Young Adult
Kekla Magoon
Kekla Magoon is the New York Times bestselling author of over thirty books for children and teens, often exploring themes of identity, community, empowerment, and social justice. Her cutting-edge young adult novels include The Minus-One Club, How It Went Down, 37 Things I Love, and Prom Babies, several of which are set in Indiana. For middle grade readers, she creates award-winning historical, contemporary, and fantasy/speculative fiction, including The Secret Library, The Season of Styx Malone, Chester Keene Cracks the Code, and The Rock and the River. She co-writes the popular Blue Stars middle grade graphic novel series with Cynthia Leitich Smith (illustrated by Molly Murakami).
Kekla is also known for producing groundbreaking nonfiction, such as Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party’s Promise to the People, which was a Michael L. Printz Honor winner, Coretta Scott King Honor winner, and National Book Award Finalist. Her picture books Ketanji: Justice Jackson’s Journey to the U.S. Supreme Court and The Highest Tribute: Thurgood Marshall’s Life, Leadership and Legacy (both illustrated by Laura Freeman) were among the first trade-published picture books to celebrate the first Black woman and first Black man ever appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Kekla grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, from the age of four until she graduated high school. She later returned to live in Fort Wayne for several years as an adult. Her love of reading was nurtured in the Allen County Public Library, where her parents took her at least twice a week all through her childhood and teen years. Emphasizing the connection between her Indiana roots and the broad audience that her published books have achieved today, the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Award program honored Kekla with their National Author Award in 2017. She also received the 2021 Margaret A. Edwards Award, a body-of-work recognition from the American Library Association for her significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature.
Kekla is a full-time author. Today, she travels frequently, but primarily lives and writes in Vermont, with two top-notch support staffers: a pair of energetic orange cats. She continues to spend time in Indiana several times each year, visiting family, writing, researching, and speaking at schools and libraries around the state.
2024 Young Adult Winner: The Minus-One Club
After his sister dies in a car accident, 15-year-old Kermit Sanders feels grief-stricken and lost until he receives a mysterious invitation from The Minus-One Club, a group of students who have also lost a close family member and who meet secretly to support one another. With their help, Kermit begins a journey toward healing.
2024 Middle Grade Shortlist: Ketanji: Justice Jackson’s Journey to the U.S. Supreme Court
A picture book biography of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first black woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. This story of Ketanji’s shining determination, hard work, and strong values that brought her to the pinnacle of her profession is beautifully illustrated by Laura Freeman.
2022 Children's Shortlist: The Highest Tribute: Thurgood Marshall's Life, Leadership, and Legacy
Growing up in Baltimore, Thurgood Marshall could see that things weren’t fair. The laws said that Black and white people couldn’t use the same schools, parks, or water fountains. When Thurgood had to read the Constitution as punishment for a prank at school, his eyes were opened. It was clear to him that Jim Crow laws were wrong, and he was willing to do whatever it took to change them. His determination to make sure all Americans were treated equally led him to law school and then the NAACP, where he argued cases like Brown v. Board of Education in front of the Supreme Court. But to become a Justice on the highest court in the land, Thurgood had to make space for himself every step of the way.
2017 National Award Winner
