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 →
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 →
Carla Carreon
Based in San Francisco, Carla Carreon enjoys sparkly beverages and adventures and is a master at doing dishes. She co-founded the blog Alyssa & Carla, which features accessible recipes and travel adventures. When not cooking or out of the country, she’s working as a… View →
Ty Chapman
Ty Chapman is the author of Sarah Rising (Beaming 2022); Looking for Happy (Beaming 2023); A Door Made for Me, written with Tyler Merritt (WorthyKids 2022); as well as multiple forthcoming children’s books through various publishers, and a forthcoming poetry collection through… 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 →
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 →
Christina Ellis
Christina Ellis is an African-Caribbean American activist based in Pennsylvania. She served as the vice president of the Panther Anti-Racist Union during the 2021-2022 school year. Christina, fellow officers, and others worked together to reverse a book ban that her school district… 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 →
Ella Grace Foutz
Ella Grace Foutz is writer based in northern Ohio. She earned her bachelor of arts in liberal arts from Southern Virginia University where she worked with New York Times bestselling author Orson Scott Card. When away from her notebooks, she is also a performing musician, bread-maker, and 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 →
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 →
Edha Gupta
Edha Gupta is an activist who served as the president of the Panther Anti-Racist Union during the 2021-2022 school year. Edha and fellow officers successfully protested a school board decision to ban more than 300+ books on diversity education throughout the Central York School District. 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 →