Remembering Your Roots: Not Just Your Average Rom-Com

David Yoon grew up in Orange County, California, and now lives in Los Angeles with his wife, novelist Nicola Yoon, and their daughter. He drew the illustrations for Nicola's New York Times bestseller Everything, Everything. Frankly in Love (G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers), David Yoon’s debut novel, follows the love travails of one Frank Li, an American kid of Korean descent, born and raised in Southern California. His Korean name is Sung-Min Li —except no one uses his Korean name, not even his parents. In fact, Frank barely speaks any Korean. Still, his parents expect him to end up with a nice Korean girl – which is a problem, since Frank is dating the girl of his dreams: Brit Means. She is funny and nerdy just like him, makes him laugh —but also is white. Having fallen in love for the very first time, Frank has to confront the fact that while his parents sacrificed everything to raise him in the land of opportunity, their traditional expectations don’t leave him a lot of room to be a regular American teen. Desperate, he turns to family friend Joy Song, who is in a similar bind, and they come up with a plan to help each other and keep their parents off their backs. But then, an unexpected turn leaves Frank wondering whether he ever really knew anything about love—or himself—at all. In a starred review Publishers Weekly noted that “Yoon never settles for stereotypes, instead giving his well-defined characters a diversity of experience, identity, sexuality, and ambition. Told in youthful-sounding prose, Frank’s journey reaches beyond Korean-American identity and touches on the common experiences of many children of immigrants, including negotiating language barriers, tradition, and other aspects of what it means to be a “hyphenated” American."

Maika Moulite earned a Bachelor’s in Marketing from Florida State University and an MBA from the University of Miami. When she’s not using her digital prowess to help nonprofits and major organizations tell their stories online, she’s writing stories of her own. She also blogs at Daily Ellement, a lifestyle website featuring everything from diverse inspirational women to career guidance. She is co-author, with her sister Maritza, of Dear Haiti, Love Alaine (Inkyard Press). When a school presentation goes very wrong, Alaine Beauparlant finds herself suspended, shipped off to Haiti and writing the report of a lifetime… Quick-witted high school journalist Alaine Beauparlant gets booted from her elite private school after an intricate prank goes cruelly awry (blame it on the family curse). She warily accepts an invitation from her aunt to spend her suspension at the family’s estate in Haiti–where her estranged mom is recuperating from a political fiasco.  In her family’s homeland for the first time, Alaine is immediately put to work at her aunt’s start-up helping native children in need. Alaine meets locals, interacts with kids connected to donors, and is shown the ropes by Jason, a fellow intern whose charming ways are making work a bit more challenging. What she doesn’t expect to find are letters, articles, emails, and diary entries that she compiles into a final project that will not only save her academic standing in school, but also help her finally know the mother she’s never really understood.

Maritza Moulite graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor’s in Women’s Studies and the University of Southern California with a Master’s in Journalism. She’s worked in various capacities for NBC News, CNN, and USA Today. An admirer of Michelle Obama, Maritza is a perpetual student and blogs at Daily Ellement. She is co-author, with her sister Maika, of Dear Haiti, Love Alaine (Inkyard Press). When a school presentation goes very wrong, Alaine Beauparlant finds herself suspended, shipped off to Haiti and writing the report of a lifetime… Quick-witted high school journalist Alaine Beauparlant gets booted from her elite private school after an intricate prank goes cruelly awry (blame it on the family curse). She warily accepts an invitation from her aunt to spend her suspension at the family’s estate in Haiti–where her estranged mom is recuperating from a political fiasco.  In her family’s homeland for the first time, Alaine is immediately put to work at her aunt’s start-up helping native children in need. Alaine meets locals, interacts with kids connected to donors, and is shown the ropes by Jason, a fellow intern whose charming ways are making work a bit more challenging. What she doesn’t expect to find are letters, articles, emails, and diary entries that she compiles into a final project that will not only save her academic standing in school, but also help her finally know the mother she’s never really understood.

Nina Moreno is a YA writer whose prose is somewhere between Southern fiction and a telenovela. She graduated from the University of Florida and writes about Latinas chasing their dreams, falling in love, and navigating life in the hyphen. She lives by a swamp outside of Orlando where she enjoys listening to carefully curated playlists, hunting through thrift stores, drinking too much Cuban coffee, and walking into the sea every chance she gets. Don't Date Rosa Santos (Disney-Hyperion) is her first novel. Rosa Santos is cursed by the sea-at least, that's what they say. Dating her is bad news, especially if you're a boy with a boat. But Rosa feels more caught than cursed. Caught between cultures and choices. Between her abuela, a beloved healer and pillar of their community, and her mother, an artist who crashes in and out of her life like a hurricane. Between Port Coral, the quirky South Florida town they call home, and Cuba, the island her abuela refuses to talk about. As her college decision looms, Rosa collides-literally-with Alex Aquino, the mysterious boy with tattoos of the ocean whose family owns the marina. With her heart, her family, and her future on the line, can Rosa break a curse and find her place beyond the horizon?