Steph Bowles is a wife, mom, and high school English teacher in New Jersey. You’re likely to find her cheering, loudly, for her two daughters at cheer competitions; perfecting new recipes from Pinterest; sneaking in time to write books; or crafting up engaging lessons that make her students want to devour literature. Whenever she can steal a moment alone, she’s riding her bike, napping, reading, or binge-watching Netflix with her family.

One of Rachele Alpine’s first jobs was at a library, but it didn’t last long, because all she did was hide in the third-floor stacks and read. Now she’s a little more careful about when and where she indulges her reading habit. Rachele is a high school English teacher by day, a wife and mother by night, and a writer during any time she can find in between. She lives in Cleveland, Ohio, where she writes middle grade and young adult novels. Visit her at RacheleAlpine.com.

Addy Rivera Sonda has loved creating characters and worlds on paper ever since she was a little girl, as everything was always possible there. Drawing was her magic power! Her favorite place is any bookstore that has that old book smell. Aside from drawing, her favorite hobbies are doing projects with her sister, who is a toy designer, and watching old Argentinian soap operas. It inspires her to think that stories and art are slowly but surely changing the way people understand themselves and perceive others, building empathy and a more inclusive world.