Anne Ursu's books include the National Book Award–longlisted The Real Boy, and Breadcrumbs, which was named a best book of the year by SLJ, PW, and Amazon.com. She was a recipient of the McKnight Fellowship in Children's Literature. Anne teaches at Hamline University's MFA in Writing for Children.

William Alexander writes science fiction and fantasy for young audiences. His novels include Goblin Secrets (a National Book Award winner) and Ambassador (an International Latino Book Award finalist). He teaches at the Vermont College of Fine Arts Program in Writing for Children and Young Adults.

Tracey Baptiste, M.Ed., is the author of The Jumbies and its forthcoming sequel, the novel Angel’s Grace, and nonfiction kids books like The Totally Gross History of Ancient Egypt. Ms. Baptiste teaches in Lesley University’s creative writing MFA program, and runs the editorial company Fairy Godauthor.

Laurel Snyder is the author of five children's novels, six picture books, and two collections of poems. A graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, she has published essays in such places as Salon, the Boston Globe, and the Utne Reader, and she is a commentator for NPR's All Things Considered.