, author of Ordinary Hazards & Talkin’ About bessie

New York Times bestselling author Nikki Grimes is the recipient of the 2017 Children's Literature Legacy Award, the 2016 Virginia Hamilton Literary Award, and the 2006 NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. Her distinguished works include the much-honored books Garvey's Choice, ALA Notable book What is Goodbye?, Coretta Scott King Award winner Bronx Masquerade, and Coretta Scott King Author Honor books Jazmin's Notebook, Talkin' About Bessie, Dark Sons, Words with Wings, and The Road to Paris. Creator of the popular Meet Danitra Brown. Her newest title is Ordinary Hazards, a stunning memoir-in-verse. Ms. Grimes lives in Corona, California.

nikkigrimes.com
@NikkiGrimes

wendi gu, literary agent, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates

Wendi Gu is a literary agent at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. She represents in voice-driven stories for all ages that interrogate systems of power. She is extremely lucky to have bestsellers and award winners as clients. She grew up in the Midwest, lives in Brooklyn, and enjoys getting out of her head with difficult exercise classes.

www.greenburger.com
@wendilulugu on Twitter

Arely Guzmán, Editorial Assistant, Knopf Books for Young Readers and Make me a world

Arely Guzmán is an editorial assistant at Knopf Books for Young Readers and Make Me a World. She earned her MFA in creative writing with a focus on nonfiction from Columbia University. Arely grew up in the Tijuana/ San Diego border, reading as many books–in English and Spanish alike–as she could get a hold on. She is particularly interested in books that explore navigating in-betweenness and intersectional identities.

Next book to look out for: A Court of Miracles by Kester 'Kit' Grant, a YA fantasy.

Serene Hakim, Associate Agent, Ayesha Pande Literary

Serene Hakim is an agent at Ayesha Pande Literary. She represents authors in a variety of genres, from MG fantasy to adult literary fiction to contemporary YA. Serene is particularly interested in both YA and adult fiction that has international themes, highlights a variety of cultures and focuses on underrepresented and/or marginalized voices. Specifically, she's looking for writing that explores different meanings of identity, home, family and parenthood/motherhood. Her educational background is in French and Women's Studies and she holds an M.A. in French-English Translation from NYU.

www.pandeliterary.com
Twitter: @serenemaria

Leah Henderson, AUTHOR of The Magic In Changing Your Stars & Mamie on the Mound

Leah Henderson is the author of the middle grade novels One Shadow on the Wall, an Africana Children’s Book Award notable and a Bank Street Best Book of 2017, starred for outstanding merit, and the forthcoming The Magic In Changing Your Stars. Her short story “Warning: Color May Fade” appears in the YA anthology Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America and her forthcoming picture books include Mamie on the Mound, A Day For Rememberin’, and Together We March. Leah mentors at-risk teens, is an avid traveler, and her volunteer work has roots in Mali, West Africa. She an MFA in Writing and is on faculty in Spalding University graduate writing program. She lives in Washington, D.C.

www.leahhendersonbooks.com
Instagram: @Leahs_mark
Twitter: @leahsmark

CHERYL WILLIS HUDSON, VP & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, JUST US BOOKS, INC.

CHERYL WILLIS HUDSON is an author, editor and cofounder of Just Us Books, Inc., an independent publishing company that focuses on Black interest books for young people. Cheryl has authored more than two dozen books for young children including Brave. Black. First. 50+ African American Women Who Changed the World; Bright Eyes, Brown Skin (with Bernette G. Ford); AFRO-BETS ABC Book; Hands Can and My Friend Maya Loves to Dance. She has also co-edited a number of titles including We Rise We Resist We Raise Our Voices and The Talk. Cheryl frequently speaks to writers, illustrators, editors, teachers and librarians about African American and multicultural publishing and is an active member of the Children's Committee of PEN America. Outside of her full-time immersion in children's books, Cheryl enjoys creating handmade story quilts.

justusbooks.com
Twitter: diversitymom_ch

WADE HUDSON, PRESIDENT OF JUST US BOOKS

Wade Hudson is an author and publisher. He is also president and CEO of Just Us Books, Inc., an independent publisher of books for children and young adults. Among his 30 published books for children and young adults are Book of Black Heroes from A to Z, Jamal’s Busy Day, Pass It On: African American Poetry for Children, Powerful Words: More Than Two Hundred Years of Extraordinary Writing by African Americans, It’s Church Going Time, Feelings I Love to Share and Friends I Love to Meet. His latest book is We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices, an anthology co-edited with his wife and published by Crown Books for Young Readers.

Wade has received a New Jersey Stephen Crane Literary Award; The Ida B. Wells Institutional Leadership Award (2008) presented by the Center for Black Literature; and the Madame C. J. Walker Legacy Award (2012) given by the Zora Neale Hurston-Richard Wright Foundation. He has also been inducted into the International Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent. His website is
http://wadehudson-authorpublisher.com

justusbooks.com
Twitter: @hudsonwade

ADIB KHORRAM, author of DARIUS THE GREAT DESERVES BETTER

Adib Khorram is the author of Darius The Great is Not Okay, his Morris and APALA award-winning debut and, its sequel, Darius the Great Deserves Better (Fall 2020). His debut picture book, Seven Special Somethings: A Nowruz Story, is forthcoming in Spring 2021. If he's not writing (or at his day job as a graphic designer), you can probably find him working on his handstands, learning to do a Lutz Jump, or steeping a cup of oolong. He lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where people don't usually talk about themselves in the third person.

adibkhorram.com
@adibkhorram on Twitter and Instagram

ARAM KIM, Senior Designer, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group / author & illustrator

Aram Kim was born in Ohio, raised in South Korea, and now lives in New York where she earned her M.F.A. in Illustration as Visual Essay from the School of Visual Arts. She currently works as a senior designer for picture books and middle grade nonfiction at Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group. Aside from designing books, she is a children’s book author/illustrator. Her books includes Cat on the Bus (Children’s Choice Reading List 2017), No Kimchi for Me! (Junior Library Guild Selection, Bank Street College’s Best Children’s Book of the Year 2018, A Baker’s Dozen Award), and upcoming Let’s Go to Taekwondo! (April 28, 2020)

AramKim.com
Twitter: @StudioAram / Instagram: @aramkimart

Minh Lê, author of Green Lantern: Legacy & LiFT

Minh Lê is the award-winning author of Drawn Together (2019 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature) illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat, Let Me Finish illustrated by Isabel Roxas, and The Perfect Seat illustrated by Gus Gordon (all published by Disney-Hyperion). He is also the author of Green Lantern: Legacy (illustrated by Andie Tong), his debut middle grade graphic novel for DC Comics. In addition to books, he has written about children’s literature for the New York Times, The Horn Book, Huffpost, and NPR.

minhlebooks.com
@bottomshelfbks

emeline lee, author of Bonnie's Rocket

Emeline Lee is the author of the forthcoming children's picture book, Bonnie's Rocket, illustrated by Alina Chau and set for publication fall 2020 with Lee & Low Books. The STEM-friendly story was inspired by her grandfather, who was an engineer for Apollo 11. She holds a degree from Columbia University, where she studied English Literature and Sustainable Development, and she remained in New York City ever since. During her free time, she enjoys escaping the bustling city for quiet hikes where she can see the stars at night.

Bonnie’s Rocket is her first book. To learn more, visit www.emelinelee.com.

@emelineleebooks

Cynthia Leitich Smith, author-curator, heartdrum, harpercollins

Cynthia Leitich Smith is a New York Times bestselling YA author and award-winning children’s author. Her books include HEARTS UNBROKEN and the FERAL trilogy. Her forthcoming anthology is titled ANCESTOR APPROVED.

In addition, Cynthia is the author-curator of Heartdrum, a Native-focused imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books.

She is a citizen of Muscogee Nation, based in Austin. She serves on the faculty of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults. She’s a member of the Advisory Board of SCBWI and a former member of the Advisory Board of We Need Diverse Books.

www.cynthialeitichsmith.com
Twitter: @CynLeitichSmith
Instagram: @cynthialeitichsmith

Arthur A. Levine, President and Editor-in-Chief, Levine Querido

Arthur A. Levine is a gay, Jewish, white man, who lives with a chronic illness, and is neuro-atypical. Does that explain his career-long passion for diversity in children’s literature? Not fully. He believes with all his heart that what we (all of us) look for, as readers, is truth – truth that reflects us, and truth that speaks to others. Only with a rich multitude of perspectives on life can this be achieved. That is the mission of Levine Querido, the new independent company he founded in 2019, and which will launch in Fall 2020.

levinequerido.com
Twitter: Arthuralevine1

Tiffany Liao, editor at Henry Holt Books for Young Readers/ macmillan

Tiff Liao is an editor at Henry Holt Books for Young Readers. She's had the pleasure of editing authors including New York Times-bestselling author Tomi Adeyemi, "Queer Eye" star Karamo Brown, Jess Rothenberg, Margaret Owen, K.D. Halbrook, Nebula Award Finalist Henry Lien, Kristin O'Donnell Tubb, and Angeline Boulley, among others. She acquires young adult and middle grade fiction of all stripes, with a particular love for fantasy. A Bay Area native, Tiff now resides in Brooklyn where she continues to pine for a good avocado. She (mostly) tweets about bookish things at @tiff_liao.

http://www.mackidsbooks.com/staff/
@tiff_liao

Carole Lindstrom, author of WE ARE WATER PROTECTORS

Carole Lindstrom is an Anishinaabe/Métis author, and a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe Indians. Her debut picture book, Girls Dance, Boys Fiddle, based on Métis culture, was published with Pemmican Publishers in 2013. Her poem, Drops of Gratitude, in the anthology, Thank U: Poems of Gratitude, edited by Miranda Paul. (Lerner/Millbrook - Fall 2019). WE ARE WATER PROTECTORS, inspired by Standing Rock, and all Indigenous Peoples’ fight for clean water – illustrated by Michaela Goade, (Roaring Brook Press – March 2020). She is represented by Andrea Brown Literary Agency. She lives with her family in Maryland.

www.carolelindstrom.com
Twitter: @CaroleLindstrom

Darcie Little Badger, AUTHOR OF ELATSOE

Darcie Little Badger is a Lipan Apache geoscientist and writer with a PhD in Oceanography. Darcie's debut novel, Elatsoe, will publish with Levine Querido in Summer 2020. Her short fiction, nonfiction and comics have appeared in multiple places, including Take the Mic: Fictional Stories of Everyday Resistance, Strange Horizons, The Dark, Love Beyond Body Space and Time, and Moonshot: the Indigenous Comics Collection (volumes 2 and 3). She co-writes Strangelands, a comic series in the Humanoids H1 shared superhero universe.

https://darcielittlebadger.wordpress.com/about/
Twitter @shiningcomic

Nilah Magruder, AUTHOR OF M.F.K & CREAKY ACRES

Nilah Magruder is the Los Angeles-based author of M.F.K., a middle-grade graphic novel and winner of the Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity, and HOW TO FIND A FOX, a picture book. Nilah has also written for Marvel Comics, illustrated children’s books for Disney-Hyperion, Scholastic, and Penguin, and worked as a writer and storyboard artist in television animation. She is currently illustrating CREAKY ACRES, a middle-grade graphic novel, and working on her upcoming picture book, WUTARYOO. When she is not working, Nilah is watching movies, growing herbs, and fighting her cat for control of her desk chair.

http://www.nilahmagruder.com
Twitter: @nilaffle
Instagram: @nilahmagruder

Kevin Noble Maillard, author of Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story

Kevin Maillard is the debut author of Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story, a picture book illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal. He is also a regular writer and former contributing editor to the New York Times, with additional writings in The Atlantic, Essence, and The Week. He has provided on-air commentary for MSNBC, CNN, ABC, and Al Jazeera. Currently based in Manhattan, New York, he splits time between the city and upstate New York, where he is a tenured professor of law at Syracuse University. A graduate of Duke University and Penn Law School, he also earned a PhD in Political Theory from the University of Michigan. Originally from Oklahoma, he is an enrolled citizen of the Seminole Nation.

www.kevinmaillard.com
@Noblemaillard

tamar mays, Executive Editor, HarperCollins

Executive Editor Tamar Mays joined HarperCollins in 2005. Previously she was a bookseller, a children’s book buyer, an editor at Dutton, and the manager of Scholastic’s Lucky School Book Club, for 2nd and 3rd graders. Tamar’s editorial focus is early childhood, from birth to third grade. Tamar has a strong affinity for illustrated work and loves acquiring picture books with humor and warmth. She would love to have more author-illustrator submissions as well as more #ownvoices projects. Recent noteworthy projects are STRONG VOICES: 15 AMERICAN SPEECHES WORTH KNOWING, with introductions by Tonya Bolden and art by Eric Velasquez; MY BABY LOVES CHRISTMAS, the first in a holiday board book series by Jabari Asim with illustrations by Tara Nicole Whitaker; TY’S TRAVELS, an upcoming I Can Read series by Kelly Starling Lyons with illustrations by Nina Mata; and an exciting future picture book by Angela Dalton.

Kwame Mbalia, AUTHOR OF TRISTAN STRONG PUNCHES A HOLE IN THE SKY

Kwame is a husband, father, writer, a New York Times bestselling author, and pharmaceutical metrologist in that order. His debut middle-grade novel, TRISTAN STRONG PUNCHES A HOLE IN THE SKY (October 15, 2019) is published by Rick Riordan Presents/Disney-Hyperion. A Howard University graduate and a Midwesterner now in North Carolina, he enjoys impromptu dance sessions and Cheezits.

kwamembalia.com
Twitter: @ksekoum

Jean Mendoza, AUTHOR OF An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People (ADAPTATION)

Jean Mendoza (Euro-American, US) is an educator, scholar, writer, and editor based in what is currently called Urbana, Illinois. With Debbie Reese, she co-manages the blog American Indians in Children's Literature and the web site iph4yp.blogspot.com, companion site for An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People.

https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/p/about.html
Twitter: @JeanMendoza2016

Debbi Michiko Florence, AUTHOR OF MY FURRY FOSTER FAMILY & KEEP IT TOGETHER, KEIKO CARTER

Debbi Michiko Florence’s four-book debut chapter book series was JASMINE TOGUCHI (FSG/2017 and 2018). JASMINE TOGUCHI MOCHI QUEEN was a Bank Street 2018 Best of the Year. JASMINE TOGUCHI DRUMMER GIRL was a 2019 Cybils Award winner. Both books were JLG selections and on the CCBC Choices List. Debbi is also the author of the four-book chapter book series MY FURRY FOSTER FAMILY (Capstone/2019). Her middle grade debut KEEP IT TOGETHER, KEIKO CARTER will be published by Scholastic in May 2020. Debbi is a third generation Japanese American, born and raised in California, now living in Connecticut.

http://debbimichikoflorence.com/
Twitter @DebbiMichiko
Instagram @debbi_michiko_florence

daniel nayeri, AUTHOR OF EVERYTHING SAD IS UNTRUE

Daniel Nayeri was born in Iran and spent a couple of years as a refugee before immigrating to Oklahoma at age eight with his family. He is the publisher of Odd Dot, an imprint of Macmillan, making him one of the youngest publishers in the industry. He has served on the CBC diversity committee and the CBC panel committee. His debut novel, Everything Sad Is Untrue, is forthcoming from Levine Querido in Fall 2020.

danielnayeri.com
@danielnayeri (twitter and instagram)

linda sue park, author of PRAIRIE LOTUS & A LONG WALK TO WATER

Linda Sue Park is the author of many award-winning books for young readers, including the 2002 Newbery Medal title A SINGLE SHARD and the NYTimes bestseller A LONG WALK TO WATER. When she's not writing, speaking, or caregiving for her two grandchildren, she spends most of her time on diversity, inclusivity, and equity work on committees for We Need Diverse Books and the Society of Children's Books Writers and Illustrators. In her travels to promote reading and writing, she has visited more than 30 countries and 49 states. She hopes to be invited to Mississippi one day soon.

www.lindasuepark.com
Twitter: @LindaSuePark

Debbie Reese, AUTHOR OF An Indigenous Peoples History of the United States, for Young People (adaptation)

Tribally enrolled at Nambé Pueblo, some call activist scholar Debbie Reese "badass" and others think she hates White people. She hates misrepresentations and says so, at her website. But she loves plenty of books, and talks about them, too!

https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/p/about.html
Twitter: @debreese

olugbemisola rhuday-perkovich, author of Someday is Now: Clara Luper and the 1958 Oklahoma City Sit-Ins

Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich is the author of 8th Grade Superzero, which was named a Notable Book for a Global Society and a Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People, and Ghostwriter/Sesame Workshop adaptation of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. She is the coauthor of the middle grade novel Two Naomis, which was nominated for an NAACP Image Award and is a Junior Library Guild selection, and its sequel, the Nerdie award-winning Naomis Too. She also writes nonfiction, including Above and Beyond: NASA’s Journey to Tomorrow, and Someday is Now: Clara Luper and the 1958 Oklahoma City Sit-Ins. She is a member of the Brown Bookshelf, and editor of the We Need Diverse Books middle grade anthology, The Hero Next Door.

olugbemisolabooks.com
Instagram: @olugbemisolarhudayperkovich
Twitter: @olugbemisola

Eileen Robinson, publisher of move books & reycraft books

Eileen Robinson has worked with children’s writers all over the world for over twenty years. Former Executive Editor at Scholastic and Editorial Director at Harcourt, she has acquired published works from the U.K. and Italy, and created original works for U.S. markets. Eileen teaches the art of revision with Harold Underdown at The Highlights Foundation and workshops/webinars through Kid’s Book Revisions. She is publisher for Move Books—getting middle-grade boys to read—and is helping to build a diverse imprint, Reycraft Books, with a special focus on “Own Voices”, acquiring original and licensed works from around the world.

www.move-books.com
Twitter and Instagram: @movebooks

Andrea L. Rogers, AUTHOR OF Mary and the Trail of Tears: A Cherokee Removal Survival Story

Andrea L. Rogers is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and has an MFA from The Institute for American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. She grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but currently lives in Fort Worth, Texas. She teaches at an all-girls public school and is the mom of three daughters. Her stories have been published in Transmotion; Kweli Journal; Yellow Medicine Review; and The Santa Fe Literary Review. She has an essay in You Too: 25 Voices Share Their #MeToo Stories and wrote the children’s book: Mary and the Trail of Tears: A Cherokee Removal Survival Story.

https://andrealrogers.com/
Twitter and Instagram: @AndreaLRogersFacebook: @AndreaLRogersBooks

Aida Salazar, author of The Land of the Cranes & JOVITA WORE PANTS: THE STORY OF A REVOLUTIONARY FIGHTER

Aida Salazar​ is a writer and arts advocate whose writings for adults and children explore issues of identity and social justice. She is the author of the middle grade verse novels, THE MOON WITHIN (Winner of an Int'l Latino Book Award 2019), THE LAND OF THE CRANES (Fall, 2020), and the bio picture book JOVITA WORE PANTS: THE STORY OF A REVOLUTIONARY FIGHTER (Spring, 2021). All published by Scholastic. She is a founding member of Las Musas - a debut Latinx kidlit author collective. Her story, BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON, was adapted into a ballet production by the Sonoma Conservatory of Dance and is the first Xicana-themed ballet in history. She lives with her family of artists in a teal house in Oakland, CA.

www.AidaSalazar.com
Instagram and Twitter: @mimawrites

VICTORIA SANDERS, literary agent at Victoria Sanders & Associates

When I founded Victoria Sanders & Associates in 1992, it was the first step toward the culmination of a dream and a calling. Following my law school graduation, driven by a lifelong love affair with reading and books, I immersed myself in the world of publishing. I worked in the legal/contracts departments of Simon & Schuster, and at two literary agencies. It's been an incredibly exciting journey, and one that keeps getting better. While representing a multi-cultural roster of internationally bestselling and award-winning authors, I endeavor to seek out and champion new and diverse voices and viewpoints. As a literary agent for these 25 years, I've taken great pride in having represented many of my clients for their entire careers. I am honored to work with the extraordinary group of visionary writers and thinkers who grace this agency, the publishing marketplace, and their devoted readers with their talent and artistry.

www.victoriasanders.com

sheetal sheth, author of always anjali

Sheetal Sheth is an acclaimed actress known for her provocative performances in a wide range of memorable roles on film and television. She has starred in over 20 feature films and many TV shows and has earned a loyal following. Sheetal has become a favorite in the independent film world. She won 3 Best Actress nods in the festival circuit for THE WORLD UNSEEN, 1 for her role in WINGS OF HOPE, and most recently for GRIN, which she also produced. Sheetal has represented brands such as Reebok and CHI hair care and regularly speaks on panels and forums internationally. She served in President Clinton's AmeriCorps and is currently on the advisory board of Equality Now and an ambassador for The Representation Project. Her first children's book, Always Anjali (set to be a series), was published to wide praise, won the 2019 Purple Dragonfly Grand Prize, and is already in its third printing.

www.sheetalsheth.com
Twitter & Instagram: @sheetalsheth

TRACI SORELL, author of At the Mountain’s Base & We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga

Traci Sorell writes fiction and nonfiction books as well as poems for children. Traci’s lyrical story in verse, At the Mountain’s Base, illustrated by Weshoyot Alvitre celebrates the bonds of family and history-making women pilots. Her middle grade novel, Indian No More, with the late Charlene Willing McManis, explores the impact of federal termination and relocation policies on an Umpqua family in the 1950s. Her debut nonfiction picture book We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga, illustrated by Frané Lessac, won a Sibert Honor, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor and an Orbis Pictus Honor along with four starred reviews.

https://www.tracisorell.com
Twitter & Instagram: @tracisorell

Kelly Starling Lyons, author of Dream Builder: The Story of Architect Philip Freelon & Going Down Home with Daddy

Kelly Starling Lyons is an award-winning children's book author and founding member of The Brown Bookshelf whose mission is to transform moments, memories and history into stories of discovery. Her more than a dozen titles span picture books, easy readers and chapter books, fiction and nonfiction, standalone and series. She counts starred reviews, National Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies and Scholastic Reading Club picks among her accolades. Titles include Sing a Song: How Lift Every Voice & Sing Inspired Generations, Going Down Home with Daddy, the Jada Jones series, Hope's Gift, Ellen's Broom and One Million Men and Me.

www.kellystarlinglyons.com
Twitter- kelstarly FaceBook - www.facebook.com/kellystarlinglyons

Karen Strong, AUTHOR OF Just South of Home

Karen Strong is the author of Just South of Home, which received starred reviews from Booklist, School Library Journal, and Kirkus. She is one of the contributors to the Sci-Fi & Fantasy Anthology A Phoenix First Must Burn. Born and raised in the rural South, she spent most of her childhood wandering the woods, meadows, and gardens of her grandmother’s land. A graduate of the University of Georgia, she is an advocate of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) and worked in the Information Technology (IT) industry as a software engineer, systems analyst, and technical writer. A reformed night owl, she now spends her early mornings writing fiction. Karen currently lives in Atlanta.

www.karen-strong.com
Twitter and Instagram: @KarenMusings

Mekisha Telfer, associate editor at Roaring Brook Press (Macmillan)

Mekisha Telfer is an associate editor at Roaring Brook Press (Macmillan), where she is building a list of picture books, middle-grade, and young adult novels. She got her start in publishing in 2014 as an editorial assistant with Simon and Schuster BFYR/Salaam reads, and has also worked briefly at Glasstown Entertainment. Mekisha is committed to supporting unrepresented voices and is always on the hunt for character-driven stories with a mix of humor and heart. The most recent book she edited is We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom, illustrated by Michaela Goade.

Twitter: @MekishaTelfer

Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, author of The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to The Hunger Games

Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, PhD, is Associate Professor in the Literacy, Culture, and International Educational Division at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. A former Detroit Public Schools teacher and National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow, she is an expert on diversity in children’s literature, youth media, and fan studies.

https://scholar.gse.upenn.edu/thomas
Twitter: @Ebonyteach

Nick Thomas, senior editor, Levine Querido

Nick Thomas is a Senior Editor at Levine Querido, a newly founded independent children’s book publisher, who loves to edit every type of book under the sun. Authors on the upcoming LQ launch list he has had the honor of working with include Eric Gansworth, Darcie Little Badger, and Donna Barba Higuera.

www.levinequerido.com
@levinequerido on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

Duncan Tonatiuh, AUTHOR / illustrator OF Soldier for Equality & Feathered Serpent and the Five Suns

Duncan Tonatiuh’s books have been honored with many awards and accolades, including the Pura Belpré Award, the Robert F. Sibert Award, and the New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book Award. He was born in Mexico City and grew up in San Miguel de Allende, in the historic state of Guanajuato, Mexico. He studied illustration and writing at Parsons School of Design at the New School in New York City. He lives in San Miguel with his wife and two children and frequently travels to the United States.

duncantonatiuh.com
Twitter: @duncantonatiuh

Julia E. Torres, language arts teacher librarian

Julia E. Torres is a veteran language arts teacher librarian in Denver, Colorado. Julia also facilitates teacher development workshops rooted in the areas of anti-racist education, equity and access in literacy and librarianship, and education as a practice of liberation. Julia also works with students locally and around the country with the goal of empowering them to use literacy to fuel resistance and positive social transformation. Julia also serves on several local and national boards and committees promoting educational equity and progressivism. She is the current NCTE Secondary Representative-at-large, a 2018-2020 Heinemann Publications Heinemann Fellow and Educator Collaborative Book Ambassador.

juliaetorres.blog
@juliaerin80

namrata tripathi, Vice President and Publisher of Kokila, Penguin Young Readers

Namrata Tripathi is Vice President and Publisher of Kokila, a new imprint at Penguin Young Readers dedicated to centering stories from the margins. She was born in the USSR, and lived in Afghanistan, India, Canada, Pakistan, Germany, and Poland before moving to New York in 1997. Prior to launching Kokila, Tripathi edited many critically acclaimed, award-winning, and bestselling books, including Islandborn, for which illustrator Leo Espinosa received a Pura Belpré Honor; John Corey Whaley’s Printz Award-winning debut, Where Things Come Back; and Veera Hiranandani’s The Night Diary, a 2019 Newbery Honor winner.

https://www.penguin.com/publishers/kokila/
@Tweetpathi

Padma Venkatraman, AUTHOR OF THE BRIDGE HOME & A TIME TO DANCE

South Asian American author, Padma Venkatraman's 4 novels, THE BRIDGE HOME, A TIME TO DANCE, ISLAND' S END and CLIMBING THE STAIRS have received a total of 20 starred reviews so far. THE BRIDGE HOME, released in February 2019 by Nancy Paulsen Books, is a 2019 Global Read Aloud, ProjectLIT selection, Audiophile Earphone Award Winner, and Washington Post Summer Book Club 2019 selection. The NY Times called it "gorgeous storytelling" and Padma read the audiobook herself. Before settling down in Rhode Island, Padma sailed on oceans, explored rainforests, and taught at a school and lived in four other countries.

www.padmavenkatraman.com
Instagram / Facebook: venkatraman.padma
Twitter: @padmatv

renee watson, author of ways to make sunshine & PIECING ME TOGETHER

Renée Watson is a New York Times bestselling author, educator, and activist. Her young adult novel, Piecing Me Together (Bloomsbury, 2017) received a Coretta Scott King Award and Newbery Honor. Her children's picture books and novels for teens have received several awards and international recognition. She has given readings and lectures at many renown places including the United Nations, the Library of Congress, and the U.S. Embassy in Japan. The New York Times calls Renée’s writing, “charming and evocative.” Her poetry and fiction often centers around the lived experiences of black girls and women, and explores themes of home, identity, and the intersections of race, class, and gender. Renée grew up in Portland, Oregon and currently lives in New York City.

www.reneewatson.netTwitter: @reneewauthor Instagram: @harlemportland

PHOEBE YEH, VP/Publisher, Crown Books for Young Readers, Random House Children's Books

Phoebe Yeh is the Vice President and co-publisher at Crown Books for Young Readers/Random House. She worked with Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen on The Magic School Bus series and with Walter Dean Myers for twenty years. She edited MONSTER the first Printz winner and the New York Times bestselling series BIG NATE by Lincoln Peirce and THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL by Soman Chainani. She has published the New York Times bestseller hybrid illustrated novel MAX & THE MIDKNIGHTS by Lincoln Peirce; New York Times bestselle DEAR MARTIN and debut middle grade novel CLEAN GETAWAY by Nic Stone; the short story anthology, THE HERO NEXT DOOR in partnership with We Need Diverse Books; WE RISE, WE RESIST, WE RAISE OUR VOICES, edited by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson; the upcoming tween novel ISAIAH DUNN IN MY HERO by debut novelist Kelly J. Baptist. She has published the picture book FAIRY SCIENCE by Ashley Spires, MY TEACHER IS A ROBOT and the graphic novel series LUCY & ANDY NEANDERTHAL and upcoming ONCE UPON A SPACE-TIME with Jeffrey Brown. SILVERWORLD by Diana Abu-Jaber is the most recent book she has published. She is a recipient of the inaugural CBC Diversity Outstanding Achievement Award.

brian young, author of the water monster

Brian Young is a Navajo author and filmmaker. His #OwnVoices middle grade novel tells the story of an 11 year old Navajo who sets out to heal a sick Water Monster—a Holy Being from the Navajo Creation Mythology—in current times. (2021, HarperCollins) Brian Young recently graduated from Columbia University's Masters in Creative Writing Program.

Instagram: @HastiinChish
Facebook: Brian Young

IBI ZOBOI, AUTHOR OF AMERICAN STREET & my life as an ice cream sandwich

Ibi Zoboi is the author of the Young Adult novels American Street, a National Book Award Finalist, and Pride. She is the editor of the anthology, Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America. Her middle grade debut, My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich is her latest work. Her award-winning writing has been published in the New York Times Book Review, The Horn Book Magazine, and the Rumpus, among others. She holds an MFA in writing for children from Vermont College, and she lives with her husband and three children in New Jersey.

www.ibizoboi.net
Twitter: @ibizoboi