Kekla Magoon is the author of the
New York Times bestseller
The Secret Library and many other fiction and nonfiction titles for young readers, including
X: A Novel, cowritten with Ilyasah Shabazz; the Blue Stars series, cowritten with Cynthia Leitich Smith and illustrated by Molly Murakami; and
Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party's Promise to the People. She has received the Margaret A. Edwards Award, an NAACP Image Award, a
Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, and four Coretta Scott King Honors, among others. Kekla Magoon lives in Montpelier, Vermont, and teaches at Vermont College of Fine Arts.
Cynthia Leitich Smith is an NSK Neustadt Laureate and acclaimed author of
Hearts Unbroken,
winner of the American Indian Youth Literature Award;
Harvest House;
Sisters of the Neversea;
the
New York Times best-selling Tantalize
and Feral
series;
Rain Is Not My Indian Name;
and
Jingle Dancer, illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu. She also edited the anthology
Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids, is the author-curator of Heartdrum, a Native-focused children's and YA imprint, and served as the inaugural Katherine Paterson Chair at Vermont College of Fine Arts. A Muscogee Nation citizen, Cynthia Leitich Smith lives in Austin, Texas.
Molly Murakami is a cartoonist, illustrator, writer, and creator of several webcomics.
The Blue Stars Series: Mission One: The Vice Principal Problem is her publishing debut. She lives in Minnesota.