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, NY.
Yá’át’ééh, Brian Young yinishyé. T’áchiinii nishłį́. Ta’neeszahnii báshíshchíín. T’ódích’íinii da shicheii. T’ódik’ǫzhi da shinálí. Tséhootsooí dę́ę́’ naashá. Brooklyn, New York, da shighan.
Hello, my name is Brian Young. I am Red-Running-Into-Red Clan and born for the Tangle People Clan. My maternal grandfather’s clan is Bitter Water. My paternal grandfather’s clan is Bitter Water. I am enrolled with the Navajo Nation and grew up in Fort Defiance, Arizona. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York.
Checkout his website for more information: https://brianlyoung.com/
John Gallagher is the art director of the NWF’s “Ranger Rick” magazine, cofounder of “Kids Love Comics” (an organization that uses graphic novels to promote literacy), and leads workshops teaching kids how to create their own comics. John lives in Virginia with his wife and their three kids. John is the author and illustrator of the Max Meow: Cat Crusader graphic novel series.
Check out his website for more info: https://www.maxmeow.com/
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DUSTI BOWLING grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona, where, as her family will tell you, she always had her nose in a book. She released her first middle grade novel in 2017 and hasn't stopped writing since.
Dusti's books have won the Reading the West Award, the Sakura Medal, a Golden Kite Honor, the William Allen White Children's Book Award, and have been nominated for over thirty state awards. Her books are Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selections and have been named best books of the year by the Chicago Public Library, Kirkus, Bank Street College of Education, A Mighty Girl, Shelf Awareness, and many more. Dusti currently lives in Eagar, Arizona with her husband, three daughters, and a bunch of farm animals.
Learn more about Dusti and her books: https://www.dustibowling.com/
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Deborah Underwood grew up in Walla Walla, Washington. Her father was a math professor and her mother taught English. After colege, she became a street musician, then she worked in an office typing memos for accountants. During her breaks she would write screenplays. She finally decided to write for kids. Deborah also started writing nonfiction at the suggestion of her publisher. Her children's titles include: The Quiet Book, The Christmas Quiet Book, A Balloon for Isabel, Sugar Plum Ballerinas, and The Loud Book. Her nonfiction titles include: Mexico or Bust, Animal Secrets, 101 Ways to Save the Planet and Ballroom Dancing. In 2014 her title, Here Comes The Easter Cat, made The New York Times Best Seller List.
Learn more about Deborah and her books: https://www.deborahunderwoodbooks.com/
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Jennifer Torres is the award-winning author of Stef Soto, Taco Queen, The Fresh New Face of Griselda, and other books for young readers. She writes stories about home, friendship, and unexpected courage inspired by her Mexican-American heritage. Jennifer started her career as a newspaper reporter, and even though she writes fiction now, she hopes her stories still have some truth in them. She lives with her family in Southern California.
Learn more about Jennifer on her website: https://jenntorres.com/
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Lyla Lee is the author of young adult novels like I’ll Be the One and the upcoming Flip the Script (May 2022). She also writes the Mindy Kim series for younger readers. Born in South Korea, she’s since then lived in various cities throughout the United States. Inspired by her English teacher, she started writing her own stories in fourth grade and finished her first novel at the age of fourteen. After working various jobs in Hollywood and studying Psychology and Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California, she now lives in Dallas, Texas.
Published Mindy Kim titles:
Coming in May 2022!
Check out her website for more info: https://lylaleebooks.com/
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Wendy Mass is the New York Times bestselling author of twenty-nine novels for young people (which have been translated into 26 languages and nominated for 91 state book awards), her first was A Mango-Shaped Space (which was awarded the Schneider Family Book Award by the American Library Association), followed by Leap Day, the Twice Upon a Time fairy tale series, Every Soul a Star, The Willow Falls series (that began with 11 Birthdays), Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life (which was made into a feature film), The Candymakers series and Pi in the Sky. Her latest books are Bob (co-written with Rebecca Stead) and two early reader series called Space Taxi (co-written with Michael Brawer), and Time Jumpers.
Learn more about Wendy Mass: https://wendymass.com
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Saadia Faruqi is a Pakistani American author, essayist and interfaith activist. She writes the children’s early reader series “Yasmin” and other books for children, including middle grade novels “A Place At The Table” co-written with Laura Shovan (a Sydney Taylor Notable 2021), and “A Thousand Questions” (a South Asia Book Award Honor 2021). Her new book “Yusuf Azeem Is Not A Hero” details the experiences of the Muslim American community twenty years after 9/11. Saadia is editor-in-chief of Blue Minaret, a magazine for Muslim art, poetry and prose. Saadia will be visiting virtually with 2nd and 3rd grade on March 4th, 2022.
Some of her books:
Coming in May 2022!
Learn more about Saadia: https://saadiafaruqi.com/
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Traci is a member of the Cherokee nation and the author of "We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga" and "We Are Still Here" among other children's books. These bilingual books she will be discussing are written in both English and Cherokee, are beautiful stories about being grateful and a reminder that these people are still here, living on their ancestral lands Since Time Immemorial.
Learn more about Traci on her website:
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Ben Guterson is a local Young Adult fiction author. His books include the Winterhouse mystery series and his newest book- Einstein's at Vista Point.
To learn more about Ben's books check out his website: https://benguterson.com/
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Trudi is a local author of many fiction and non-fiction titles. She will be joining the Rockwell Intermediate grades to share her Explorer Academy series with a new release expected on January 5th, 2021.
Her Explorer Academy Series:
For more information on Trudi and other titles she has authored, visit her webpage: https://www.truditrueit.com/
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Some of her books:
For more info on Andrea, including other titles she has written, check out her website: https://andreajloney.com/
Celebrating this local authors titles such as:
Jillian visited with our 3rd-5th graders in our first ever virtual author visit through Microsoft Teams. Students really enjoyed learning about her writing and publishing process. This author is especially pertinent as her title- The Many Reflections of Miss Jane Deming is one of our Battle of the Books titles and has earned these literary awards:
To learn more about Jillian, visit her website- http://www.jandersoncoats.com
Ellie is a triple threat- Illustrator, Author and Science Teacher! Ellie visited with our Kinder-2nd graders and shared a book that she is the illustrator for- Bea's Bees. This book is a great story about how important Bees are to our environment and provide the foods we enjoy. Ellie shared lots of awesome info about bees and what we can do to help them thrive- even in our own yards!
Ellie is the Author of these books as well:
To learn more about Ellie, check out her webpage: https://www.elliepetersonart.com/
Norman Rockwell Elementary