Rita Williams Garcia, a Queens, New York native, is the celebrated author of novels for young adults and middle grade readers.  Her most recent novel, Clayton Byrd Goes Underground won the 2018 NAACP Image Award and was a 2017 National Book Award Finalist. Williams-Garcia is most known for her multiple award-winning Gaither Sisters trilogy.  She is both a three-time Coretta Scott King Author Award recipient and National Book Award Finalist. Her forthcoming historical novel, A Sitting in St. James marks her return to young adult fiction. 

Carole Boston Weatherford, author of Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre, has 60 books, including three Caldecott Honor winners: Freedom in Congo Square, Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, and Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom. Recent titles include BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom, By and By: Charles A. Tindley, The Father of Gospel Music, R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Aretha Franklin, The Queen of Soul, and The Roots of Rap: 16 Bars on the 4 Pillars of Hip Hop. Her latest release is Dreams for a Daughter. A two-time NAACP Image Award winner, she teaches at Fayetteville State University.

Rita Williams Garcia on A Sitting in St. James with Carole Boston Weatherford