Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond is the author of Blue which recieved numerous praise and accolades. It was named one of the best books of 2022 by NPR, The New York Public Library, The Chicago Public Library, and Kirkus Reviews, nominated for an NAACP Image Award, and won the Orbis Pictus award for nonfiction in 2023. She lives in California.

James E. Ransome’s highly acclaimed illustrations for Before She Was Harriet received the 2018 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor. His other award-winning titles include the Coretta Scott King winner The Creation; Coretta Scott King Honor Book Uncle Jed’s Barbershop; and Let My People Go, winner of the NAACP Image Award. He is also a recipient of the ALA Children’s Literature Legacy Award. James lives in New York’s Hudson River Valley region with his family.