The Children's Author & Illustrator Fall Preview will be held Wednesday, May 19, 2-3 p.m. Eastern. The powerhouse panel features acclaimed award winners, dynamic debuts, amazing artists, and classic children's book writers for readers of all ages. This hour-long discussion will be moderated by Brein Lopez of Children's Book World, Los Angeles, Calif.
Panelists are:
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| Terry Fan | |
Terry Fan and Eric Fan, creators of It Fell from the Sky (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $17.99, 9781534457621, Picture Book, September 28).
From the creators of the critically acclaimed The Night Gardener and Ocean Meets Sky comes a whimsical and elegantly illustrated picture book about community, art, the importance of giving back—and the wonder that fell from the sky.
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| Eric Fan | |
Terry Fan received his formal art training at Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto, Canada. His work is a blend of traditional and contemporary techniques, using ink or graphite mixed with digital. He spends his days (and nights) creating magical paintings, portraits, and prints.
Eric Fan is an artist and writer who lives in Toronto, Canada. Born in Hawaii and raised in Toronto, he attended the Ontario College of Art and Design, where he studied illustration, sculpture, and film. He has a passion for vintage bikes, clockwork contraptions, and impossible dreams.
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| Sharon Draper | |
Sharon M. Draper, author of Out of My Heart (Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, $18.99, 9781665902168, Middle Grade, September 28).
Melody faces her fears to follow her passion in this stunning sequel to the acclaimed, New York Times bestselling middle grade novel Out of My Mind.
Sharon M. Draper is a three-time New York Times bestselling author and a recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award honoring her significant and lasting contribution to writing for teens. She has received the Coretta Scott King Award for both Copper Sun and Forged by Fire, and was awarded the Charlotte Huck Award for Stella by Starlight. Her novel Out of My Mind has won multiple awards and was a New York Times bestseller for over three years, and Blended has also been a New York Times bestseller. She lives in Florida, where she taught high school English for twenty-five years and was named National Teacher of the Year.
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| Jason Patterson and Dan Abdo | |
Dan Abdo and Jason Patterson, creators of Barb the Last Berzerker (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $13.99, 9781534485716, Graphic Novel, September 28).
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power meets Dav Pilkey's Dog Man in this sidesplitting graphic novel about a young Berzerker who has to rescue her fellow warriors from the evil villain Witch Head before he destroys the world! Book One of Barb the Last Bezerker.
For the past ten years, award-winning duo Dan Abdo and Jason Patterson have developed numerous animated campaigns, network TV and web series, and critically acclaimed commercial work. Their extensive portfolio has garnered them industry-wide recognition, while their humorous sensibility and diverse skill set has landed them jobs for top global brands. Dan and Jason have set up properties at Twentieth Century Fox, Disney, and Nickelodeon as well as a feature animated film through Paramount Pictures. The well-versed storytellers have developed original content for a wide variety of platforms, including print (Nickelodeon Comics, The New Yorker), theater (Pilobolus), and digital.
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| Gayle Forman | |
Gayle Forman, author of Frankie & Bug (Aladdin, $17.99, 9781534482531, Middle Grade, October 12).
From #1 New York Times bestselling YA author Gayle Forman comes a poignant yet powerful coming-of-age story. Set in the 1980s in California, Forman's debut middle grade novel follows a young girl and her new friend as they learn about family, friendship, allyship, and finding your way in a complicated world over the course of one eventful summer.
Gayle Forman is an award-winning author and journalist whose articles have appeared in numerous publications, including Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, and Elle in the U.S. Gayle Forman's novel If I Stay was released as a blockbuster movie starring Chloë Grace Moretz in 2014. Her most recent YA novel is We Are Inevitable. Gayle lives in Brooklyn, New York with her family.
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| Jason Reynolds | |
Jason Reynolds, author, and Raúl the Third, illustrator, of Stuntboy, in the Meantime (Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, $13.99, 9781534418165, Middle Grade, November 9).
From Newbery Medal honoree and #1 New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds comes a hilarious, hopeful, and action-packed middle grade novel about the greatest young superhero you've never heard of, filled with illustrations by Raúl the Third!
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| Raúl the Third | |
Jason Reynolds is a Newbery Award Honoree, a Printz Award Honoree, a two-time National Book Award finalist, a Kirkus Award winner, a two-time Walter Dean Myers Award winner, an NAACP Image Award Winner, and the recipient of multiple Coretta Scott King honors. He's also the 2020–2021 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. His many books include Stamped, When I Was the Greatest, The Boy in the Black Suit, All American Boys (cowritten with Brendan Kiely), As Brave as You, For Every One, the Track series (Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and Lu), Look Both Ways, and Long Way Down, which received a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, and a Coretta Scott King Honor. He lives in Washington, D.C.
Raúl the Third is an award-winning illustrator, author, and artist living in Boston. His work centers around the contemporary Mexican American experience and his memories of growing up in El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Raúl contributed to the SpongeBob Comics series and illustrated the Texas Bluebonnet Award-winning Lowriders in Space and the Pura Belpré Award-winning Lowriders to the Center of the Earth, both written by Cathy Camper.
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| Benjamin Alire Sáenz | |
Benjamin Alire Sáenz, author of Aristotle & Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $19.99, 9781534496194, Teen, October 12).
The highly anticipated sequel to the critically acclaimed, multiple award-winning novel Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is an achingly romantic, tender tale sure to captivate fans of Adam Silvera and Mary H.K. Choi.
Benjamin Alire Sáenz is an author of poetry and prose for adults and teens. He is the winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and the American Book Award for his books for adults. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe was a Printz Honor Book, the Stonewall Award winner, the Pura Belpré Award winner, the Lambda Literary Award winner, and a finalist for the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award. His first novel for teens, Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood, was an ALA Top Ten Book for Young Adults and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His second book for teens, He Forgot to Say Goodbye, won the Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award, the Southwest Book Award, and was named a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age. He teaches creative writing at the University of Texas, El Paso.