Michael F. Stewart, whom Kirkus Reviews has compared with Roald Dahl, is the award-winning author of 23 books in various genres — typically darkly humorous with a twist of magic. He published his first book in 2008. Recent titles include young-adult (YA) novels Counting Wolves, Heart Sister, Ray vs. the Meaning of Life and The Momentous Expiration of Tremmy Sinclair. Michael grew up the third of three brothers in Mississauga, Ontario, and graduated from McMaster University with a Masters degree in Business. After a short career in venture capital, he pursued his passion for writing. In 2023, he received […]

  The best-selling, award-winning author of 25 books for children and young adults, Phil was born in Hull, England in 1974. As a youngster, he was passionate about sports (football, cricket, tennis, golf), comics, graphic novels and drama. After studying English and drama at Hull University, he worked as a caregiver in a children’s home, then trained as a drama therapist and worked in a community for abused adolescents. Here’s what he has said about then spending five years as a children’s bookseller: “It was the best move of my life. The books under my nose there were quite unlike […]

  Adrienne Kress is a writer and an actress born and raised in Toronto, Canada. The daughter of two high school English teachers, she credits them for her love of both writing and performing. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in the UK, with a degree in drama. She lives in Toronto with her husband Scott and cat Atticus. Adrienne has authored 12 novels, including four books set in the Bendy and the Ink Machine video game universe (young adult, Scholastic, 2019-2023), her three-book The Explorers series (middle […]

  Stuart H. Brody is author of the young-adult novel Humphrey and Me (Santa Monica Press 2023), “the impassioned story of a teen who has to choose between his ethics and his political hero during the tempestuous 1960s and 1970s.” It is based loosely on Stuart’s own youthful relationship with his mentor, former U.S. Vice President Hubert Humphrey, and offers an entertaining historical overview of the 1960s, an important chapter in U.S. history. Stuart teaches ethics at the University of Arizona, and is Senior Scholar at the Institute for Ethics in Public Life at the State University of New York. […]

  Kern Carter was born in Trinidad and raised in Toronto, Canada, where he lives today. A high school dropout who became a single father at the age of 18, he later graduated from St. Bonaventure University in New York with a major in English literature. Today he works both as an author and as a professional speaker and mentor to aspiring young writers. Kern has written five middle-grade and young adult novels, including two that are forthcoming: Is There a Boy Like Me (middle grade, Scholastic 2024), And Then There Was Us (young adult, Tundra/PRH 2024), Boys and Girls Screaming […]

    A graduate of Princeton University, Michael Solis holds masters’ degrees in human rights law and gender studies, which offer an understanding of social justice, equality and human rights issues that he weaves into his writing. Originally from New Jersey, USA, he has spent time in Sierra Leone, Latin America and Kenya. A passion for making a positive impact on the world led him to dedicate more than 15 years to development and humanitarian work; time in fragile and post-conflict settings deepened his understanding of the complexities and challenges faced by communities in need. Michael’s debut novel, Deficient (BHC […]

Dan Solomon is a freelance journalist in Austin, Texas who about sports, politics, music, tech, film, food, science, religion and cultures. He says he likes trying to understand how these things shape our world and lives. Most of his work has been for Texas Monthly and Fast Company; he has also written for the Austin Chronicle, Vanity Fair, Wired and the New York Times. The Fight for Midnight (North Star Editions) is his first novel. He can be found at dan@dansolomon.com.   Q: You’ve transitioned from journalist to fiction writer with a first novel (The Fight for Midnight) that interweaves a startling variety of threads: […]

Daniel Aleman is the Mexican-born author of Indivisible (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2021), which follows the journey of a Mexican-American teenage boy whose undocumented immigrant parents are deported to Mexico. It won the 2022 Tomás Rivera Children’s Book Award and was named a Top LGBTQ+ Book of Spring 2021 by Buzzfeed. Daniel’s second novel, Brighter Than the Sun (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2023), features a teen girl tackling themes of immigration, identity, family and growing up too quickly. The youngest of three children, Daniel was born and raised in Mexico City before his family immigrated to the US. […]

With the DNA of a world traveler, D.J. Williams was born and raised in Hong Kong, igniting an adventurous spirit as he ventured into the jungles of the Amazon, the bush of Africa and the ancient cities of the Far East. His global travels submerged him in a myriad of cultures, providing a unique perspective that fuels his creativity. After writing three adult thrillers, D.J. recently published Hunt for Eden’s Star  (from Wander, the YA imprint of Tyndale House Publishers, 2023)—the first in the Beacon Hill series set both in Hong Kong and in fantasy realms. It’s a globally inspired, […]

Tobias Madden is an author and editor with a passion for creating captivating young-adult fiction. Originally from Ballarat, Australia, Tobias has worked as a performer, touring across Australia and New Zealand with productions such as “Mary Poppins,” “Cats,” “Singin’ in the Rain” and “Guys and Dolls.” In 2019, Tobias edited and published Underdog, an anthology of #LoveOzYA short stories by previously unpublished Australian young-adult fiction writers. He is also the co-writer of the cabaret show “Siblingship,” which has played to sold-out audiences in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. Tobias’s debut novel, Anything but Fine, was published in 2021 and shortlisted for […]

Giano Cromley is the author of two young-adult novels, The Prince of Infinite Space (Propertius Press, 2022) and The Last Good Halloween (Tortoise Books, 2013), as well as the adult short story collection, What We Build Upon the Ruins (Tortoise Books, 2017). He has been a finalist for the High Plains Book Award twice, and is a recipient of an Artists Fellowship from the Illinois Arts Council. His second novel drew comparisons with J. D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. Originally from Billings, Montana, Giano graduated from Dartmouth College and received an MFA from the University of Montana. He worked […]

Mark Kurlansky is a New York Times bestselling American journalist and author who has written 36 books, mostly on history and science, including seven for children and young adults. His young-adult nonfiction book, Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World (1997), was an international bestseller, translated into more than 15 languages and winner of the Independent Publisher Book Award for Editor’s Choice in 1998. World Without Fish won gold at the 2011 National Parenting Publications Awards and was chosen by many school districts for their curriculum. Kurlansky’s latest, Big Lies: From Socrates to Social Media (2022) is […]

Andrew Varga is a historian and author who writes middle-grade/young-adult novels set across various historical periods. He has written seven fantasy-historical books that make up the Jump in Time series, including the forthcoming The Celtic Deception and The Last Saxon King (Imbrifex, 2023). His passion for history led him to earn a BA from the University of Toronto in Canada, where he specialized in history and majored in English. Andrew has traveled extensively across Europe, where he has visited many historical sites and museums. His love of medieval history is reflected in his collection of swords, shields and other weapons […]

Q: Your background as a screenwriter has helped make your works accessible to a wide audience. How has your experience in this field influenced your writing and storytelling style?   A: I didn’t start screenwriting until I already had a career in novels. And the main thing screenwriting taught me was: Stick to novels. I have an unlimited special-effects budget; my novels don’t have an outside director whose main interest is in removing any trace of my novel from the movie, and as a novelist I can’t be fired. My real background was as a playwright. I started by doctoring […]

Heather Camlot is an award-winning author, journalist, editor and translator. Her nonfiction books for children include Secret Schools, I Can’t Do What?, What If Soldiers Fought with Pillows? and The Prisoner and the Writer, which was named a Globe and Mail Top 10 Kids’ Book for 2022. She has also written two middle-grade novels, The Other Side and Clutch, a Kirkus Best Middle-Grade Historical Fiction of 2017. Born and raised in Montreal, she now lives in Toronto with her husband, teenagers and rescue dog.   Q: Fiction and nonfiction, picture books/middle grade/young adult and all manner of topics (social justice […]

Isaac Blum (he/him) is a writer and educator. He has taught English at several colleges and universities, and at Orthodox Jewish and public schools. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Rutgers-Camden in New Jersey, and his stories and essays have appeared in The Iowa Review, The New York Times and One Teen Story, among other places. Isaac lives with his wife in Philadelphia where he watches sports and reads books that make him laugh while showing him something true about the world. He also loves birdwatching. The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen is his debut novel. Reviews […]

Vancouver, Canada’s John Lekich is a journalist, essayist and the author of several books for young adult readers. They include the novels The Prisoner of Snowflake Falls, King of the Lost and Found and The Losers’ Club. His most recent YA novel is Murder at the Hotel Hopeless (Orca Books 2022). His YA novels have received critical acclaim from various publications, along with recognition from such organizations as The Young Adult Library Services Association, The Canadian Library Association and The Detroit Public Library. His debut YA novel, The Losers’ Club, was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award. Born […]

Born in Bogotá, Francisco Montaña Ibáñez is one of Colombia’s bestselling authors for children and young people. His novels, poetry and short stories — recognized for their seriousness and depth — circulate in Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador, Canada, the United States and Argentina. In addition to being a writer, Francisco is a professor at the National University of Colombia. His 2021 novel The Immortal Boy (Levine Querido, publisher) is his first to be translated into English (by Arely Guzman). Francisco discovered his affinity with literature at the age of 16, when he won a scholarship to study at the Moscow […]

“Stories offer room to engage with multiple things at once, to tell stories that center people, places and ideas that have historically been marginalized.”   Suyi Davies Okungbowa is a Nigerian fantasy, science fiction and general speculative author. Son of the Storm is his first book in The Nameless Republic, an epic fantasy trilogy. David Mogo, Godhunter, his debut godpunk fantasy novel, earned the Nommo Award for Best Novel in 2020. His shorter works have appeared in various publications and anthologies, and have been nominated for various awards. He writes for younger readers as Suyi Davies, the latest novel being […]

Djokolelono is the pen-name of an Indonesian writer and translator who is legendary in his region. At seventy-eight, he has written close to fifty books for young children, middle-graders, young-adults and adults. His debut novels, Getaran (“Vibration”) and Fall to the Sun (1976), were the earliest science fiction written by an Indonesian, and today are hailed as “far beyond the era in which the novel was written.” While none of his books are commercially available in English at this time, he allowed YAdudebooks to read a not-yet-released English translation of The Moon Son (2011), a time-travel fantasy and history adventure, […]