Flying Lessons & Other Stories

Kwame Alexander is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of forty-seven books, including Booked; The Brainstormerz; The Mighty Macy; Black Star, a Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book; J vs. K, an illustrated novel he penned with Jerry Craft; and The Crossover, his Newbery Medal-winning novel turned Emmy® Award-winning Disney+ TV series. He regularly shares his passion for literacy, books and the craft of writing around the world, including Ghana, West Africa, where he opened the Barbara E. Alexander Memorial Library and Health Clinic. A recipient of the 2025 NAACP Image Award, Kwame is the founder of the literacy non-profit One Word at a Time. You can visit him at KwameAlexander.com

Kelly J. Baptist was born and raised in Michigan, but like Rose in Facing The Rising Son, her roots are in the South. Kelly is the award-winning author of eight books for kids, including Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero, The Electric Slide and Kai, and the NAACP Image Award-nominated Eb & Flow. In this next season of writing, Kelly strives to highlight the importance of knowing your family history and using it to fuel your present and future. Powered by her faith and heart for young people, Kelly is launching Kejeba Ink Publishing, which will publish serious writers under age 18. A huge Kobe Bryant fan, Kelly applies Mamba Mentality to the craft of writing. She is an HBCU grad (Oakwood University) and a member of Zeta Phi Beta, Sorority, Inc.

Soman Chainani studied at Harvard, practically creating his own fairytale major. He is also an acclaimed screenwriter, whose films have played at more than 150 film festivals, winning more than 30 jury and audience prizes. When he’s not telling stories or teaching, Soman is a die-hard tennis player. You can visit Soman online at www.somanchainani.net.

Meg Medina was the 2023–2024 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. She was born in Alexandria, Virginia, and grew up in Queens, New York. An author of Cuban descent, Meg writes stories that celebrate Latino culture, as in The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind; Mango, Abuela, and Me; Burn Baby Burn; and Evelyn Del Rey Is Moving Away. Her teen novel Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass won the Pura Belpré Award and was published as a graphic novel in 2023. Her middle grade novel Merci Suárez Changes Gears won the Newbery Medal—and led to two additional Merci Suárez novels: Merci Suárez Can’t Dance and Merci Suárez Plays It Cool. Her nonfiction titles include She Persisted: Sonia Sotomayor and She Persisted: Pura Belpré.

Tim Tingle is an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and a frequent speaker at tribal events. His great-great grandfather, John Carnes, walked the Trail of Tears in 1835, and memories of this family epic fuel his writing and storytelling. Author of six books, Tingle was a featured speaker at the Native American wing of the Smithsonian Institute in 2006 and 2007.

Jacqueline Woodson is the 2014 National Book Award Winner for her New York Times bestselling memoir Brown Girl Dreaming, which was also a recipient of the Coretta Scott King Award, a Newbery Honor Award, the NAACP Image Award, and the Sibert Honor Award. She is also the author of New York Times bestselling novel Another Brooklyn (Harper/Amistad), which was a 2016 National Book Award Finalist and Woodson’s first adult novel in twenty years. In 2015, Woodson was named Young People’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation. She is the author of more than two dozen award-winning books for young adults, middle graders, and children; among her many accolades, she is a four-time Newbery Honor winner, a three-time National Book Award finalist, and a two-time Coretta Scott King Award winner.

http://www.jacquelinewoodson.com/