Our Children's Authors

Donna Washington is an award-winning internationally known master storyteller, artist-educator, and author who has been providing workshops and performing for audiences of all ages for over thirty-six years. In 2020, she co-founded the non-profit organization Artists Standing Strong Together with Master Storyteller Sheila Arnold for which they won a 2021 Oracle Award. In 2022 she received the Coleen Salley Storytelling Award.

Carole Boston Weatherford is an accomplished poet, writer, artist, musician, and social critic whose bibliography spans over thirty books. Her work in children's literature  has earned her widespread acclaim and awards.

Carole's picture books have been described as poetic, intimate, and ultimately educational reads. Often focused on the growth of the civil rights movement and the state of African-American culture in the United States, her works provide genuine insights into our cultural memory through their powerful storytelling.

Tony Weaver, Jr. is founder and CEO of Weird Enough Productions, a new media production company dedicated to creating positive media images of black men and other minority groups, and the creator of the educational webcomic The UnCommons, whose curriculum is used by over 40,000 students per month. Tony has been the recipient of the Leadership Prize and the Black Excellence Award, participated in the NBCUniversal Fellowship Program and the Peace First Fellowship, is a TEDx speaker, and was one of Forbes’ 2018 “30 Under 30” honorees—the first comic book writer to ever make the list.

Molly Webster, a graduate of NYU’s Science Writing Program and an award-winning journalist, is a Senior Correspondent at WNYC’s Radiolab. She is an accomplished writer having contributed to Scientific American, National Geographic Adventure, and Wired. Most recently she presented a TED Talk about her research on sex chromosomes.

Maya Wei-Haas is an award-winning reporter at National Geographic. She writes about all things science and has a particular affection for rocks and reactions. Maya pursued a bachelor's in geology at Smith College and then won an NSF fellowship to support her Ph.D. work in Earth Science at the Ohio State University. She's traveled the world in the name of science, scooping ice melt from the top of Antarctic glaciers and hauling up sediments from Svalbard lakes. She made the jump to journalism with the AAAS Mass Media Fellowship. Now she's working to bring these types of adventures—and the science that surrounds us—to all. In 2019, she was honored with AGU's David Perlman Award for Excellence in Science Journalism for her story about the discovery of a submarine volcano's birth. In addition to National Geographic, her work has appeared at Smithsonian.com and EOS. She's working on a forthcoming children's book about the amazing things that rocks can reveal with Phaidon Press.

As a child, Jacob Sager Weinstein could turn his feet completely backwards, then juggle. Nowadays, his joints are much less flexible, but he can still manage the juggling part. Other accomplishments include two Writers' Guild of America award nominations and one win. He has written for film, TV, radio, and print outlets including HBO, the BBC, The New Yorker, and The Onion.  

His books include the middle grade novel Hyacinth and the Secrets Beneath, the picture books Lyric Mckerrigan, Secret Librarian and What Rosa Brought, and the non-fiction works How to Remember Everything and Be Happier Now. He lives in London with his wife and kids.

Allen R. Wells is an accomplished author, engineer, and advocate for inclusion and representation in children’s literature. Born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, Allen discovered his passion for storytelling at a young age, inspired by his second-grade teacher who introduced him to journaling. This early spark fueled a lifelong journey to create impactful stories that empower young readers.

Jeremy Whitley is as a Stonewall Honoree, Glyph Award Winner, and Eisner Award, Harvey Award, and Ringo Award nominated writer from Durham, NC.

Jeremy is the writer/creator of Princeless, Raven the Pirate Princess, The Dog Knight, School for Extraterrestrial Girls, and Navigating with You. He is also renowned for his work on the critically acclaimed Unstoppable Wasp for Marvel Comics, Sea of Thieves for TItan Comics, and sixty issues of My Little Pony comics. He is well-known for graphic novel and prose adaptations of multi-media properties.

Sujin Witherspoon is a Korean-American author, artist, and lover of words she can’t pronounce. She gravitates toward stories that will either plague her nightmares or make her stomach hurt from laughter—no in between. Having earned her degree in English from the University of Washington, she spends her time writing, thinking about writing, or thinking about how she should be writing. You can find her online at sujinwitherspoon.com

Sujin is represented by Maeve MacLysaght of Aevitas Creative Management.

Sean Fay Wolfe is a seventeen-year-old Eagle Scout and writing prodigy. He is the author of the Minecraft fan fiction series The Elementia Chronicles (HarperCollins).

Jo Wu was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she studied Biology and Creative Writing at UC Berkeley. Her works explore fairy tales, Chinese and Taiwanese mythology and identity, and magical and uplifting narratives in dark worlds. Some of her notable works have been published in Uncanny Magazine, Solarpunk Magazine, and Insignia 2021: Best Asian Fantasy Stories.

She’ll totally understand if you confuse her for Carmilla Jo, the cosplayer and voiceover artist who’s much louder on social media and enjoys twirling around in gowns. As a cosplayer and model, she has graced magazine covers and been hired by companies including as Adult Swim, Riot Games, T-Mobile, and Penguin Random House. When she is not writing, she is likely sewing, weightlifting, motorcycling, and gushing over puppies.

Christina Wyman is the USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of Jawbreaker, Slouch, and Breakout. She lives in Michigan with her husband and silly rescue cats Alfred and Greta Cannoli―not to mention the raccoons, owls, and hummingbirds that occupy a tree outside their bedroom window. She grew up in a tiny apartment with her family in Brooklyn, New York, where she dreamed of becoming a writer. Her work has been published in New York Magazine, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Elle Magazine, Ms. Magazine, The Independent, and other outlets. Her debut novel, “Jawbreaker,” a middle-grade book that follows a seventh-grader with a craniofacial anomaly, is a Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2023. When she’s not writing, you can find her stocking up on chocolate or trying to convince her husband to adopt more cats. Most recently, she’s developed a passion for eating strawberry jam straight out of the jar.

Kao Kalia Yang is a Hmong American writer of books for both adults and children. Kalia was born in a refugee camp. Long before she could write, Kalia sat at the feet of her elders and listened to their stories. As a writer, Kalia now uses her words to return to those long ago evenings—this time as a storyteller. The only thing Kalia loves more than stories are the people who make them possible.

Paula Yoo is an award-winning author, TV writer/producer, and musician. Her latest YA nonfiction book, RISING FROM THE ASHES: LOS ANGELES, 1992. EDWARD JAE SONG LEE, LATASHA HARLINS, RODNEY KING, AND A CITY ON FIRE (Norton Young Readers 2024) is the winner of the 2025 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award. FROM A WHISPER TO A RALLYING CRY: THE KILLING OF VINCENT CHIN AND THE TRIAL THAT GALVANIZED THE ASIAN AMERICAN MOVEMENT (Norton 2021) was longlisted for the National Book Award, won the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, and was a finalist for the YALSA nonfiction award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Her books have received multiple starred reviews and selected for “Best Books of the Year” lists including Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Horn Book, Booklist, School Library Journal, TIME Magazine, NPR, the Washington Post, and the New York Times, as well as several Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selections. As a Writers Guild of America (WGA) writer, her TV credits range from NBC’s THE WEST WING to The CW’s SUPERGIRL, and she has sold multiple TV pilots and features. As an AFM Local 47 violinist, Paula plays professionally in many orchestras and has toured with bands like Love, Fun and No Doubt. She lives in Los Angeles with her family and three cats.

Jenna Yoon is a debut author and has spent equal amounts of time living in Korea and the U.S. She holds a BA in Art History from Wellesley College, and a MA in Korean Art History from Ewha Woman’s University. Lia Park and the Missing Jewel is her middle grade debut.

Born and raised in California, Helen Yoon graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a BS in chemistry and from Art Center College of Design with a BFA in illustration. The author-illustrator of critically acclaimed picture books including OFF-LIMITS and I'M A UNICORN, Helen Yoon lives in the Los Angeles area. She writes and draws for a living. She is fond of sabbaticals.

Susan Yoon writes books for children and is the author of Waiting for Tomorrow, and Gwendolyn and the Light. Her essays have also appeared in the Globe and Mail and the New York Times. She lives in Toronto.

Edith Young is an illustrator, author and visual essayist. Her first book COLOR SCHEME: AN IRREVERENT HISTORY OF ART AND POP CULTURES IN COLOR PALETTES—which elucidated humorous tropes of art history through a colorful lens—was published in 2021 by Princeton Architectural Press. Her commercial illustration clients include The Carlyle Hotel, Bergdorf Goodman, Schumacher, Karhu and Big Night. She lives in New York.

Katie Zhao is a 2017 graduate of the University of Michigan with a B.A. in English and Political Science, and a 2018 Masters of Accounting at the same university. She is the author of THE DRAGON WARRIOR duology (Bloomsbury Kids), HOW WE FALL APART (Bloomsbury Kids), LAST GAMER STANDING (Scholastic), WINNIE ZENG series (Random House Children’s Books), THE LIES WE TELL (Bloomsbury Kids), and forthcoming  ZODIAC RISING duology (Random House Children’s Books). She is represented by Penny Moore of Aevitas Creative Management. She’s a passionate advocate for representation in literature and media.

Jennifer Ziegler is an author of books for middle graders and young adults, including such titles as Worser (named one of the best books of 2022 by The New York Times, Kirkus Reviews, and Booklist), How Not to Be Popular (a Lone Star List selection and an International Literary Associations Young Adults' Choice Pick), and the Brewster Triplets series for Scholastic. Her work has been optioned for film and television, adapted into stage shows, and featured on the radio. Jennifer is also a former middle school ELA teacher and is currently on the faculty of Vermont College of Fine Arts’ MFA program on Writing for Children and Young Adults. She currently lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and favorite author, Chris Barton.