Next Level: A Hymn in Gratitude for Neurodiversity

Samara Cole Doyon is a poet, educator, and award-winning children’s book author living on unceded Wabanaki/Abenaki territory. She is a neurodivergent mother of neurodivergent children, continually learning more from her offspring than they could ever learn from her. She earned both a Lupine Award and an International Literacy Association Award for her debut picture book, Magnificent Homespun Brown, and her second children’s book, Magic Like That, received a starred review from Kirkus and made the Bookstagang Best Picture Books of 2021 list. Samara works at Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance and resides with her husband, two children, and rescue pup in central Maine.

Kaylani Juanita’s mission as an artist is to support the stories of the underrepresented and create new ways for people to imagine themselves. Her work has appeared at the Society of Illustrators and the BBC website, and she is the illustrator of the picture books Ta-Da! and winner of the ALA Stonewall Book Award for When Aidan Became a Brother. She lives in the Bay Area in California. Look for her online at kaylanijuanita.com and @kaylanijuanita on Twitter and Instagram.