Rita Williams-Garcia is the author of seven novels for young readers, the most recent of which is One Crazy Summer, winner of the 2011 Coretta Scott King Award and the 2011 Scott O’Dell Prize for Historical Fiction, a 2011 Newbery Honor Book, and a 2010 National Book Award finalist. Known for her realistic portrayal of teens of color and her sensitive exploration of contemporary issues, in this newest book she turns her attention to the Black Panthers and the 1960s. Williams-Garcia is a faculty member of the MFA Program in Writing for Children and Young People at Vermont College, and she lives in New York City.