MSLA 2017 Conference

Mitali Perkins has written twelve novels for young people, including You Bring the Distant Near (nominated for the National Book Award), Rickshaw Girl (a New York Public Library top 100 books for children in 100 years; film coming soon), and Tiger Boy (winner of the South Asia Book... Read More →

The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher was her first novel, and has received several starred reviews, been placed on a number of “Best Of” lists, and is on five state reading lists. The companion novel, The Family Fletcher Takes Rock Island, was released in May 2016. Her newest... Read More →

Ife Oshun is the author of the Angelica Brown series, and its upcoming spinoff series To Protect and Serve. Raised on a strict diet of music and sci-fi/fantasy, she attended the Rhode Island School of Design and Brown University. There, while working in local music promotion and as... Read More →

Jennifer is the author of many award-winning children’s books including Small as an Elephant (Parents' Choice Gold Award), Paper Things (ILA Social Justice Award) and her newest launch, The Dollar Kids illustrated by Ryan Andrews (Indie Next List and Amazon Book of the Month).  This... Read More →

Kathleen Benner Duble had sixteen car accidents before she was twenty-one.  Being an at-home writer keeps her from hitting the road (or anyone else)!  She is the author of nine books for children.  Kathleen loves digging for unique historical fiction plotlines and encouraging students... Read More →

Kristy Acevedo is a Young Adult author and high school English teacher. A member of SCBWI,she has her M.A.T. in English from Bridgewater State University and has taught high school in Massachusetts for sixteen years. CONSIDER, her debut novel, won the 2015 PEN New England Susan P... Read More →

Lauren Wolk is a novelist, poet, visual artist, and Associate Director at the Cultural Center of Cape Cod. Her middle grade novel, Wolf Hollow, is a 2017 Newbery Honor as well as the winner of the 2016 New England Book Award. Her next book, Beyond the Bright Sea, will be available in May 2017... Read More →

Loree Griffin Burns has written several titles in Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s popular ‘Scientists in the Field’ series, including Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion and Beetle Busters: A Rogue Insect and the People Who Track It. Her next title... Read More →

Megan Frazer Blakemore’s middle grade novels include The Firefly Code, The Friendship Riddle, The Spy Catchers of Maple Hill, and The Water Castle, the latter of which was named Kirkus Best Children’s Book of 2013, a Bank Street College Best Book 2014, a Junior Library Guild... Read More →

Melissa Stewart is the award-winning author of more than 180 nonfiction books for children, including Seashells: More than a Home, Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes and Stinkers: Celebrating Animal Underdogs, and Can an Aardvark Bark. She is the co-author, with Nancy Chesley, of Perfect Pairs... Read More →

The author of 10 young adult novels, Nancy Werlin decided to become a writer in the fourth grade when she realized that there were actual, real, living people whose job it was to write books. Among her award-winning novels are THE KILLER'S COUSIN, which won the Edgar award for best... Read More →

Nate Ball is the host of the Emmy and Peabody award-winning PBS reality shows Design Squad and Design Squad Nation. An MIT graduate with a master’s in mechanical engineering, He is the co-author of the Alien in my Pocket series. Nate is also the cofounder of Atlas Devices, a two-time... Read More →

Sarah Albee is the New York Times bestselling author of more than 100 books for kids, including recent nonfiction titles Why’d They Wear That? (National Geographic) and Bugged: How Insects Changed History (Walker/Bloomsbury). She enjoys visiting schools and presenting to kids of... Read More →

Susan’s first picture books were published in fall 2012, but she’s not a newcomer to children’s publishing. Susan was the Children’s Content Director of Nick Jr. Magazine, where she edited original stories by the winners of the Caldecott Medal, the Coretta Scott King Book... Read More →

In 2016 the book, Voice of Freedom, Fannie Lou Hamer: Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement, garnered a Caldecott Honor, a Sibert Honor, the Flora Stieglitz Strauss Award from Bank Street College and is a Boston Globe-Horn Book Nonfiction Honor Book. Holmes won the Society of Illustrators... Read More →

Scott Magoon is the author-illustrator of Breathe, a Kirkus Reviews Best Read Aloud, a Huffington Post Best Book of 2014, and Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2014; and The Boy Who Cried Bigfoot, which Kirkus Reviews called, “Entertaining and clever—and that’s no lie... Read More →

Ethan and Vita Murrow work collaboratively on a variety of artistic projects including writing, video, film, drawing and photography. In addition, Vita is the director of a literacy project in Massachusetts. Their book The Whale is a story of two children determined to find the Great... Read More →

Raul Gonzalez is the 2017 Pura Belpre Illustrator Award recipient for Lowriders to the Center of the Earth. His previous graphic novel, Lowriders in Space, was nominated for a Texas BlueBonnet Award 2016-2017. In 2011, he collaborated with over 125 kids from all over the city of... Read More →