Cathy Berner, a former school librarian, is the Children’s/Young Adult Specialist and Events Coordinator at Blue Willow Bookshop, an independent bookstore on the west side of Houston, Texas. She had the pleasure of serving as a judge for the 2021 Walter Awards administered by We Need Diverse Books. Cathy also serves as the programming coordinator for three literary festivals: Bookworm, TweensRead, and TeenBookCon, all of which promote reading and literacy by connecting young readers and authors.
(Photo credit: Mary Cate Stevenson & Noah Nofz)
Jung Kim, PhD is Professor of Literacy and Co-Chair of the Department of Education at Lewis University. She is a mother to two teens, an ultrarunner, a school board member, and will always hold it down for the Midwest. She reads and writes about literature, race, and equity, and gets to call it her job.
(Photo credit: Joey Tesch)
