Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America

Author Bio: Brenda Watson CNC

Brenda Watson, CNC, is the bestselling author of The Fiber35 Diet: Nature’s Weight Loss Secret and one of the foremost dietary authorities in America today. She has gained national recognition with her televised PBS special Brenda Watson’s H.O.P.E. Formula: The Ultimate Health Secret. She has two grown children and currently lives in Florida with her husband, Stan, and their dogs.

Author Bio: Rita Williams-Garcia

Rita Williams-Garcia is the author of the Newbery Honor–winning novel One Crazy Summer, which was also a winner of the Coretta Scott King Award, a National Book Award finalist, and winner of the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction. She is also the author of several other novels for young adults, including Jumped, a National Book Award finalist; Every Time a Rainbow Dies, a Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Book; Fast Talk on a Slow Track, an ALA Best Books for Young Adults; and Like Sisters on the Homefront, a Coretta Scott King Honor Book. She is on the faculty at the Vermont College of Fine Arts in the program for writing for children and young adults.

Author Bio: Jason Reynolds

Jason Reynolds is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, a Newbery Award Honoree, a Printz Award Honoree, a two-time National Book Award finalist, a Kirkus Award winner, a Carnegie Medal winner, a two-time Walter Dean Myers Award winner, an NAACP Image Award Winner, and the recipient of multiple Coretta Scott King honors. He is also the 2020–2021 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. His many books include Long Way Down, which received a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, and a Coretta Scott King Honor. You can find his ramblings at JasonWritesBooks.com.

Author Bio: Tracey Baptiste

Tracey Baptiste was born in Trinidad, where she grew up on jumbie stories and fairy tales, and decided to be a writer at the wise old age of three. Her debut, a young-adult novel titled Angel’s Grace, was named one of the 100 best books for reading and sharing by New York City librarians. She is a former teacher, textbook editor, ballerina, and amateur librarian who once started up a library in her house. She writes and edits books for kids.

Author Bio: Coe Booth

Coe Booth is the author of Tyrell, Kendra, Bronxwood, and Kinda like Brothers, among other books. She is a graduate of The New School’s Writing for Children MFA program and a winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Fiction.

Author Bio: Liara Tamani

Liara Tamani lives in Houston, Texas. She recieved an MFA in writing from Vermont College. Her fiction has appeared in Apalachee Review, Blackbird, Ducts, Fourteen Hills, The Griffin, and Storyscape Journal, among others. In addition to writing, she teaches the healing movement forms of Nia and yoga.

Author Bio: Renée Watson

Renée Watson is the author of This Side of Home, which was nominated for the Best Fiction for Young Adults by the American Library Association. Her picture book Harlem’s Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills received several honors including an NAACP Image Award nomination in children’s literature. She is also the founder of the I, Too Arts Collective and currently teaches courses on writing for children at University of New Haven and Pine Manor College.

Author Bio: Jay Coles

Jay Coles is a graduate of Vincennes University and Ball State University. When he’s not writing diverse books, he’s advocating for them, teaching middle school students, and composing for various music publishers.

Author Bio: Leah Henderson