Beverly Atlee Cleary was an American writer of children's and young adult fiction. One of America's most successful authors, 91 million copies of her books have been sold worldwide since her first book was published in 1950. Some of her best known characters are Ramona Quimby and Beezus Quimby, Henry Huggins and his dog Ribsy, and Ralph S. Mouse.
Lois Ann Lowry is an American writer. She is the author of several books for children and young adults, including The Giver Quartet, Number the Stars, and Rabble Starkey. She is known for writing about difficult subject matters, dystopias, and complex themes in works for young audiences.
The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contributions to American literature for children". The Newbery and the Caldecott Medal are considered the two most prestigious awards for children's literature in the United States. Books selected are widely carried by bookstores and libraries, the authors are interviewed on television, and master's theses and doctoral dissertations are written on them. Named for John Newbery, an 18th-century English publisher of juvenile books, the winner of the Newbery is selected at the ALA's Midwinter Conference by a fifteen-person committee. The Newbery was proposed by Frederic G. Melcher in 1921, making it the first children's book award in the world. The physical bronze medal was designed by Rene Paul Chambellan and is given to the winning author at the next ALA annual conference. Since its founding there have been several changes to the composition of the selection committee, while the physical medal remains the same.
Katherine Womeldorf Paterson is an American writer best known for children's novels, including Bridge to Terabithia. For four different books published 1975–1980, she won two Newbery Medals and two National Book Awards. She is one of four people to win the two major international awards; for "lasting contribution to children's literature" she won the biennial Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing in 1998 and for her career contribution to "children's and young adult literature in the broadest sense" she won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award from the Swedish Arts Council in 2006, the biggest monetary prize in children's literature. Also for her body of work she was awarded the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature in 2007 and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal from the American Library Association in 2013. She was the second US National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, serving 2010 and 2011.
Ruth Sawyer was an American storyteller and a writer of fiction and non-fiction for children and adults. She may be best known as the author of Roller Skates, which won the 1937 Newbery Medal. She received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award in 1965 for her lifetime achievement in children's literature.
Cynthia Rylant is an American author and librarian. She has written more than 100 children's books, including works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Several of her books have won awards, including her novel Missing May, which won the 1993 Newbery Medal, and A Fine White Dust, which was a 1987 Newbery Honor book. Two of her books are Caldecott Honor Books.
Jennifer L. Holm is an American children's writer, and recipient of three Newbery Honors and the Eisner Award.
Rat City Roller Derby is a women's flat-track roller derby league in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 2004 as Rat City Rollergirls, LLC, the league has incorporated alternative cultural influences, and has inspired and mentored other leagues. Rat City is a founding member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), and has achieved success on the WFTDA stage, qualifying for WFTDA Playoffs every season, including a second-place finish in the 2007 WFTDA Championships.
Jacqueline Woodson is an American writer of books for children and adolescents. She is best known for Miracle's Boys, and her Newbery Honor-winning titles Brown Girl Dreaming, After Tupac and D Foster, Feathers, and Show Way. After serving as the Young People's Poet Laureate from 2015 to 2017, she was named the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, by the Library of Congress, for 2018 to 2019. Her novel Another Brooklyn was shortlisted for the 2016 National Book Award for Fiction. She won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2018. She was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2020.
The Rose City Rollers is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Portland, Oregon, operating as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and is a founding member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). Established in 2004, the Rose City Rollers consists of a recreational program, four adult local home teams, and two all-star travel teams that represent the league in competition with others as well as junior skaters on six home teams with a travel team for Rose Petals (7–12) and a travel team for Rosebuds (12–17). Rose City's all-star travel team "Wheels of Justice" won the WFTDA Championships in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019.
Calgary Roller Derby is a not-for-profit women's flat-track roller derby league based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Calgary Roller Derby is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).
Texas Rollergirls is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Austin, Texas. Founded in early 2003 and widely credited as the league that started the modern roller derby movement, the Texas Rollergirls were the first flat-track league in the nation to play a version of roller derby using new standardized rules and a track design based on the dimensions of the old banked tracks. As flat-track derby caught on in other American cities, the Texas Rollergirls' rulebook and track design eventually evolved into the specifications that were adopted and ratified upon formation of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) in 2005, of which Texas is a founding member.
Gotham Roller Derby is a flat track roller derby league based in New York City, New York. Founded in late 2003, Gotham is the first flat track roller derby league in the metropolitan New York area and a founding member league of the sport's governing body, the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). Gotham is one of the preeminent leagues in roller derby, having won five WFTDA Championships. Today, the league is composed of four New York City-based teams, three travel teams, a competitive developmental team, a non competitive recreational program and a juniors program for youth.
The Victorian Roller Derby League is a flat track roller derby league based in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 2007, VRDL provides opportunities for all ages and at all levels to participate and compete in Roller Derby. VRDL is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), having gained membership in December 2011. In November 2017, VRDL became the first non-American team to win the WFTDA Championships. Since 2019, VRDL is the 2nd-ranked team in the WFTDA.
Nicole Williams, known as Bonnie Thunders, is a roller derby skater. Widely considered to be the greatest player of modern roller derby, Bonnie Thunders has been referred to by multiple writers as "the LeBron James of roller derby".
Cherry City Roller Derby (CCRD) is a flat track roller derby league based in Salem, Oregon and a 501c Non-Profit Organization. Cherry City is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).
South Sea Roller Derby (SSRD) is a women's flat track roller derby league based in south-eastern Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. South Sea has two travel teams that play teams from other leagues. South Sea is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).
Hillary Buscovick, known as Scald Eagle, is an American roller derby skater. She is a star jammer and one of the top scorers of all time for WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs and WFTDA Championships. Notably, Buscovick scored 133 points in the 2015 championship final that saw the Rose City Rollers defeat the five-time defending champion Gotham Girls Roller Derby. Buscovick is also known for her "jukey" jamming technique as well as her signature face paint.
Echo is a middle grade historical fiction novel written by Pam Muñoz Ryan, illustrated by Dinara Mirtalipova, and published by Scholastic Press in 2015. It is set in Germany and America, primarily in the years leading up to World War II and details how a mysterious harmonica and the music it makes ties together the lives of three children: Friedrich Schmidt, an intern at the Hohner factory; Mike Flannery, an orphan in Philadelphia; and Ivy Maria Lopez, daughter of migrant farm workers. It was named a Newbery Honor book in 2016.
Victoria Jamieson is an American author and illustrator of children's books, known for her graphic novels.
