Bookelicious Presents

Juana Medina is the Pura Belpré Author Award-winning creator of the Juana & Lucas series and other books for children and the recipient of two International Latino Book Awards. She has also illustrated several books by other writers, including ‘Twas the Night Before Pride by Joanna McClintick. Juana Medina was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia, and currently lives in Northern Virginia with her family.

Juana Medina is the Pura Belpré Author Award-winning creator of the Juana & Lucas series and other books for children and the recipient of two International Latino Book Awards. She has also illustrated several books by other writers, including ‘Twas the Night Before Pride by Joanna McClintick. Juana Medina was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia, and currently lives in Northern Virginia with her family.

David LaRochelle is the author of many books for young readers, including Isle of You, illustrated by Jaime Kim, as well as How to Apologize, See the Cat: Three Stories About a Dog, and See the Dog: Three Stories About a Cat, all illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka. See David LaRochelle in White Bear Lake, Minnesota.

Mike Wohnoutka has illustrated numerous books for young readers, including How to Apologize, See the Cat: Three Stories About a Dog, and See the Dog: Three Stories About a Cat, all by David LaRochelle. He is also the author and illustrator of several picture books, including Croc & Turtle. See Mike Wohnoutka in Minneapolis.

JaNay Brown-Wood, PhD, is an early childhood professor and the author of several books for children, including Imani’s Moon and Grandma’s Tiny House. Currently, she teaches at Folsom Lake College and lives in Sacramento with her husband and daughter.

Erika J. Kendrick is a national speaker, mental health advocate, and former NBA cheerleader. She is a Stanford University graduate with an MBA in marketing and international business from the University of Illinois. She is the author of Squad Goals, her debut middle grade novel, and Cookie Monsters.

Andrea Davis Pinkney is the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of numerous books for children and young adults, and has been recognized by the Coretta Scott King Author Award committee with an honor for Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters and a medal for Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America. She is a four-time nominee for the NAACP Image Award. In addition to her work as an author, Ms. Pinkney is a publishing executive. She has been named one of the “25 Most Influential Black Women in Business” by The Network Journal, and is among Children’s Health magazine’s “25 Most Influential People in Our Children’s Lives.” You can follow her on Twitter @AndreaDavisPink.

Torrey Maldonado, the author of the critically acclaimed What Lane? and Tight, is a teacher in Brooklyn, New York, where he was born and raised. His books reflect his students’ and his experiences.

Katherine Applegate is the Newbery Medal-winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author of numerous books for young readers, including The One and Only Ivan, the Endling series, Crenshaw, Wishtree, the Roscoe Riley Rules chapter books series, and the Animorphs series. She lives with her husband, who writes as the author Michael Grant, and their children in California.