Carmella Van Vleet is a former kindergarten teacher who now writes
full-time. She's the author of over a dozen books including the
award-winning middle-grade novel Eliza Bing Is (Not) A Big, Fat
Quitter and the picture book To the Stars! The First American Woman
to Walk in Space (co-authored with astronaut Kathy Sullivan).
Carmella lives in Columbus, Ohio.
Chiquita Mullins Lee is an Arts Learning coordinator at the Ohio
Arts Council (OAC) where she manages Ohio's Poetry Out Loud and
Arts Partnership programs. She is a former teaching artist in
creative writing on the OAC teaching artist roster, hosted the
Emmy-award winning program Traditions- Ohio Heritage Fellows, and
has served on the Arts Education review panel for the National
Endowment for the Arts.
Jennifer Mack-Watkins is a printmaker whose work investigates power
through the complexities of themes like womanhood, beauty, body
image, and gender roles. Her solo exhibition "Children of the Sun"
at Brattleboro Museum has been featured in the New York Times,
Vogue, and Essence Magazine. Read more about her work at
mackjennifer.com.
PRAISE FOR YOU GOTTA MEET MR. PIERCE!
THREE STARRED REVIEWS
Booklist Best Book of the Year 2023
Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's
Literature Best Book of 2023
Black Caucus American Library Association Best of the Best 2023
Cooperative Children’s Book Center 2024 Choice
2024 Young Readers Selection for the Great Reads from Great Places
Initiative of the Library of Congress Center
* "Thoughtful and enlightening." --Booklist, starred
review.
* "This thoughtfully constructed book tells an appealing story,
introduces a prolific
African American artist, and leaves readers to ponder the role of
formal training in art." --School Library Connection, starred
review.
* "The conversational framing imbues this picture book biography
with warmth and intimacy ... There’s plenty of fodder here for
themed storytimes on Black history and art." --The Bulletin of the
Center for Children's Books, starred review.
"Likely to spark some real love in conversations surrounding the
role of folk art, community outposts such as neighborhood
barbershops, and more." --School Library Journal
"An intimate encounter with an artist who should be better known."
--Kirkus Reviews
"The brief narrative works on several layers." --Horn Book
"Action words (“DRAPE /SNAP,” “SAND/DUST”) evoke movement and
expertise throughout, while Mack-Watkins’s use of woodcut textures
brings the subject’s medium to the fore." --Publishers
Weekly
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