Ernest “Rip” Patton, Jr., a civil rights activist and a veteran of the Freedom Riders, was born in 1940 in Nashville, Tennessee. From a young age, Patton desired to see societal change due to his childhood memories of observing the harsh effects of racial segregation in his neighborhood. Patton attended Tennessee State University in 1960…
After being inspired by Dr. Patton’s remarkable commitment to advancing civil rights, Valerie Lott is pursuing a legal career. Before attending law school at Elon University School of Law, Valerie was inspired by young minds in the elementary and middle schools in which she taught. Valerie holds a degree in secondary English Education from Louisiana…
Maisha Oso writes stories to empower, entertain, and encourage emotional intelligence in young children. A former strategy & analytics professional from New York City, she is currently working in her most challenging role to date: a stay-at-home mom of three tiny humans. When she’s not writing, you can find her wrangling her kids, binge-watching an unhealthy amount…
Adrea Gist Theodore (MD, MPH) is a mom, a pediatrician, and a children’s book author from Durham, North Carolina. Growing up on Long Island, Adrea was the kind of girl who almost always had a book in her hand, a library card in her pocket, and a stack of books in the corner waiting to…
Marietta Apollonio was born in Tarrytown, New York. She spent most of her childhood making mud pies, swinging on rope swings attached to questionable trees, dancing, and recreating her grandmother’s paintings. She moved to Boston, Massachusetts, to earn her degree in Illustration from The Art Institute of Boston (now Lesley University College of Art and…
Annie Silvestro is a lover of books who can often be found shuffling piles of them around so she has a place to sit or someplace to put her teacup. She is the author of DYLAN’S DRAGON, SUGAR AND SPICE AND EVERYTHING MICE, BUNNY’S BOOK CLUB GOES TO SCHOOL, BUTTERFLIES ON THE FIRST DAY OF…
Ever since I was old enough to hold a pen in my awkward 5-year-old fingers, I have loved putting my thoughts down on paper in the form of poetry. When I was very young, I wrote about childish things like climbing trees and scraping my knees. As I lived through adolescence, I wrote about love…