Jennifer LaGarde is a lifelong teacher and learner with over 20 years in public education. Her educational passions include leveraging technology to help students develop authentic reading lives, meeting the unique needs of students living in poverty and helping learners (of all ages) discern fact from fiction in the information they consume. A huge fan of YA Literature, Jennifer currently lives, works, reads and drinks lots of coffee in Olympia, Washington. Follow her adventures at www.librarygirl.net or on Bluesky @jenniferlagarde.bsky.social.

John Schu has made a career out of advocating for the people and things he cares about most: kids, books, and the people that connect them. He was named a Library Journal Mover and Shaker for his dynamic interactions with students and his passionate adoption of new technologies as a means of connecting authors, illustrators, books, and readers. He is the children’s librarian for Bookelicious, a part-time lecturer at Rutgers University, and shares his love of reading with countless educators and students around the world. He served as the Ambassador of School Libraries for Scholastic Book Fairs for almost 6 years. 

He is the author of This Is a School, illustrated by Veronica Miller Jamison, This Is a Story, illustrated by Caldecott Honor artist Lauren Castillo, Ruthie Rose’s Big Idea: A Poetry Story, illustrated by Holly Hatam,  Louder Than Hunger, and The Gift of Story: Exploring the Affective Side of the Reading Life. He is a contributor to The Creativity Project, edited by Colby Sharp.  His forthcoming books include Lily-May’s Joyful Day (Candlewick Press, 2026), illustrated by Holly Hatam and This Is a Theater (Candlewick Press, 2027), illustrated by Jaime Kim. John Schu lives in Naperville, Illinois.