Bob Mayer is a New York Times Bestselling author, graduate of West Point, and former Green Beret. He’s had over 75 books published and sold over 5 million, including the #1 series Time Patrol, The Green Berets, Area 51, and Atlantis. Born in the Bronx, having traveled the world (usually not tourist spots), he now lives peacefully at an undisclosed location.

Born and raised in Southern California, Brit Bennett graduated from Stanford University and earned her MFA in fiction at the University of Michigan, where she won a Hopwood Award in Graduate Short Fiction as well as the 2014 Hurston/Wright Award for College Writers. She is a National Book Foundation "5 under 35" honoree, and her essays are featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The Paris Review, and Jezebel.

Young Author's Day Keynote, Jason Reynolds, is a New York Times bestselling author who writes novels and poetry for young adult and middle-grade audiences. His most recent book, Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks, was a National Book Award finalist and was named one of the best books of 2019 by NPR, The New York Times, School Library Journal, and more. Look Both Ways is composed of interconnected stories, each centering on a different student from the same school and tells what happens after the dismissal bell rings, brilliantly reminding readers to look at our surroundings more closely and notice all the things that connect us to our communities.

Born in Washington, DC, and raised in Maryland, Reynolds first found inspiration in rap and began writing poetry when he was nine years old. He went on to publish several poetry collections before publishing his first novel, When I Was the Greatest, which won the Corretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent. He has since written numerous award-winning novels, including All American Boys, the Track series, Patina, Sunny, For Everyone, Miles Morales-Spiderman, and As Brave As You, which won the Kirkus Prize, an NAACP Image Award, and the Schneider Family Book Award. He is also the author of Long Way Down, a novel in verse which was named a Newberry Honor book, a Printz Honor Book, and best young adult work by the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Awards.

Reynolds’ forthcoming book, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, written in collaboration with author and historian Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, is a gripping, fast-paced, and energizing narrative that illuminates the many insidious forms of racist ideas and give readers the tools to identify and stamp out racist thoughts in their own lives. Based on Kendi’s National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning, Reynolds has re-imagined this ground-breaking work for young adults and provides an accessible book that helps young readers understand race and  society.

Reynolds currently lives and writes in Washington, DC.

Laura Munson is the New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of the novel Willa’s Grove and the memoir This Is Not The Story You Think It Is. She has been published in nine countries and has been featured in Vanity Fair, Elle, Redbook, Time, Newsweek, Washington Post, Publisher’s Weekly and published in the New York Times’ “Modern Love” Column, the New York Times Magazine “Lives” Column, O. Magazine, and many others.

Laura is the founder of the acclaimed Haven Writing Retreat, speaks at women’s conferences and literary events, and has appeared on Good Morning America, The Early Show, NPR, and media outlets across the globe. She lives in Montana.