Take the Mic: Fictional Stories of Everyday Resistance

A poet
An artist

One black
One white

Two voices
One journey

Jason Reynolds & Jason Griffin are superheroes.

Samira Ahmed is the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of the young adult novels Love, Hate & Other Filters; Internment; Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know; and Hollow Fires. She is also the author of the middle grade fantasy Amira & Hamza duology and the Ms. Marvel: Beyond the Limit comic series. She was born in Bombay, India, and grew up in Batavia, Illinois, in a house that smelled like fried onions, garlic, and potpourri. She has lived in New York, Chicago, and Kauai, where she spent a year searching for the perfect mango. She invites you to visit her online at samiraahmed.com.

L. D. Lewis is an editor, publisher, and Shirley Jackson Award-nominated writer of speculative fiction. She is the author of the novel Year of the Mer and the novellas A Ruin of Shadows and The Dead Withheld. Her published short fiction and poetry have appeared in several Neon Hemlock anthologies, numerous online publications, and Jordan Peele's Out There Screaming. Past lives include roles as a founding creator and project manager for the World Fantasy and Hugo Award-winning FIYAH Literary Magazine, the director of FIYAHCON, and researcher for the LeVar Burton Reads podcast. She pays the bills as a literary nonprofit administrator. She lives in Georgia on perpetual deadline with her partner, two cats, and an impressive LEGO build collection.

Laura Silverman is a writer and editor who advocates "truly shameless indulgence" on her blog, Glutton for Life. A former copy director at Bergdorf Goodman, passionate cook, and intrepid gourmand, she is in her element at the intersection of fashion and food. A frequent contributor to Edible Hudson Valley and Gather, she has a weekly segment about cooking on her local NPR station. She lives in Sullivan County, New York.

Darcie Little Badger is an award-winning Lipan Apache author with a PhD in oceanography. Her critically acclaimed debut novel, Elatsoe, was featured in Time Magazine as one of the best 100 fantasy novels of all time. Elatsoe also won the Locus award for Best First Novel and is a Nebula, Ignyte, and Lodestar finalist. Her second fantasy novel, A Snake Falls to Earth, received a Nebula and Ignyte Award, as well as a Newbery Honor, and is on the National Book Awards longlist. Darcie lives with her husband in Texas. You can visit her online at darcielittlebadger.com.

Yamile Saied Méndez is the author of many books for young readers and adults, including the award-winning picture books Where Are You From? and What Will You Be? She was born and raised in Rosario, Argentina, and now lives in a lovely valley surrounded by mountains in Utah with her husband, five children, two dogs, and a majestic cat. She’s a graduate of Voices of Our Nations and the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA writing for children and young adults program. She’s always trying new empanada recipes. Connect with her at yamilemendez.com.

Bethany C. Morrow is a national bestselling author and writes adult and young adult novels. Her young adult work includes JLG Gold Standard Selections A Song Below Water (a Locus, Ignyte, and Audie Award finalist) and So Many Beginnings. She is editor/contributor to the young adult anthology Take The Mic, which won the 2020 ILA Social Justice in Literature Award. Her adult novels include Mem, an Indies Introduce and Indie Next pick, and Cherish Farrah, a social horror, was the April 2022 Belletrist x Book Club pick. She was the 2021 Mansfield Lecturer at Roosevelt University, and her work has been featured in The Los Angeles Times, Forbes, Bustle, Buzzfeed, and more. Morrow is included on USA Today's list of 100 Black Novelists and Fiction Writers You Should Read.