A Path to the World

Lori Carlson-Hijuelos was born in Jamestown, New York. She went to College of Wooster for her BA in Spanish literature and linguistics and received her MA in Hispanic literature from Indiana University. She has taught at several universities, most recently Duke, and is the editor of several books and collections for children and young adults, includingCool Salsa, American Eyes, Voices in First Person: Reflections on Latino Identity;andBurnt Sugar Caa Quemada. She lives in New York City.

Pat Conroy (1945–2016) was the author of The Boo, The Water Is Wide, The Great Santini, The Lords of Discipline, The Prince of Tides, Beach Music, The Pat Conroy Cookbook: Recipes of My Life, My Losing Season, South of Broad, My Reading Life, and The Death of Santini.

Alan Ehrenhalt is executive editor of Governing magazine. Prior to joining Governing, his professional career included stints with the Associated Press, Washington Star, and Congressional Quarterly. He is the author of Democracy in the Mirror (1998), The Lost City (1995), and The United States of Ambition (1991). He served as editor of the first four editions (1982-88) of Politics in America, a biennial reference book profiling all 535 members of Congress and their districts. Mr. Ehrenhalt is a member of USA Today's Board of Contributors and has written frequently for the New York Times, The Washington Post Book World, and the New Republic. In 2000, he was the winner of the American Political Science Association's Carey McWilliams award for distinguished contributions to the field of political science by a journalist.

Ralph Fletcher has always been a special person for children's literature. He is the author of picture books, nonfiction, and novels for young readers. How to Write Your Life Story is the fifth book in Mr. Fletcher's series of instructional writing books, which includes A Writer's Notebook, Live Writing, How Writers Work, and Poetry Matters. Mr. Fletcher lives with his family in New Hampshire.

Michael J. Sandel is the author of a number of books, including The Tyranny of Merit, Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?, and What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of the Market. He is the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government at Harvard University, where he has taught since 1980. He has taught his undergraduate course "Justice" to more than 15,000 Harvard students over the years, and video footage of the course was adapted into a PBS television series. Sandel graduated summa cum laude from Brandeis University and received his doctorate from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He served on the George W. Bush administration's President's Council on Bioethics. He lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Gary Soto is the author of Baseball in April, Puppy Love, and many more books for young readers. He is a National Book Award finalist and a recipient of the Andrew Carnegie Medal, the Hispanic Heritage Award for Literature, the NEA Author-Illustrator Civil Rights Award, and the PEN Center West Book Award. He lives in Northern California.