Derrick Barnes (derrickdbarnes.com) is the author of the empowering New York Times bestsellers The King of Kindergarten and I Am Every Good Thing, which won the NCTE Charlotte Huck Award and the Kirkus Prize, and Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut, which received a Newbery Honor, a Coretta Scott King Honor, the Kirkus Prize, and the Ezra Jack Keats Award. He also wrote the bestselling chapter book series Ruby and the Booker Boys. Derrick is a native of Kansas City, MO, and a graduate of Jackson State University, and was the first African American male creative copywriter hired by greeting card giant, Hallmark Cards. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his wife and their four sons.

Shawn Martinbrough (shawnmartinbrough.com) is the author of How to Draw Noir Comics: The Art and Technique of Visual Storytelling, published by Penguin Random House, and an Eisner award nominated artist whose comic book projects include Batman: Detective Comics, Luke Cage Noir, The Black Panther: Man Without Fear, Hellboy and Thief of Thieves, and the graphic novel series co-created with Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead, INVINCIBLE). Shawn is a Vanity Fair contributor and the writer of Batman, Red Hood & The Hill for DC Comics, which introduces multiple new characters to the Batman Universe, and a co-author of the new children's book series Judge Kim and The Kids' Court, published by Simon & Schuster.