Kate Messner grew up in a small town in western New York. After studying journalism and working as a television reporter, she became a middle-school English teacher. Her first novel, The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z, was published to great acclaim in 2009. Kate lives in Plattsburgh, New York. Brian Floca is the author and illustrator of Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 and Lightship, both Sibert Honor Books. He has illustrated Avi's award-winning Poppy series and, most recently, Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan's Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring. Brian grew up in Texas and now lives in Brooklyn, New York.