The Collectors: Stories

M. T. Anderson has written a wide variety of titles, including works of fantasy and satire for a range of ages. Anderson grew up outside of Boston, Massachusetts. He was educated in English literature at Harvard University and Cambridge University, and went on to receive his MFA in Creative Writing from Syracuse University.M. T. Anderson is the author of a number of celebrated books including the Thrilling Tales series, as well as The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume 1, The Pox Party, which won the National Book Award and a Printz Honor, and The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves, which also won a Printz Honor. Feed was a finalist for the National Book Award and won the L.A. Times Book Award for YA fiction in 2003 and was a finalist for the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award. M. T. Anderson currently lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

A native South Texan, e. E. Charlton-Trujillo earned a degree in English from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and an MFA in film from Ohio University.

Hailed by the New York Times as “one of the best YA writers working today,” A.S. King is the author of over a dozen books for young readers. She is the only two-time winner of the Michael L. Printz Award. She is the winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She is the recipient of both the Margaret A. Edwards Award and the ALAN Award for her lifetime contributions to young adult literature. King lives with her family in Pennsylvania, where she returned after living on a farm and teaching adult literacy in Ireland for more than a decade.

When not writing during spare hours on weekends, David Levithan is editorial director at Scholastic and the founding editor of the PUSH imprint, which is devoted to finding new voices and new authors in teen literature. His acclaimed novels Boy Meets Boy and The Realm of Possibility started as stories he wrote for his friends for Valentine’s Day (something he’s done for the past 22 years and counting) that turned themselves into teen novels. He’s often asked if the book is a work of fantasy or a work of reality, and the answer is right down the middle—it’s about where we’re going, and where we should be.

Cory McCarthy (he/they) is the award-winning author of numerous bestselling and award winning books for young readers, including Hope Is an Arrow, about fellow Arab American Kahlil Gibran, and Man o’ War, a Stonewall Honor Book. He also contributed to the Michael L. Printz Award winning anthology The Collectors: Stories. Cory studied poetry and screenwriting before falling in love with writing for young adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts, where he now teaches.

Anna-Marie McLemore (they/them) is the author of eleven novels for young adults, including William C. Morris YA Debut Award finalist The Weight of Feathers, Stonewall Honor Book When the Moon Was Ours, New York Times Editors’ Choice Blanca & Roja, Lambda Literary Award finalist Lakelore, and National Book Award nominees The Mirror Season and Self-Made Boys. The Influencers is their adult debut.

G. Neri writes street lit, “provocative, edgy stories for reluctant readers,” he says, “especially urban boys, in hopes that these kinds of compelling tales will open minds to reading.” Neri’s books deal with subjects that may make some adults uncomfortable – gangs, drugs, teen violence, and sex – but are issues teens face every day. “I try to show these topics honestly,” says Neri. “So when young people encounter these situations in real life, they might have some knowledge to help them navigate the rough roads ahead. Teens are young adults and need to be treated as such, with honesty and directness.”A storyteller, filmmaker, artist, and digital media producer, Neri’s taught animation and storytelling to inner city teens in Los Angeles with the ground-breaking group Animaction, which has produced thousands of student-made films dealing with issues like teen violence, gangs, and drugs. He co-directed the documentary Fa’a Samoa which followed a 15-year-old Samoan gangbanger through the mean streets of Los Angeles and was head of production in two successful new media companies whose clients ranged from Disney, Mercedes, and Motorola to Microsoft, Reebok, and General Motors. G. Neri was also one of the founding members of the Truth teen anti-smoking campaign. The author of Surf Mules (Putnam, June 2009), Chess Rumble and the upcoming graphic novel Yummy (due out Fall 2009) currently lives off the Gulf Coast of Florida with his wife and daughter. He spends most of his time in his studio, but also likes to troll the rivers by his house looking for alligators.

Randy Ribay is a Filipino American author of young adult fiction. His novel Patron Saints of Nothing was a finalist for the National Book Award and the LA Times Book Prize. Randy was also a contributor to the Printz Award–winning anthology The Collectors, edited by A. S. King. His other works include An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes, After the Shot Drops, and Chronicles of the Avatar: The Reckoning of Roku. Born in the Philippines and raised in the Midwest, Randy currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, son, and cat-like dog.

Jenny Torres Sanchez (www.jennytorressanchez.com) is a full-time writer and former English teacher. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, but has lived on the border of two worlds her whole life. She is the author of We Are Not From Here; The Fall of Innocence; Because of the Sun; Death, Dickinson, and the Demented Life of Frenchie Garcia; and The Downside of Being Charlie. She lives in Orlando, Florida, with her husband and children. Follow her on Twitter @jetchez and on Instagram @jennytsanchez.