WATT KEY is a first-time author. He lives in southern Alabama with his family. more

CLAUDIA MILLS lives in Boulder, Colorado, and is the author of the popular 7 x 9 = Trouble!, an ALA Notable Book. R. W. ALLEY is the illustrator of Ziggy’s Blue-Ribbon Day by Claudia Mills. He lives in Barrington, Rhode Island. more

Darleen Bailey BeardGrowing up in the 1960s in Levittown, Pennsylvania, I was a foot taller than all my friends. My nickname was "Chicken Legs." I was terribly shy. And more than anything, I wanted to be good at something, but I had no idea what my "something" would be.... more

Pat Hughes, author of Guerrilla Season, lives in Narberth, Pennsylvania. more

WILLIAM LOIZEAUX is the author of Wings, winner of an ASPCA Henry Bergh Award and a Golden Kite Honor Book for Fiction. He lives in Hyattsville, Maryland. ANNE WILSDORF has illustrated many books, including Two Sticks by Orel Protopopescu, selected as a Best Children’s Book... more

PHILLIP HOOSE’s distinguished nonfiction includes the National Book Award Finalist We Were There, Too!: Young People in U.S. History and The Race to Save the Lord God Bird, winner of the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for Nonfiction. He lives in Portland, Maine. more

Bodil Bredsdorff is a popular Danish children's book author. This is her first novel to be published in the United States. more

Bodil Bredsdorff is a popular Danish children’s book author. This is her first novel to be published in the United States. more

Cynthia DeFelice is the author of Nowhere to Call Home, The Ghost of Fossil Glen, The Apprenticeship of Lucas Whitaker, and other popular middle-grade novels. She lives in upstate New York. more

CHRIS WOODWORTH’s debut novel, When Ratboy Lived Next Door, was hailed by School Library Journal as “an outstanding offering from a first-time author.” Her second novel, Georgie’s Moon, was selected a Best Book of Indiana–Children’s Literature. She lives in Indiana with her... more

Susan Bonners is the author of The Silver Balloon, which won the Christopher Award for Juvenile Fiction. She lives in Roslindale, Massachusetts. more

Barbara O’Connor is the author of several notable books for children, including Me and Rupert Goody, an ALA Notable Book, and Moonpie and Ivy. She was born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina, and currently lives in Duxbury, Massachusetts. more

Karen English has written several picture books and Strawberry Moon, her second novel. She lives in Richmond, California. more

HANNAH ROBERTS MCKINNON lives in Sherman, Connecticut, with her husband and two daughters. more

Alice Mead is the author of several novels, including the Junebug books and another story of Kosovo, Adem's Cross, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. She lives in Maine. more

BARBARA O’CONNOR is the author of several noteworthy books for children, including Fame and Glory in Freedom, Georgia, which has appeared on nearly twenty state award master lists. She lives in Duxbury, Massachusetts. more

Louis SacharI'm sitting in my office, which is located over the garage of my house in Austin, Texas. My dogs, Lucky and Tippy, are here with me. They are the only people allowed in my office when I'm writing. Lucky seems to understand that. He growls at my wife or my... more

BARBARA O’CONNOR is the author of several notable books for children, including Fame and Glory in Freedom, Georgia and Me and Rupert Goody, an ALA Notable Book. She was born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina, and now lives in Duxbury, Massachusetts. more

JACK GANTOS has written many books for young readers, including three previous Joey Pigza titles: Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, a National Book Award Finalist, Joey Pigza Loses Control, a Newbery Honor Book, and What Would Joey Do? He lives in Boston, Massachusetts. more

ALICE MEAD is the author of the popular Junebug books. Shelives in Maryland. MARYANN COCCA-LEFFLER has writtenand/or illustrated many books for children. She lives inAmherst, New Hampshire. more

Jack Gantos and Nicole Rubel have created the Rotten Ralph Rotten Readers, which launched in 2001 with Rotten Ralph Helps Out. Ms. Rubel lives in Aurora, Oregon. more

Alice Mead is the author of many highly acclaimed novels, including Adem’s Cross, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and two prior books featuring Junebug, both NCSS-CBC Notable Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies. She lives in Maine. more

KATE BANKS is the author of several novels for young readers, including Dillon Dillon, an NCTE Notable Children’s Book in the Language Arts, and many award-winning picture books, including And If the Moon Could Talk, a Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winner. She lives in the... more