Tom Angleberger is the bestselling author of “The Strange Case of Origami Yoda,” which won the 2010 E. B. White Read Aloud Award for middle readers, “Darth Paper Strikes Back,” and “Horton Halfpott,” a 2012 Edgar Award finalist, which Kirkus dubbed “a romp from start to finish.” He lives in Christiansburg, Virginia, with his wife, author and illustrator Cece Bell.

Cheryl Somers Aubin is the author of “The Survivor Tree” and has been writing and publishing for over twenty years.  Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, Boston Globe, Foundation Magazine and other newspapers, magazines, and on-line journals. She has a Master of Arts degree in Writing from Johns Hopkins University.

Sheila Harrington is a painter, illustrator, and graphic designer whose work has ranged from portraiture to print design to museum exhibition graphics. She is a partner with her artist/designer husband, James Symons, in the Washington, DC art and design firm Studio Five.

Fred Bowen, who writes the weekly KidsPost sports column in The Washington Post, is the author of 16 books of sports fiction (ages 8+) and a picture book biography of Red Sox legend Ted Williams titled No Easy Way. Bowen is not your usual sports-fiction writer; he always weaves a little real sports history into his fast-moving plots, and includes a history chapter at the back.  He likes showing kids that the games they play are part of a large rich tradition.  Bowen grew up in Massachusetts and now lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Tami Lewis Brown is the author of “The Map of Me,” a middle grade novel and “Soar, Elinor!,” a picture book biography, both published by Farrar Straus and Giroux. She left a career as a trial lawyer to earn an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College.

Michael Buckley is the New York Times bestselling author of “The Sisters Grimm” series. Born in Akron, Ohio, he tried his hand as a stand-up comic and lead singer for a punk rock back before attending Ohio University. After graduating with honors he moved to New York City to be an intern on the Late Show with David Letterman which led to stints developing programming for Discovery Networks, MTV, MTV Animation and Klasky Csupo (producers of Nickelodeon’s Rugrats). Today he lives in Brooklyn, New York with his wife, Alison, and their son Finn.

Sheela Chari is the author of the middle-grade novel, “Vanished” (Disney Hyperion), a 2012 APALA Children’s Literature Honor Book, and Edgar nominee for Best Juvenile mystery. Sheela has an MFA in Creative Writing from New York University, and lives in New York with her family. “Vanished” is her first novel.

Andrew Clements is the bestselling author of “Frindle,” a modern classic, in addition to dozens of other novels and picture books, including “No Talking and Extra Credit.” He has won two Christopher Awards and an Edgar Award. He lives in central Massachusetts.

K. Michael Crawford has been creating magical art and whimsical writing for Children’s Books since 1991. Michael’s latest drawing books, “The Mystery of Journey Crowne,” “The Island of Zadu,” “Batty Malgoony’s Mystic Carnivale” and “Professor Horton Hogwash’s Museum of Ridiculous” are part of a drawing series that gets children to use their imagination, to teach them how to figure things out and encourage them to make choices.

Kate Feiffer’s newest chapter book “Signed by Zelda” (Simon & Schuster) features a girl who believes there’s a secret hidden in every signature, a boy stuck in time-out, and a missing grandmother. Kate is the author of eleven popular books for children, including “Double Pink” (S&S) and “My Side of The Car” (Candlewick). Her book “My Mom is Trying to Ruin My Life” (S&S) is currently being adapted as a musical for the stage. Her latest picture book is “No Go Sleep,” (S&S) illustrated by her father, the Pulitzer prize-winning cartoonist Jules Feiffer.

Marty Rhodes Figley is the author of seventeen historically based books for young readers, including “The Schoolchildren’s Blizzard” and “Washington is Burning.” She graduated from Emily Dickinson’s Alma matre, Mount Holyoke College, with a degree in American Studies.  She is a member of the Emily Dickinson International Society, and her academic paper on Emily and Carlo was published in The Emily Dickinson Journal.  Marty lives in Annandale, Virginia with her husband and Airedale terrier, Scarlett.

Natalie Dias Lorenzi is a school librarian and teacher, specializing in teaching English as a Second Language. She has taught in Japan and Italy and now teaches in a Washington, DC-area school where 85% of the students are immigrants. In addition to writing for children, she is a contributing writer for Scholastic’s Instructor magazine, and creates curriculum guides to new books for writers and publishers. “Flying the Dragon” is her first novel.

Ann McCallum is the award-winning author of several children’s books, including two math fairytales and her newest math cookbook, “Eat Your Math Homework: Recipes for Hungry Minds.” In addition to writing, Ann works as a high school teacher in Maryland and has published scholarly works in addition to her children’s books.

Leah Taylor Jefferson is the author of “Horses of the Presidents” as well as co-author of two travel guides on Africa. She is working on her next book, “The Adventures of Oreo and Algonquin – Civil War Horse Tails.  Leah lives with her husband Steve in West Virginia with their dogs Alice and Shadow, their three cats Attitude, Milly and Gabriel. The real Oreo lives on a nearby farm, and will make an appearance at the Festival!