Julia Nobel
Julia Nobel is a middle grade author from Victoria, Canada. Her childhood obsession with The Babysitters Club turned into a lifelong passion for reading and writing children’s literature. She offers writing masterclasses and courses for writers in all genres, and was a Pitch Wars Mentor in 2017. Her 4-year-old daughter likes to help her write by unplugging her computer and pressing the escape key. Her debut middle grade novel, The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane, is being published by Sourcebooks Jaberwocky in Spring 2019.
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
Remy Lai
Remy Lai is a writer and illustrator of middle-grade books. She lives in Brisbane, Australia.
Website | Twitter | Instagram
Gail Shepherd
I’ve known I wanted to be a writer since I was nine years old and authored our school Thanksgiving play—“Poor Mr. Turkey.” But the road to publishing a novel has been long and winding. I’ve been a food writer, a teacher, a poet, a book reviewer, an editor, a columnist. One of my first jobs was as a reader for a paperback publisher in London. I also published my own independent newspaper for a while. But THE TRUE HISTORY OF LYNDIE B. HAWKINS is my first novel for young readers.
Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Katie Zhao
Katie Zhao is a middle grade and young adult author who holds an English major and Political Science minor from the University of Michigan (2017) as well as a Masters of Accounting (2018). She is a proud alumnus of Kopitonez a Capella. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, singing, and working out. She currently resides in a cramped college apartment in Michigan that she insists on filling with too many books and Asian snacks.
Website
Jeanne Zulick Ferruolo
Jeanne Zulick Ferruolo lives in Ellington, CT with her husband and children. RUBY IN THE SKY is her first novel and won the SCBWI Work-in-progress award, the PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Children’s Book Discovery Award and the New Voices in Children’s Literature: Tassy Walden Award.
Website | Twitter
Heather Kassner
Heather Kassner loves thunderstorms, hummingbirds, and books. She lives with her husband in Arizona, waiting (and waiting and waiting) for the rain, photographing hummingbirds, and reading and writing strange little stories.
Twitter | Instagram
Chris Baron
Chris Baron is a poet and middle grade author and a professor of English at San Diego City College. He grew up in New York City, but he completed his MFA in Poetry in 1998 at SDSU. Baron’s first book of poetry, Under the Broom Tree, was released in 2012 on CityWorks Press as part of Lantern Tree: Four Books of Poems. (Which won the San Diego Book Award for best poetry anthology).
Website | Twitter | Instagram
Quinn Sosna-Spear
Quinn Sosna-Spear was named a California Young Playwright at seventeen and went on to study at the University of Southern California. She has since written books, films, and virtual reality projects. “The Remarkable Inventions of Walter Mortinson,” her debut novel, was inspired by the untimely death of her own mother. Quinn hopes to share with all readers, particularly those struggling with loss, the humor, poignancy, and adventure in such things . . . as dreary and impossible as they may seem.
Website | Twitter
Nicole Panteleakos
Nicole Panteleakos is a middle grade author, playwright, and Ravenclaw. Her debut novel PLANET EARTH IS BLUE is forthcoming from Wendy Lamb Books (Penguin Random House) in 2019. She is represented by Katie Grimm at Don Congdon Associates, belongs to the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators: Metro NY, and has a cat named Shakespeare.
Website
Gillian McDunn
GILLIAN McDUNN has lived in California, Missouri, and North Carolina, and is a fan of both the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans. She lives near Raleigh, North Carolina, with her family.
Twitter | Instagram
Jennifer Camiccia
Jennifer Camiccia lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and children. She loves to ask: what if…? This question has resulted in her writing stories where the characters experience heartbreak, search for answers, and discover the intricacies of life along the way.
Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest
Cory Leonardo
Cory Leonardo grew up believing she’d replace Vanna White on Wheel of Fortune, but when that didn’t pan out, she decided she’d turn letters and phrases in a different way (but minus the glittery dresses, sadly). A born and bred upstate New Yorker, she currently lives in the Syracuse area with her husband and three plucky children.
Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Lisa Ramee
Lisa lives in Northern California with her husband, two children and two cats. She works full time for a University that would’ve never accepted her as a student, and spends as much time in gardening as she can. She loves to read more than she loves to write.
Twitter | Instagram
Rajani LaRocca
Rajani LaRocca writes middle grade and picture books. She lives in eastern Massachusetts with her wonderful husband, two brilliant kids, and impossibly cute dog. When she’s not practicing medicine or reading, you can usually find her baking.
Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Goodreads
Naomi Milliner
Naomi’s love of literature led her to an English degree at the University of Maryland; her love of cinema led her to the University of Southern California, where she earned an MFA in Screenwriting. She now resides with her husband and sons Jeremy and Jesse in Maryland. Her debut middle grade novel, SUPER JAKE & THE KING OF CHAOS, was inspired by the chaotic – and magical – goings-on when her youngest son, Jake, was alive.
Website
Sofiya Pasternack
Sofiya Pasternack is a nurse whose fondest childhood memories involve her pet goats wrecking up the house. When she’s not at the hospital, she can be found enjoying Utah’s wild places, teaching her kids to make challah, and promoting friendly dragons.
Website | Twitter | Instagram
Jess Redman
At age six, Jess Redman published a poem entitled “I Read and Read and Read All Day” in a local anthology. She knew then, reading her printed words in a real book, that she wanted to be an author when she grew up.
She spent the next couple of decades doing things like surviving middle school, traveling around the world, becoming a therapist, and having two kids. She wrote the whole time. Then one day, she realized that she was probably an official grown up and it was time to try to get some more of her words printed in real books. She still reads and reads and reads all day.
Website | Twitter | Facebook
Gail D. Villanueva
Gail D. Villanueva is a Filipina author based in the Philippines. She’s also a web designer/developer, an entrepreneur, and a self-professed dog and duck whisperer. She loves pineapple pizza, seafood, and chocolate, but not in a single dish together (that’s gross). Gail’s debut middle grade novel, MY FATE ACCORDING TO THE BUTTERFLY, will be published in 2019 by Scholastic.
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram
Karen Strong
Born and raised in the rural South, Karen spent most of her childhood wandering the woods, meadows, and gardens on her grandmother’s land. She is an advocate of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) with a career in software product development. Her passion is writing for kids and teens — focusing on black girls who explore the different realms of adventure and mystery with a dash of spooky. An avid lover of coffee, flowers and sour candy, Karen lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Her debut middle-grade novel JUST SOUTH OF HOME will be published in Spring 2019 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
Website | Twitter | Instagram
Lisa Schmid
Lisa Schmid is an author, a stay-at-home mom, and a pug wrangler. When she is not scaring up ghostly adventures, she is most likely scaring up fun with her husband and son. She lives in Folsom, California, home of the 1849 Gold Rush.
Website | Twitter | Facebook
Gabrielle K. Byrne
GABRIELLE KIROUAC BYRNE lives in the rainy wilds of the Pacific Northwest, where she writes fantasy for kids of all ages. Gabby studied opera in Philadelphia, medieval studies in New York, literature in Scotland, and marine biology in the Pacific Northwest, but writing stories is the common thread that ties all her interests together.
Website | Twitter | Instagram
Jennifer Blecher
Jennifer Blecher believes that a good book makes everything better and that the hardest moments inspire the best stories. She lives in Boston, MA with her husband, three daughters, and a dog named Winnie.
Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Meg Cannistra
Meg Cannistra grew up in Sarasota, Florida, where she spent her childhood chasing after older sisters and cousins and learning how to cook. After living in New York City and North Jersey for a few years, Meg now resides with her two cats, Gloom and Doom, in Charlotte, North Carolina. She has a BA in English Literature from Flagler College and an MFA in Creative Writing from Hamline University. When she’s not taking pictures of her cats or wandering around grocery stores, she writes magical, mysterious, and sometimes scary stories.
Joshua S. Levy
Joshua S. Levy was born and raised in Florida. After teaching middle school for a little while (yes, including seventh grade), he went to law school. He lives with his wife and daughter in New Jersey, where he practices as a lawyer. Unfortunately, outer space doesn’t come up in court nearly as often as he’d like. Seventh Grade Vs. The Galaxy is his first novel.
Website | Twitter
J. Kasper Kramer
J. Kasper Kramer is an author and professor in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She holds both a BA and MA in English, and before moving to Chattanooga, she taught in Japan for several years. When she’s not curled up with a book, Kramer loves researching lost fairytales, gaming, and fostering kittens. Her debut novel, The Story That Cannot Be Told, is forthcoming from Simon & Schuster/Atheneum in Fall 2019.
Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Claribel A. Ortega
Claribel A. Ortega is a former reporter who writes YA & MG fantasy inspired by her Dominican heritage. When she’s not busy turning her obsession with eighties pop culture, magic and video games into books, she’s filming videos for her YouTube channel or making GIFS for her small graphic design business, GIFGRRL.
Malayna Evans
Malayna is crazy about ancient Egypt. She also loves a good hero tale, her two adorable children, and strong coffee. She earned her Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Chicago and has used her background to craft a tale loaded with historical details that align with the 6th grade Core Curriculum. Although Jagger and his family are pure fiction, the court and the cast of ancient characters are all historically attested. (The magic and creepy creatures, not so much.)
Website | Twitter | Instagram
Nicole Melleby
Nicole Melleby is a born and bred Jersey girl with a passion for storytelling. She studied Creative Writing with a Concentration in Writing for Young Adults at Fairleigh Dickinson University, and has focused on writing middle grade stories with a keen interest in exploring diverse voices that ring true to underrepresented demographics. When she’s not writing, she can be found browsing the shelves at her local comic shop or watching soap operas with a cup of tea.
Website | Twitter
Kristin Thorsness
Kristin Thorsness is a former 5th and 6th grade teacher who lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, their son and daughter, and two spoiled dogs. She likes dark chocolate, strong coffee, and creepy stories that keep her up reading late into the night.
Website | Twitter | Instagram
Samuel Pollen
Dan Haring
Dan Haring is from a tiny town in Utah and has been drawing and writing for most of his life. He works in animation and video games and has helped make fun things like Tangled, The Incredible Hulk, and Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire. He lives in Utah with his amazing wife and kids, and loves pretty much all things Batman.
Twitter | Instagram
Jenni L. Walsh
Jenni L. Walsh’s passion lies in transporting readers to another world, be it in historical or contemporary settings. She is a proud graduate of Villanova University, and lives in the Philadelphia suburbs with her husband, daughter, son, and newfypoo. She also writes historical fiction for adults and children. Learn more about Jenni and her books at jennilwalsh.com.
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon
Karla Manternach
Karla Manternach grew up in Iowa, a grubby kid in tube socks who once stopped a parade by running in front of a fire truck for candy. Today, Karla lives with her family in small-town Wisconsin where she creates books for young readers and works as a freelance writer. Her middle grade novel, MEENA MEETS HER MATCH, debuts with Simon & Schuster in January, followed by a sequel in 2020.
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Kim Long
Kim Long loves to write stories with a sense of adventure, a dash of magic, and a hint of science. When not writing, she loves playing board games, watching Star Wars movies, and riding her bike along Illinois’ many trails.
Website | Twitter | Goodreads
Sarah R. Baughman
Sarah Baughman is a children’s author represented by Katie Grimm of Don Congdon Associates. A former English teacher currently working as an educational consultant and author, Sarah graduated from Grinnell College and the University of Michigan. She has lived all over the world but recently returned home to Michigan with her husband and children. When she’s not writing, she’s usually running, exploring the beach and woods, horseback riding, or enjoying time with her family and various pets.
Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads
Shauna Holyoak
Shauna has been telling stories long before she could ride a bike, and some of them are even true! She writes for kids and teens and thinks it’s kinda the best job ever. Kazu Jones and the Denver Dognappers is her debut novel, and it will be released on April 23, 2019! She lives in Idaho Falls, ID with her husband, six of their seven children, and two naughty dogs.
Website
Brian Weisfeld
Brian Weisfeld has been building businesses his entire life. In elementary school, he bought gummy bears and hired his friends to sell them. As a teen, he sold mix tapes, sorted baseball cards, babysat, and sold nuts and dried fruit in a neighborhood store. As an adult, Brian helped build a number of well-known billion-dollar companies including IMAX Corporation and Coupons.com. Brian is the Founder and Chief Squad Officer of The Startup Squad, an initiative dedicated to helping girls reach their potential, whatever their passions. Brian lives in Silicon Valley with his wife and two daughters.
Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Rebecca Balcarel
Rebecca took her MFA in Creative Writing and Literature from Bennington Writing Seminars and received their Jane Kenyon Poetry Prize. She serves the students of Tarrant County College as Associate Professor of English. Find her on YouTube as the Sixminutescholar. She loves popcorn.
Website | Twitter | Facebook