Varian Johnson is the author of four novels, including The Great Greene Heist, a Publishers Weekly Best Summer Book of 2014. His novels for older readers include My Life as a Rhombus, named to the Texas Library Association Tayshas High School Reading List and the New York Public Library Stuff for the Teen Age list; and Saving Maddie, a Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book.

Varian was born in Florence, South Carolina, and attended the University of Oklahoma, where he received a BS in Civil Engineering. He later received an MFA in writing for children and young adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Varian now lives outside of Austin, Texas, with his family.

Liara Tamani lives in Houston, Texas. She holds an MFA in writing from Vermont College and a BA from Duke University. Calling My Name is her first book. www.liaratamani.com

Ibi Zoboi was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and holds an MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her writing has been published in The New York Times Book Review, The Horn Book, and The Rumpus, among others. She is the author of American Street, a National Book Award finalist, and Pride. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and their three children. You can find her online at www.ibizoboi.net.

Brandy Colbert is an author whose novel Pointe won the 2014 Cybils Award for young adult fiction and was named a best book of 2014 by Publishers Weekly, BookRiot, and more. She is also the author of Finding Yvonne and Little & Lion, which was a Junior Library Guild and a Book of the Month Club selection.She was also chosen as a Publishers Weekly Flying Start author for spring 2014. She was born and raised in Springfield, Missouri, and earned a bachelors degree in journalism from Missouri State University. She works as a copy editor for magazines and books.

Nic Stone was born and raised in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, and the only thing she loves more than an adventure is a good story about one. She is a Spelman College graduate. After working extensively in teen mentoring and living in Israel for a few years, she returned to the United States to write full-time. Dear Martin, her first novel, is loosely based on a series of true events involving the shooting deaths of unarmed African American teenagers. Shaken by the various responses to these incidents-and to the pro-justice movement that sprang up as a result-she began the project in an attempt to examine current affairs through the lens of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s teachings.

Coe Booth was born and raised in the Bronx of New York City. She is the author of Tyrell, Kendra, Bronxwood, and Kinda like Brothers. She currently lives in the Bronx, working as a full-time writer and a part-time writing teacher at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Booth also volunteers for the NAACP ACT-SO program where she mentors teen writers.