IASL 2022 Featured Authors

Neal Shusterman

Neal Shusterman is the New York Times best-selling author of over thirty novels for children, teens, and adults.  He won the 2015 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature for Challenger Deep-and his novel, Scythe, was a 2017 Michael L. Printz Honor book, and is in development with Universal Studios as a feature film.  His novel, Unwind, has become part of the literary canon in many school districts across the country-and has won more than thirty domestic and international awards. Shusterman is currently co-writing the pilot episode of Netflix’s adaption of his “timely, speculative thought experiment in perspective, privilege, and identity” (KIRKUS), Game Changer, while his harrowing tale of survival, Dry, is in development at Paramount Pictures.

​Shusterman has earned a reputation as a storyteller and dynamic speaker. As a speaker, he is in constant demand at schools and conferences. Degrees in both psychology and drama give him a unique approach to writing, and his novels deal with topics that appeal to adults as well as teens, weaving true-to-life characters into sensitive and riveting issues, and binding it all together with a unique and entertaining sense of humor. Neal lives in Jacksonville, Florida, but spends much of his time traveling the world speaking, and signing books for readers.

Sponsored by UNT College of Information

Carmen Agra Deedy

Carmen Agra Deedy is the author of thirteen books for children, including The Library Dragon, The Cheshire Cheese Cat, Martina the Beautiful Cockroach, The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet! and 14 Cows for America, a New York Times Bestseller. Her newest picture book, The Children’s Moon (Scholastic Press), illustrated by Jim LaMarche, was released in 2021. A second picture book, Wombat Said Come In (Peachtree Publishing), illustrated by Brian Lies, is due to be released in September 2022.
 
Her personal stories first appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered. Funny, insightful, and frequently irreverent, Deedy’s narratives are culled from her childhood as a Cuban refugee in Decatur, Georgia. She is host of the four time Emmy-winning children’s program, Love That Book! An award-winning author and storyteller, Deedy is also an accomplished lecturer, having been a guest speaker for both the TED and TEDx Conferences, the Library of Congress, Columbia University, the National Book Festival, and the Kennedy Center, among other distinguished venues. A life-long supporter of the institution, she opened the 2016 Art of the Book Lecture Series for the Smithsonian Libraries.

Frank W. Baker

Frank W. Baker is an internationally recognized media literacy educator. His lifelong work in media literacy, including his maintenance of both the Media Literacy Clearinghouse and the Close Reading the Media websites was recently recognized by UNESCO's Global Alliance Partnership for Media & Information Literacy, in 2019. Baker is the author of Close Reading the Media and Media Literacy in the K-12 Classroom. At IASL 2022, Baker will be presenting his inaugural graphic novel, We Survived The Holocaust: The Bluma and Felix Goldberg Story. A true story, the book details the saga of Bluma Tishgarten and Felix Goldberg, both young, Polish Jews caught up in Adolf Hitler's rise to power and the Holocaust. Bluma and Felix's miraculous story of survival is also a cautionary tale - a dangerous history we run the risk of repeating if we do not heed the warning signs.

Each IASL 2022 onsite attendee will receive a free copy!
​Learn more at www.storiesofsurvival.org.