Watch our video interviews with top middle grade and young adult (YA) authors and illustrators to hear the stories behind their stories. Learn about their childhoods, the teachers who influenced them, why they became writers, and insightful details about their research and writing process.
Our video interviews are a great resource for your classroom author study units. For ideas on how to plan and lead an author study, see our Author Study Toolkit. For more ideas to engage reluctant or struggling readers, visit the Diverse Books Project or browse the Book Finder.
Poetry, Fiction
Kwame Alexander
Poetry, Fiction
Mary Amato
Historical Fiction, Science Fiction, Adventure
M.T. Anderson
Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels
Tom Angleberger
Nonfiction
Marc Aronson
Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery, Short Stories
Avi
Fantasy
Leigh Bardugo
Mystery, Humor, Fiction
Mac Barnett
Fantasy, Nonfiction
T.A. Barron
Fiction
Joan Bauer
Fiction
Judy Blume
Historial Fiction, Biography, Nonfiction
Tonya Bolden
Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
Libba Bray
Author
Stuart H. Brody
Nonfiction
Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Historical Fiction, Mystery, Fantasy, Fiction
Gennifer Choldenko
Fiction
Michelle Coles
Nonfiction, Nature and Science
Sneed Collard
Historial Fiction, Fiction
Christopher Paul Curtis
Fantasy, Fiction
Chris d’Lacey
Fiction
Matt de la Peña
Fiction
Kate DiCamillo
Historial Fiction
L.M. Elliott
Biography, Poetry, Novel in Verse
Margarita Engle
Illustrator, Fiction
Timothy Basil Ering
Biography, Historical Fiction, Adventure, Humor
Sid Fleischman
Biography, Nonfiction, Fiction
Candace Fleming
Memoir, Fiction
Jack Gantos
Fiction
John Green
Biography, Nonfiction
Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan
Fiction
Margaret Peterson Haddix
Fairy Tales, Folktales and Myths, Fantasy, Fiction
Shannon Hale
Fiction, Historical Fiction
Laurie Halse Anderson
Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction
Emma Walton Hamilton
Biography, Nonfiction
Deborah Heiligman
Fiction and Fantasy
Donna Barba Higuera
Fiction, Graphic Novels
Jennifer Holm
Nonfiction
Philip M. Hoose
Historical Fiction, Mystery, Nonfiction
Deborah Hopkinson
Fantasy, Fiction
Norton Juster
Folktales, Fantasy, Fiction
Erin Entrada Kelly
Fiction, Humor, Graphic Novels
Jeff Kinney
Biography, Nonfiction
Kathleen Krull
Illustrator, Fiction
E.B. Lewis
Fairy Tales, Folktales and Myths, Fantasy, Fiction
Grace Lin
Fiction
E. Lockhart
Fantasy, Science Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fiction
Lois Lowry
Fiction, Humor
David Lubar
Fiction, Historical Fiction, Nonfiction
Kekla Magoon
Nonfiction, History of Children’s Books and Authors
Leonard Marcus
Memoir, Nonfiction, Nature and Science
Sy Montgomery
Fiction
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Illustrator, Biography, Nonfiction
Kadir Nelson
Poetry, Fiction
Naomi Shihab Nye
Historial Fiction, Fiction
Linda Sue Park
Fiction, Graphic Novels
Stephan Pastis
Historial Fiction, Fiction
Katherine Paterson
Adventure, Historical Fiction, Fiction
Rodman Philbrick
Fantasy
Tamora Pierce
Fantasy
Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell
Fairy Tales, Folktales and Myths, Fantasy
Rick Riordan
Historial Fiction, Fiction
Pam Muñoz Ryan
Mystery, Historial Fiction, Fiction
Brian Selznick
Fantasy, Mystery, Science Fiction/Dystopian, Fiction
Neal Shusterman
Nonfiction, Children’s Books and Authors
Anita Silvey
Poetry, Nonfiction
Marilyn Singer
Nonfiction, Sports, Photography
Charles Smith
Fiction and Fantasy
Cynthia Leitich Smith
Historial Fiction
Sherri L. Smith
Fiction
Jerry Spinelli
Thriller, Horror
R.L. Stine
Biography, Nonfiction, Fiction
Tanya Lee Stone
Nonfiction, Math
Greg Tang
Fiction
Angie Thomas
Biography, Mystery, Historical Fiction
Rosemary Wells
Historial Fiction, Fiction
Rita Williams-Garcia
Poetry, Fiction
Janet Wong
Memoir, Poetry, Fiction
Jacqueline Woodson
Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Nonfiction, Graphic Novels
Gene Luen Yang
Historical Fiction, Short Stories
Laurence Yep
Fantasy, Folktales, Science Fiction, Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction
Jane Yolen
Fiction, Historical Fiction, Nonfiction