Featured Authors and Illustrators
KARLA HARRY VISITING AUTHOR: TRACI SORELL
Best-selling author Traci Sorell writes inclusive, award-winning historical and contemporary fiction and nonfiction in a variety of formats for young people. She is a two-time Sibert Medal and Orbis Pictus honoree and award-winning audiobook narrator and producer. Eight of her books have received awards from the American Indian Library Association. Other accolades include: Jane Addams Children’s Book Honor Award, Charlotte Huck Honor Award, Septima Clark Women in Literature Honor Award, Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor, International Literacy Association's Social Justice Literature Award Winner, and many Best-of and Notables lists. In 2024, she shares two fiction picture books: Being Home, illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Michaela Goade, and Clack, Clack! Smack! A Cherokee Stickball Story, illustrated by Joseph Erb, along with two board books.
A former federal Indigenous law attorney and policy advocate, Traci is a Cherokee Nation citizen and first-generation college graduate. She lives within her tribe’s reservation in northeastern Oklahoma.
The Karla Harry Visiting Author program is held in memory of a beloved Gordon librarian, administrator and parent. The program provides Gordon students the unique experience of delving into the writer’s craft by working with nationally recognized authors and illustrators. It is supported by the Karla Harry Visiting Author Fund, which was established in 2006.
Book signing on December 13th
Daytime presentations and workshops on December 12th and 13th
More event details to be announced soon.
CYNTHIA LEVINSON
A former teacher and educational policy consultant and researcher, Cynthia Levinson is the author of numerous award-winning nonfiction books about social justice for young readers. In collaboration with her husband, constitutional lawyer Sanford Levinson, she wrote Fault Lines in the Constitution, an excellent primer on how America’s founding document has shaped our history. Several of Cynthia Levinson’s other books are familiar to many Gordon readers, including The Youngest Marcher and Free to Learn. She holds degrees from Wellesley College and Harvard University and also attended the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. She divides her time between Austin, Texas, and Boston, Massachusetts.
Book signing, daytime presentations and workshops on December 11th
Evening presentation on December 11th at 6:30pm - more information and RSVP
More event details to be announced soon.
VALERIE BOLLING
Valerie Bolling is passionate about creating stories in which all children can see themselves and feel seen and heard, valued and validated. She is the author of six picture books— LET’S DANCE! (SCBWI Crystal Kite Award winner), TOGETHER WE RIDE, TOGETHER WE SWIM (2023 Kirkus Prize Finalist), RIDE, ROLL, RUN: TIME FOR FUN!, BING, BOP, BAM: TIME TO JAM!, and I SEE COLOR (Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection)— as well as a Scholastic Acorn early reader series, RAINBOW DAYS.
A graduate of Tufts University and Teachers College, Columbia University, Valerie was an educator for 30 years and is active in the kidlit community. She’s a member of SCBWI, the 12X12 Picture Book Challenge, Black Creators HeadQuarters, Amplify Black Stories, Diverse Verse, two co-marketing groups (KidLit in Color and Soaring 20s), and three critique groups. She also teaches picture book classes (independently and for the Highlights Foundation), presents at conferences, and participates in book festivals.
Valerie enjoys teaching both students and adults and inspiring them to write their own stories. She lives in Connecticut with her husband where they enjoy traveling, hiking, reading, going to the theater, and dancing.
Book signing on December 11th
Daytime presentations and workshops on December 11th and 12th
More event details to be announced soon.
