Carole Boston Weatherford is a children’s book author and poet who “mines the past for family stories, fading traditions, and forgotten struggles.” A number of Weatherford’s books tell the stories of African-American historical figures such as Harriet Tubman, Jesse Owens, and Billie Holiday. Other books recount historical events such as the Greensboro Sit-ins and the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. Weatherford’s books have received a wide variety of awards, including the 2022 Coretta Scott King Book Award for Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre.
Carol Jago taught English in middle and high school for more than 30 years and is a popular speaker at national education conferences. She is a past president of the National Council of Teachers of English, and serves as an associate director of the California Reading and Literature Project at UCLA.
