2016 Brackets, This Time With Judges

Ann M. Martin is the author of the New York Times bestseller Rain Reign, Everything for a Dog, and other titles. She won a Newbery Honor for A Corner of the Universe, and is the author of the beloved Baby-sitters Club series. She lives in upstate New York.​

Ann’s next project with Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan has her revisiting the beloved Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series. Written with Betty MacDonald’s great-granddaughter, Annie Parnell, Martin is making a classic favorite brand new again, for a new generation of young readers! Watch for Missy Piggle-Wiggle and the Whatever Cure in Fall 2016.

Maris Wicks is the author behind Human Body Theater, as well as the illustrator of New York Times bestselling Primates, with Jim Ottaviani. Wicks has also created comics for Spongebob Comics, DC, and Marvel.  When she’s not making comics, Wicks works as a program educator at the New England Aquarium. She is quite fond of being in the water, whether it’s swimming in ponds or scuba diving in the Atlantic Ocean. Her next book with First Second/Macmillan, Science Comics: Coral Reefs, will put all her scuba diving time to good use! Wicks lives in sunny Somerville, Massachusetts.

 

Padma Venkatraman is an oceanographer by training and an author by choice. Her latest novel, A TIME TO DANCE (Nancy Paulsen Books, Penguin) was released to 5 starred reviews (Kirkus, Booklist, SLJ, VOYA and BCCB) and received numerous awards: ALA Notable, IRA Notable, Kirkus Best Book, NYPL Top 25, IBBY outstanding, etc. Her two earlier novels, ISLAND’S END and CLIMBING THE STAIRS, were also released to multiple starred reviews (7 altogether), were both ALA/Yalsa Best Books, Amelia Bloomer, CCBC and Booklist Editor’s Choices and won several other honors. She has spoken at Harvard and other universities and schools; participated on panels at venues such as the PEN World Voices Festival; provided keynote addresses at numerous conferences and commencement speeches; and has been the chief guest at international literary festivals. Padma Venkatraman is American, has a doctorate in oceanography and lives in Rhode Island. Visit her at www.padmasbooks.com and www.padmasbooks.blogspot.com

 

Pamela S. Turner is the author of award-winning books for young readers, including Hachiko: The True Story of a Loyal Dog, The Dolphins of Shark Bay, A Life in the Wild, and former Battle of the Books contender The Frog Scientist. Her 2016 releases are Samurai Rising: The Epic Life of Minamoto Yoshitsune and Crow Smarts: Inside the Brain of the World’s Brightest Bird. In her spare time Pamela volunteers as a wildlife rehabilitator, and the number of times she has been outsmarted by a crow is not something she cares to discuss. You can visit her at www.pamelasturner.com.