Bookable Authors: Upper Grades (8 12) Social Studies

Talia Aikens-Nuñez

Talia Aikens-Nuñez is passionate about sharing with young readers the little known stories, accomplishments, and contributions of people of color from all throughout history. Aikens-Nuñez is the author of Small Nap, Little Dream, a bilingual Spanish/English picture book. She and her… View →

 

Kathy Belge

Kathy Belge has been a freelance writer since 2003 specializing in the LGBT community. She co-authored the book Lipstick and Dipstick’s Essential Guide to Lesbian Relationships and wrote the monthly advice column Lipstick & Dipstick for Curve magazine… View →

 
Diane Pedersen

Cynthia Overbeck Bix

Cynthia Bix grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, where family visits to historical sites that dot the East Coast—including Old Sturbridge Village, Colonial Williamsburg, and Baltimore’s own Fort McHenry—sparked her early interest in American history, crafts, and everyday life. After… View →

 

Halley Bondy

Halley Bondy is a professional freelance writer, journalist, editor, producer, and mom based in Brooklyn. Her articles have appeared in NBC News, The Balance, Contently, Digital Trends, Bustle, Romper, The Outline, MTV, and more. She… View →

 

Linda Crotta Brennan

Linda Crotta Brennan is the award-winning author of more than twenty books for children including Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Presidency, When Rivers Burned: The Earth Day Story, and The Black Regiment of the American Revolution. For many years, Ms. Brennan taught and worked in… View →

 

Kari Cornell

Kari Cornell is a freelance writer and editor who lives in South Minneapolis with her husband and two young boys. When she’s not working or spending time with her family, she loves to cook, tinker in the garden, knit, or run. She feels fortunate that she’s been able to… View →

 
Sandra Blow

Caitlin Donohue

Caitlin Donohue is a San Francisco-raised, Mexico City-based bilingual culture journalist, radio producer, and drug educator. She’s written about cannabis culture and politics for 12 years, and Weed is her second book for young adults. View →

 

Laura B. Edge

Laura B. Edge was born just north of Chicago in Waukegan, Illinois. She grew up in a big Italian-Irish family with lots of brothers and sisters. She loves to read, travel, dance, ride horses, and watch basketball games. Laura received her bachelor’s degree in education from the… View →

 

Jeff Fleischer

Jeff Fleischer is a Chicago-based author, editor, and journalist. He is the author of A Hot Mess: How the Climate Crisis Is Changing Our World (Zest Books, 2021), Votes of Confidence: A Young Person’s Guide to American Elections (Zest Books, 2020 and 2016), Rockin’ the Boat:… View →

 

Jesse Freidin

Jesse Freidin is a fine-art dog photographer whose dog portraits are in private collections throughout the United States and have been exhibited in galleries from coast to coast. He’s based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. View →

 

Christina Garofalo

Christina Garofalo is an L.A.-based TV writer and journalist. She’s covered travel, food, and culture for more than a dozen publications, including Afar, Huffington Post, Jetsetter, Paste, Resident, Robb Report, and ShermansTravel. Previously, she’s served as an editor for… View →

 
Dave Romero/vibrantimage.com

Krystyna Poray Goddu

Krystyna Poray Goddu has been a writer and editor for more than thirty years; her books include Dollmakers and Their Stories: Women Who Changed the World of Play, and A Girl Called Vincent: A Biography of Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, both middle-grade nonfiction. Her writing for… View →

 

Connie Goldsmith

Connie Goldsmith is a registered nurse with a bachelor of science degree in nursing and a master of public administration degree in health care. She has written numerous books for YA readers and nearly two hundred magazine articles. Her recent books include Kiyo Sato: From a View →

 

John Grant

John Grant is author of about seventy books, including the highly successful Discarded Science, Corrupted Science, and Denying Science. He has received two Hugo Awards, the World Fantasy Award, the Locus Award, and a number of other international literary awards. View →

 

Sue Heavenrich

Sue Heavenrich writes about science and environmental issues and is passionate about insects. She has followed ants in the Arizona desert, tagged bumblebees in the Rocky Mountains, and tallied insects on Cocos Island, Costa Rica. When not writing, she collects data for researchers as a… View →

 

Charles C. Hofer

Charles C. Hofer is a wildlife biologist, photographer, and writer living in Tucson, Arizona, home to many, many venomous snakes. Hofer has been a regular contributor to several award-winning magazines, where he often writes about science and nature for young minds. This is his first… View →

 
 

Patrick Jones

Patrick Jones lives in Minneapolis and is the author of many novels including the Support and Defend series. A former librarian, Jones received lifetime achievement awards from the American Library Association and the Catholic Library Association. View →

 

Leslie Josel

Leslie Josel is an award-winning academic/life coach for teens and college students, who founded Order Out of Chaos to help students learn the skills they need to succeed in learning and in life. She is also an award-winning author, creator of an academic planner that helps students… View →

 

Arie Kaplan

Arie Kaplan has written jokes and comedy sketches for the television series TruTV Presents: World’s Dumbest…. He has also written humor articles for MAD Magazine. Aside from his work as a comedy writer, Arie has written numerous nonfiction books for young… View →