Below are some of the authors and illustrators that will be featured in upcoming volumes of SATA. These include new entries on the swiftly rising stars of the field, as well as completely revised and updated entries (indicated with ∗) on some of the most notable and best-loved creators of books for children.
∗Amelia Atwater-Rhodes ▮ In 1999, at age fifteen, Atwater-Rhodes found herself in the literary limelight when she published her vampire novel In the Forests of the Night to a positive critical reception. In the years since, she has expanded her growing list of imaginative novels with works such as the "Kiesha'ra" fantasy series. The "Kiesha'ra" saga includes the novels Heartsong, Snake-charm, Falcondance, and Wolfcry, and follows the fragile alliance between avian and serpiente shapeshifters.
Jeanne Birdsall ▮ Inspired by the classic fantasy novels she loved as a child, Massachusetts-based writer and fine-art photographer Birdsall produced The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy in 2005. Winner of the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, this humorous debut novel is narrated by four sisters who, while spending their summer at a cottage in the Berkshire mountains, encounter adventure while trying to help their new friend, a shy boy named Jeffrey, avoid being shipped off to military school.
Carmela D'Amico ▮ After creating the character Ella the elephant, D'Amico issued her first story featuring the engaging animal online, where it quickly attracted the interest of a mainstream publisher. Now found in books that include Ella the Elegant Elephant, Ella Sets the Stage, and Ella Takes the Cake, the spunky Ella engages in typical toddler behavior in and around her home on Elephant Island. Ella's adventures are brought to life through drawings created by D'Amico's husband and creative collaborator, artist Steve D'Amico.
∗Jean Craighead George ▮ Nature is the focus of the many novels, picture books, and nonfiction titles produced by Newbery Medal-winning author George during her long career. In titles such as Julie and the Wolves and My Side of the Mountain, George treats readers to fascinating glimpses of the natural world in stories that often find young people learning to survive in nature. Each of the author/illustrator's books are distinguished by George's inclusion of authentic details as well as her curiosity, wonder, and concern for the environment.
Rick Jacobson ▮ A Canadian author and artist with a background in advertising, Jacobson collaborates with his wife, musician and artist Laura Fernandez, on picture-book art, such as their highly acclaimed illustrations for an updated edition of L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables. An author as well as an illustrator, Jacobson has written Picasso: Soul on Fire, a biography of famous painter Pablo Picasso, and The Mona Lisa Caper, which describes an unusual art theft. The couple's portraits of such notable people as Bill Gates, Sr., and Sir Richard Francis Burton hang in the permanent collection of London's Royal Geographical Society.
Melina Marchetta ▮ Australian writer and educator Marchetta is the author of the young-adult novels Looking for Alibrandi and Saving Francesca. These books, which draw on their author's own experiences coming of age in Catholic schools, span several generations and focus on the lives of Italian-Australian teens. Having survived the rigors of Catholic secondary school, Marchetta now works as a teacher at an all-boys school in Sydney, New South Wales.
Philip Reeve ▮ A highly popular cartoonist and illustrator of children's books in his native England, Reeve earned fame as a writer on the strength of his "Hungry City Chronicles," futuristic novels in which human cities have become organic and now migrate, mutate, and even gobble each other up. Including the books Mortal Engines, Predator's Gold, Infernal Devices, and A Darkling Plain, these imaginative novels have drawn comparison to Philip Pullman's popular "His Dark Materials" trilogy, and have also earned Reeve a large and loyal readership. In addition to these novels, he is the author and illustrator of the humorous "Buster Bayliss" series for younger readers.
∗Michael Elsohn Ross ▮ A naturalist and writer, Ross brings an engaging prose style and an infectious enthusiasm to his many books for younger readers. In addition to authoring titles such as Caterpillarology and What's the Matter in Mr. Whisker's Room?, he has contributed volumes to the nonfiction series "You're the Scientist," which provides a creative outlet for budding experimenters. In addition, Ross's contributions to the "Naturalist's Apprentice" series include biographies about noted naturalists paired with factual information about each person's field of study, whether bird, beast, bug, or plant.
∗Robert Sabuda ▮ Considered a master of the pop-up book, Sabuda is an author and illustrator whose interactive books incorporate bright colors, stand-out graphics, and cutting-edge examples of paper engineering. Sabuda has created traditional illustrations for classic works such as Walden by Henry David Thoreau and has adapted Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, The Night before Christmas, and America the Beautiful into intricate three-dimensional volumes. In addition to his work as an illustrator, he has also written several original stories, including Saint Valentine, Tutankhamen's Gift, and The Blizzard's Robe, each of which features his unique artwork.
Belle Yang ▮ Trained at schools in Scotland and Beijing as well as in her native California, Taiwanese-American author and painter Belle Yang creates self-illustrated books that relate stories drawn from her family's immigrant history. In Baba: A Return to China upon My Father's Shoulders she retells the tales her father, Baba, told to her about his life in Manchuria, China in the early twentieth century, while Yang's own story is the focus of Hannah Is My Name. A more fanciful work, her picture book Chili-Chili-Chin-Chin focuses on a determined little donkey and the boy who named it.
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