We Are Extraordinary, Every One of Us!

Dav Pilkey has written and illustrated numerous popular, award-winning books for children, including the Captain Underpants and Dumb Bunnies series; Dog Breath, winner of the California Young Reader Medal; and The Paperboy, a Caldecott Honor Book. Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks-A-Lot (Scholastic, Inc.) is the latest installment of Pilkey’s wildly popular Captain Underpants series.  There's something rotten in the state of Ohio, and it's smellier than a pile of putrid gym socks! Steer clear -- it's Sir Stinks-A-Lot! George and Harold, and their doubles, Yesterday George and Yesterday Harold, have a good thing going. Two of them go to school, while the other two hide in the tree house and play video games all day -- then they switch! But when their malicious gym teacher, Mr. Meaner, creates a method of mind-control that turns their fellow students into attentive, obedient, perfect children, the future of all humanity will be in their hands!

Edwidge Danticat was born in Haiti and came to the United States when she was twelve years old. Her books include Breath, Eyes, Memory; the short-story collection Krik? Krak!; and The Farming of Bones. Named one of the 20 Best of American Novelists by Granta, Danticat’s awards include a Pushcart Prize for short fiction an American Book Award. Her books have been selected for Oprah’s Book Club and have been twice nominated for the National Book Award. In 2009 Danticat received a MacArthur Genius Grant. Edwidge Danticat’s illustrated children’s book, Mama’s Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation (Dial Books), shows how every child has the power to make a difference. Edwidge Danticat fèt an Ayiti, men li imigre Ozetazini depi a laj douzan. Edwidge te resevwa yon diplòm an literati fransèz nan Barnard College, e apre sa li te fè yon metriz nan Brown University. Li se otè plizyè liv, tankou paregzanp Souf, Je, Memwa ; Krik? Krak! (ki te pami finalis « National Book Award » -- ki fè Edwidge se pi jèn moun yo janm nonmen pou pri sa a); La récolte douce des larmes; avèk Le briseur de rosée, ki te resevwa yon « American Book Award ». Edwidge ekri plizyè liv pou timoun ak jèn moun, tankou paregzanp Pour l ‘amour de Claire, avèk Anakawona, Flè Annò. Se li ki edite Haïti Noir; The Butterfly's Way: Voices from the Haitian Dyaspora in the United States avèk The Beacon Best of 2000: Great Writing by Men and Women of All Colors and Cultures. Lòt onè Danticat resevwa gen ladan « National Book Critics Circle Award » pou yon resi ki rele Adieu, mon frère. Li resevwa yon « MacArthur Fellowship », e li te anseye ekriti nan University of Miami ak New York University.

Richard Blanco is the fifth inaugural poet in U.S. history—the youngest, first Latino, immigrant, and gay person to serve in such a role. Born in Madrid to Cuban exiled parents and raised in Miami, the negotiation of cultural identity and place characterize his body of work. He is the author of two acclaimed memoirs: The Prince of Los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood a poignant, hilarious, and inspiring memoir that explores his coming-of-age as the child of Cuban immigrants and his attempts to understand his place in America while grappling with his burgeoning artistic and sexual identities; For All of Us, One Today: An Inaugural Poet’s Journey;  three awarded poetry collections: Looking for the Gulf Motel, Directions to the Beach of the Dead, and City of a Hundred Fires; and a children’s book of his presidential inaugural poem, One Today, illustrated by Dav Pilkey.