Posts Tagged historical fiction

Author Spotlight: Sheila Turnage

head shotIn today’s Author Spotlight, Jo Hackl chats with author Sheila Turnage about her new children’s historical fiction book, Island of Spies. She’ll share the real historical events that inspired it, the setting that influenced it, and even give us a hint about her next writing project.

 

Book Summary:

book coverTwelve-year-old Stick Lawson lives on Hatteras Island, North Carolina, where life moves steady as the tides, and mysteries abound as long as you look really hard for them. Stick and her friends Rain and Neb are good at looking hard. They call themselves the Dime Novel Kids. And the only thing Stick wants more than a paying case for them to solve is the respect that comes with it. But on Hatteras, the tides are changing. World War II looms, curious newcomers have appeared on the small island, and in the waters off its shores, a wartime menace lurks that will upend Stick’s life and those of everyone she loves. The Dimes are about to face more mysteries than they ever could have wished for, and risk more than they ever could have imagined.

Interview with Sheila Turnage

JH: Island of Spies takes a little-known historical detail about World War II and turns it into an intriguing and un-putdownable mystery featuring the Dime Novel Kids. Can you tell us about the inspiration for the story?  

ST: Right!  Island of Spies is historical fiction for kids, set on Hatteras Island, NC, in 1942 – in the first months of World War II.  At its heart lies a secret bit of US history – the many attacks of Nazi U-Boats, or submarines, on supply ships and passenger ships moving up and down the East Coast.

Those U-Boats not only sank ships, they also put Nazi spies ashore.  The U-Boats’ favorite hunting area?  The tricky waters off the coast of Hatteras Island.  The Graveyard of the Atlantic.

In Island of Spies, three island kids who dream of being famous detectives realize someone on Hatteras Island is a spy, and they do what any brave, smart kids would do: They set out to identify and help capture the spy, to protect their home and the people they love.

I first caught a glimpse of this little-known history when I was about nine years old.  As I walked along the Hatteras Island shore with my father, I spotted a large, black blob on the white sand beach.  What was it?

 “That’s oil,” Daddy said. “In World War II, German U-Boats sat right out there, torpedoing our ships. The ships still sit on the bottom of the sea, releasing oil for the ocean to churn ashore. That’s our secret history. So are the spies.”

 I was hooked.

 A bit later, my family climbed the Hatteras Lighthouse.  At the top I stepped into what becomes, in Island of Spies, the office of our heroes –Stick, Neb, and Rain—the Dime Novel Kids. I saw what narrator Stick Lawson sees when she looks out the window, scanning for U-Boats and spies…

Bit by bit, through research and interviews, the story fell in place over the years.

And now here it is, in Island of Spies.

JH: I love how you took inspiration from these historical events and created an immersive mystery. What appeals to you about writing mysteries? 

ST: I love mysteries in general because I like solving them along with the characters.

As a writer, I find a good mystery makes you think beyond character interaction to the rise and fall of the mystery’s storyline.  So the emotional storyline rises and falls with the mystery’s plotline.  And to me that’s fun – and also a challenge, as a writer.

On a personal and possibly devious note, I also enjoy hiding clues from my readers.

JH: Speaking of characters, each of your characters comes alive and seems to jump off the page and into readers’ hearts.  Can you tell us about your process for creating such original and memorable characters, each with unique talents and perspectives?   

ST: Wow, thanks for saying that.  I’m glad you like them.  I like them and I think readers do too – one reason the book pops up on SIBA’s bestsellers list from time to time, and possibly one reason it also won the Grateful American Book Prize Honor for historical fiction for middle-grade readers.

When I write, I first listen for my characters’ voices in my imagination, and try to capture their rhythm and their voice.  I listen, I write.  I call it creative eavesdropping.

It usually takes lots of drafts to get it right.  At first, I write without worrying too much about balance.  I just try to capture the voices.  In a later draft I look at the characters more objectively, to make sure they aren’t too similar, and to make sure I know what each character fears most, and what each character wants most in this world.

Once I know those things, I start fine-tuning the characters.  I make sure each character changes in the course of the book.  It seems to work out.  And of course, I make the details within the story fit the place and times.

JH: Congratulations on your Grateful American Book Prize Honor!  So well-deserved!  Sticking with the theme of characters for a bit more, Neb, Rain and Stick are perfect and evocative names.  Can you tell us about the inspiration for each character’s name?

ST: Sure!  I love character names.  And since they get repeated so much in a book, I like for mine to carry a double meaning, a reminder of who the characters are as the story moves along.

Neb is short for Nebuchadnezzar.  His Biblical name reflects his mother’s character, and the idea that he’s trapped a bit by his family’s traditions and history – especially by the fact that his father used to be the keeper of the Hatteras Lighthouse.  Religion was huge on the Islands, and it is in Neb’s mother’s life.  And I like the name shortened to Neb because that’s a stubborn sound, and a determined one.

Neb is both stubborn and determined.  He’s also very funny.

Stick’s name is an unusual name, one that “sticks” with you.  I think her name reflects her originality, and courage.  She’s a stand-up kid, plainspoken and true.  She’s determined to be a scientist at a time when girls rarely had that opportunity, for instance, and she will not be denied.  And at the same time Stick is a shortened version of a family name, Stickley.  So, both old and new.

Rain’s name I love because in the story, the word bridges Rain’s mother’s world and Stick’s mother’s world.  It also connects water, air and land.  The name Rain feels soft, innocent, and nourishing.  Like Rain herself.

Together, those three characters are the Dime Novel Kids, and the heart of this book.

JH: You created complex characters, not only in the Dime Novel Kids but also with the authorities and potential spies with whom they interacted. Can you tell us a bit about your process for creating the adult characters?

ST: My process is the same regardless of the character’s age.  First, I listen for the character’s voice in my imagination and make quick notes.  As I get to know them, I uncover their secret fears and hopes.  Knowing those things lets me focus the characters, which makes them consistent, and that helps them come to life.

In this case, I also used history sources and island ethnographies compiled by the National Park Service to help define the details of the characters’ lives, so they were true to that very specific time in our history.

 JH: Who was your favorite character to write and why? 

 ST: Rain was the most complex because of the language barrier and her relationship with her mom, who suffered so during her shipwreck.  I love writing all of my characters, but Rain was a particular delight because she was such a mystery in the beginning.

Stick was the most fun because she is so funny and smart, and so vulnerable in her own way.

JH: Your story is set on Hatteras Island, a North Carolina barrier island, and features a little-known aspect of WWII history. Can you tell us about your research process? 

ST: The story evolved over the years, through beach trips, through an interview with a man who grew up in the lighthouse compound like Neb does, through old-timers’ stories of blackout curtains and sinking ships, through tons of research, museum trips, and more beach trips.

Once I decided to write the story, I did lots of deliberate research on the era – reading books, studying internet sites, studying CIA reports, spy information, etc.  All of the spy gizmos and codes in this book are based on things spies really used, information that was fun to work with.

And because I live in Eastern North Carolina, I’ve heard stories all of my life of the Nazi spies who came ashore and of the ships being torpedoed. I heard those stories from people who saw those things – who heard the explosions, who saw the ships burning out on the sea.  So I relied on first-person, anecdotal information, too.

JH: What was the most surprising thing that you learned in your research process? 

ST: I don’t think I really understood how terrified Americans were at the beginning of World War II.  Think about it: They had already been attacked by Japan at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii – to the west of mainland USA.  And weeks later, as this story opens, Nazi Germany’s U-boats attack the rich shipping lanes off of North Carolina, to the east, where tricky currents made those ships sitting ducks.  Boom!  Boom!  Boom!

Ship after ship went down.

I also didn’t fully realize that the US couldn’t respond to the U-Boat attacks at first, because so much of our Navy had been damaged at Pearl Harbor.  And I didn’t realize the government deliberately kept news of the German attacks as low-key as possible, to keep America from panicking.  I didn’t realize just how alone the people on Hatteras Island must have felt.

And frankly, I didn’t know there were so many spies in the United States.

JH: I never knew that either. And now your readers have an insight that many Americans didn’t. What was your favorite scene to write?

ST: I loved writing them all.  But maybe the scene where the first ship goes down, just offshore.  That was fun to write because it was so scary!

JH: What would you most like for readers to take away from Island of Spies

ST: I’d like for them to have fun solving the spy mystery along with the Dime Novel Kids, and to learn something about our history along the way.

JH: What’s next for you in terms of writing projects?

ST: I’m hard at work on a new mystery, set in North Carolina.  In it are one murder and two miracles.  I don’t know the title yet, but as soon as I uncover it, I will let you know!

JH:  It sounds intriguing! I can’t wait to read it!

Lightning Round!

No MUF interview is complete without a lightning round, so. . . .

Favorite cities (besides the one in which you live):  Chicago,  Savannah, and Florence, Italy.

Favorite musical group or artist:  I like so many, I don’t really have a favorite.  As I wrote Island of Spies, I listened to lots of 1940’s music.  Swing, jazz.  The Andrews Sisters, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller…

Would you rather be able to speak every language in the world or talk to animals? 

 Talk to animals, of course!

Favorite ice cream flavor?  Banana walnut.

Do you prefer mountains or beaches or somewhere in between?  I love both but if I could visit only one, it would be the beach.  I feel so content there.

Favorite childhood TV show?  Superman.  And Mighty Mouse.  Hmm.  Maybe it’s the cape.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?  Just sit down and write.  Keep writing to the end even if the first draft’s ugly, because you can always go back and polish it up.

JH: Excellent advice!  Many thanks for making time to visit with us today!

About the Author

Sheila Turnage grew up on a family farm in North Carolina near Tupelo Landing, where the Mo & Dale Mysteries are set, and a couple hours from Hatteras Island, where Island of Spies takes place. She decided to become a writer in first grade, when she wrote her first story. Her teachers helped her.  She went to college at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC, and earned a degree in anthropology.  She has written books for adults, poetry, magazine articles – but says that writing for kids is the best.  She says that characters like Mo and Dale, and Stick, Neb, and Rain are fun to write.  They’re smart, funny and brave.

She still lives on the farm she grew up on, along with her husband Rodney, their dog Callie, a flock of chickens, a bossy goose, and a couple of sweet-faced goats.  They have a tin roof, and rain sounds beautiful on it.  This year they planted a small meadow of wildflowers out front.  They are loving it.  So are the deer.

Perspective in MG Lit: Lessons in Empathy

I read an APA article recently that quoted a Stanford psychologist who referred to empathy as the “psychological ‘superglue’” that helps us all to react with kindness, understanding, and support. Empathy is one of greatest, most important life lessons for anyone, any age, any background; it fosters cooperation, inclusivity, forgiveness, and volunteerism; it can serve as both a preventative and an antidote for conflicts and disagreements on matters personal, political, familial, environmental, and worldly.

Many schools and classrooms actively or subtly coach the development of empathy. The middle grade ELA classroom offers prime opportunities for coaching empathy because many MG readers are still developing the cognitive and social tools needed to perceive someone else’s point of view. And let’s face it, the middle grades (well, school in general) can be a hazardous proving ground to navigate with the potential for strong emotions, communication struggles, and impulsivity; generally speaking, middle graders can benefit from lessons in empathy to better weather the storm.

Since the ability to perceive issues and conflicts from another’s perspective is key to an empathetic reaction, teachers, librarians, and homeschooling parents have consistent opportunities to coach empathy in group study by introducing, reviewing, and analyzing point-of-view as a story element. Discussing the viewpoints and perspectives of fictitious characters (rather than friends, family, and other real people) can provide and promote a safe space for exploring emotions and observing the empathetic reactions of peers. In thinking how that article and others might be useful in MG lit instruction and the coaching of empathy, here are some interpretations and takeaways:

  1. Offer the chance to students to practice empathy toward a variety of characters. It might be easy to empathize with the comfortable familiarity of the I-voice character, the character who looks and speaks in ways similar to their own appearance and speech, or the central character whose conflict is often made clear. Discuss instead why readers might try to empathize with the antagonist, with a character who is different from the reader in multiple ways, or with a character whose actions cannot easily be explained by a clearly stated conflict. Readers should strive to see implied motivations, points of connection, and new, potentially challenging perspectives.
  2. It’s actually not about “stepping into someone’s shoes.” Readers shouldn’t try to empathize by imagining themselves (as exactly who they are) in the problem or conflict, because each reader’s experiences, being different, have the potential to change or remold the problem or circumstances around their own preferences, needs, and background. Instead, practice “other-oriented” empathy, which would encourage the reader to focus closely on how and what and why the character is feeling—and how, therefore, the character’s actions might be explained or interpreted.
  3. As teachers, librarians, writers, and parents, we want readers to have an appropriate emotional reaction to a book; readers shouldn’t, though, let themselves become burdened with a character’s suffering or sadness.

Some classroom activities that may help to develop empathy:

  • Rewrite a scene from a secondary character’s perspective.
  • Focusing on a character’s drastic or surprising decision, create a “Top 5 Reasons Why” list to explain implied or explicit reasons for the choice.
  • Represent a character’s emotions in a symbolic, stylized collage, design, piece of music, or poem.
  • Review the subtext of a scene and a character’s movements and body language to practice interpreting nonverbals.
  • Extend reader understanding of a character’s role in the story (or a key figure’s role in nonfiction) with a character interview (crafting that character’s first-person responses) or a diary entry (written as that character).

Some works that offer the potential for empathy-building strategies, discussion, and activities (though, happily, most MG reads in general fit this bill 😊):

Jacqueline Woodson’s Remember Us: Almost-seventh grader Sage must balance the comforts of the past with the inevitable (and sometimes exciting) potential for new changes.

Landra Jenning’s Wand: Eleven-year-old Mira struggles under the heavy weight of grief since her father died and feels unhappily out of place with her stepmother and stepsisters. When a mysterious girl steps out of the woods and offers Mira three wishes, she hopes fervently that magic might be real.

Jarrett Lerner’s A Work in Progress: In a mix of prose, verse, and sketches, middle schooler Will seeks acceptance from peers and a crush named Jules; plagued with body image concerns, Will determines to transform his physical appearance.

June 2023 releaseJ. Anderson Coats’s A Season Most Unfair: Set in medieval times, Tick—short for Scholastica—is proud to help with her father’s candlemaking business, even though she isn’t permitted to take the role of an official chandler (candlemaker) apprentice. When her father allows a boy named Henry to apprentice the trade, Tick knows she must prove to her father that she is a capable chandler—in spite of being a girl.

Author/Illustrator Spotlight: Carole and Jeffery Boston Weatherford

You’ve in for a special treat, Mixed-Up friends! Joining us on the blog today are Carole Boston Weatherford and Jeffery Weatherford, the author-illustrator/mother-son duo behind the middle-grade verse novel, Kin: Rooted in Hope. The novel, which explores the history of Carol and Jeffery’s family tree, shaped by enslavement and freedom, has been hailed by Publisher’s Weekly as “a layered text that highlights the perseverance of the Weatherfords’ ancestors and the horrors that they endured,” and by Kirkus as “a striking work that reshapes the narrative around enslavement.” It’s out tomorrow, September 19, from Simon & Schuster.

A Summary of Kin: Rooted in Hope

Carole and Jeffery Boston Weatherford’s ancestors are among the founders of Maryland. Their family history there extends more than three hundred years, but as with the genealogical searches of many African Americans with roots in slavery, their family tree can only be traced back five generations before going dark. And so from scraps of history, Carole and Jeffery have conjured the voices of their kin, creating an often painful but ultimately empowering story of who their people were in a breathtaking book that is at once deeply personal yet all too universal.

Carole’s poems capture voices ranging from her ancestors to Frederick Douglass to Harriet Tubman to the plantation house and land itself that connects them all, and Jeffery’s evocative illustrations help carry the story from the first mention of a forebear listed as property in a 1781 ledger to he and his mother’s homegoing trip to Africa in 2016. Shaped by loss, erasure, and ultimate reclamation, this is the story of not only Carole and Jeffery’s family, but of countless other Black families in America.

Carole and Jeffery Boston Weatherford: The Interview

Carole and Jeffery… Welcome to the Mixed-Up Files. It’s honor to have you here! Carole: Kin is told from a fascinating array of perspectives. In addition to accounts from your ancestors, the Copper family, key figures include: Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman; your ancestors’ enslavers, the Lloyd family; an archeologist; Francis Scott Key, who wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Non-human narrators are represented, too: Wye House; the Chesapeake Bay; a cemetery. How did you inhabit each character as deeply, and as authentically, as you did?

CBW: I realized after writing my first verse novel, Becoming Billie Holiday, which was in first person, that I had this ability to channel the voices of my subjects. I ask my characters to speak to and through me. It helped that I grew up visiting my great-grandparents’ house in the area. So, I was already rooted in the land long before writing Kin.

The Magic of Scratchboard Art

Jeffery: While we’re on the subject of illustrations, Kin features more than 40 black-and-white pieces of scratchboard art. Can you tell Mixed-Up Files readers more about this medium? What made you choose scratchboard for this particular book?

JBW: Certainly! Scratchboard art is a distinctive and evocative medium, offering a visual dance between darkness and light. At its core, scratchboard is a form of direct engraving where the artist scratches off dark ink to reveal a white or light-colored layer beneath. It’s a medium that requires precision, foresight, and an intimate understanding of light and shadow.

For Kin, I felt that scratchboard was the perfect choice because it mirrored the book’s underlying themes—the contrasting narratives of hardship and hope, of oppression and freedom, of the dark past and the light of progress. Much like our own stories where we strive to find clarity amidst confusion, scratchboard art involves meticulously carving out light from the darkness. It’s about finding and showcasing beauty, no matter how deeply it’s buried. The medium’s inherent contrasts and textures brought depth to the narrative, providing readers with not just a story to read, but an experience to feel.

Additionally, the tactile nature of scratchboard echoes the raw, visceral emotions and historical touchpoints present in Kin. Just as the book delves into the intricate tapestry of ancestry and legacy, the scratchboard technique, with its layers and intricacies, became a metaphor for the multifaceted journey of discovery and understanding.

(For more on the fascinating medium of scratchboard art, click here.)

I Call Their Names

Carole: Much of the material for Kin came from the Lloyd family’s ledgers, including the names of your ancestors, which you call out frequently—almost like an incantation: Yellow Molly; Chicken Sue; Prissy; Daphne; Old Suckey; Charity; Nurse Henny; Barnett; Peg Shaw… How do these names resonate with you? 

CBW: Wye House, the Lloyd’s flagship plantation, was once home to more than three hundred enslaved people. Their marginalized voices begged to be amplified and their stories to be told. I invoked the names of the enslaved residents of Wye House. Perhaps that was my way of asking their permission to channel their voices and conjure their stories.

Remembering… And Forgetting

Carole: Early on in the book, you reveal that your great grandfather never talked about his father-in-law, Isaac Copper, who fought in the Civil War after his enslavement at Wye House. You then pose the question: “Was forgetting less painful than remembering?” Could you elaborate on this?

CBW: I don’t know whether my great-great-grandfathers told my great grandparents about enslavement. History can be heart-rending—even traumatizing—especially when it comes to enslavement. As one formerly enslaved woman said in the 1930s, “My folks don’t want me to talk about slavery.” Sadly, many firsthand recollections of enslavement vanished before ever being passed down. On one hand is a reluctance to recall painful memories; on the other, the grief over what is forgotten or unknown. I wish I had inherited more stories.

Poetry in Motion

Jeffery: In addition to being a children’s book illustrator, you’re a performance poet. How has your experience as a poet guided your work as an illustrator—and vice-versa?

JBW: My journey as a performance poet has deeply enriched my perspective as an illustrator. Engaging in spoken word and poetry, I’ve been exposed to the raw, unfiltered emotions of an audience, and I’ve felt the weight of words in a room—the palpable tension, the riveting silences, and the roaring applause. This intimate dance with emotions and public vulnerability has emboldened me in my artistry.

It’s often said that public speaking is a fear greater than death, and if that’s true, then through my countless performances, I’ve confronted and embraced that fear many times over. This recurrent act of braving the stage has translated into an audacious spirit in my illustrations.

Art, much like poetry, is an act of audacious vulnerability. It necessitates the courage to mar a pristine canvas, to take risks, and to lay one’s soul bare for the world to witness. My poetry has taught me to speak, while my illustrations have taught me to visualize; and together, they’ve allowed me to weave narratives that are both visually and emotionally resonant. The synergy between both realms is profound—while my poetry gives voice to my emotions, my illustrations provide them a visual stage.

Fertile Ground for Creativity

Carole: You wrote many of the poems for Kin on your family’s farmstead in Copperville, Maryland. What was this experience like for you? Did this rural location help you feel connected to your ancestors in any way?

CBW: I sense ancestral spirits there. My great-great grandfather Phillip Moaney co-founded Copperville during the Reconstruction. The village is less than two miles from Wye House where my forebears were enslaved. My family’s small farm in Copperville is fertile ground not only for agriculture but also for creativity.

African Homecoming

Carole and Jeffery: In 2016, you travelled to Africa to learn more about your ancestors—some of whom descended from royalty. How did this trip deepen your understanding of your family’s history? How did it affect you personally?

CBW: The purpose of our African homecoming was to share our debut collaboration, You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen. At the time, we had not begun work on Kin. Off the coast of Dakar, Senegal on Goree Island, we toured Maison des Esclaves (The House of Slaves). Shortly after our return, I learned from an art exhibition that my great-great grandfather descended from royalty and was known as the Royal Black. That knowledge filled me with pride and inspired me to research our roots.

JBW: The trip was NWA NWA, which means incredible, amazing, magnificent!  I felt like I was returning home. Getting to stand on the Goree Island I could feel the power of my ancestors and the light of their smiles. It returned something to me that I cannot explain.

It’s All in the Research

Carole: As a follow-up, what sort of research did you do for Kin? Without birth records, marriage licenses, and death certificates available to trace your family’s genealogy, it must have required a tremendous amount of time, patience, and skillful detective work.

CBW: I was researching family history long before I envisioned Kin. Once, I began work on the book, I studied plantation ledgers, letters, military records  archeological reports, the landscape and material culture to reconstruct my ancestors’ milieu. I also read Frederick Douglass’s firsthand account of enslavement at Wye House. Last but not least, I visited the burial ground for the plantation’s enslaved residents. Amidst unmarked graves in a grove of trees, I broke down and cried.

Jeffery: How did the research affect, and enrich, your artwork?

JBW: The research process has been instrumental in shaping the authenticity and depth of my artwork. By delving deep into historical accounts, personal narratives, and cultural contexts, I’ve been able to tap into a reservoir of emotions, experiences, and textures that might have otherwise remained elusive.

Family Affair

Carole and Jeffery: This isn’t your first children’s book collaboration, but I suspect it’s the most meaningful. How has Kin brought you closer, both as collaborators and mother and son? Also, how has this project differed from other books you’ve created together?

CBW: Kin was truly a family affair, conceived with collaboration in mind. Kin is the book of our hearts, an offering to our ancestors and to our offspring, born and unborn.

JBW: We have been working together for a long time, this book has allowed us to dive into family history on an entirely different level and share that experience with the rest of the family.

On the flip side, how do you handle disagreements when it comes to creative decisions? Does the mother-son dynamic ever get in the way? When it does, what are your strategies to resolve the problem?

CBW: I can’t recall a disagreement, maybe because I’m the boss. Joking! Seriously, I consider myself an illustrator’s author. My words are evocative enough for illustrators to express their vision for the art. I was blown away when I saw Jeffery’s art for Kin.

JBW: We don’t particularly argue about the process, to be honest–just about chores that need to be done for tidying up spaces. Kidding. I don’t have many chores from my mom anymore. All jokes aside, it’s been a wonderful experience working with her, and going all over the world to enrich the youth.

It’s Personal

Carole: You have written more than 70 award-winning books, but my research reveals that Kin is your most personal one yet. Was there a watershed moment, or inner force, that impelled you to share your family’s history?

CBW: In late 2016, I went to an exhibition of Depression-era paintings by Ruth Starr Rose, a white artist who came of age at Hope House, the former plantation where my great-great grandfather was the gardener. I was awestruck that Rose’s paintings depicted my relatives, whom the curator referred to as Maryland’s founding families. I suspect that one painting shows my father as a boy. The exhibition also featured a photograph of my great-great grandfather, whose face I had never before seen. The exhibition underscored for me the significance of my family’s history.

Carole and Jeffery: Thank you for chatting about KIN today. I know your book will resonate with readers as much as it did with me.

Bios

Carole Boston Weatherford

Carole has written many award-winning books for children, including You Can Fly, illustrated by her son Jeffery; Box, which won a Newbery Honor; Unspeakable, which won the Coretta Scott King award, a Caldecott honor, and was a finalist for the National Book Award finalist; Respect: Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, winner of the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award; and Caldecott Honor winners Freedom in Congo SquareVoice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement; and Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom. Carole lives in North Carolina. Visit her at CBWeatherford.com.

Jeffery Boston Weatherford

Jeffery is an award-winning children’s book illustrator and a performance poet. He has lectured, performed, and led art and writing workshops in the US, the Middle East, and West Africa. Jeffery was a Romare Bearden Scholar at Howard University, where he earned an MFA in painting and studied under members of the Black Arts Movement collective AfriCobra. A North Carolina native and resident, Jeffery has exhibited his art in North Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, and Washington, DC. Visit him at CBWeatherford.com.