Poet and author Carole Boston Weatherford earned a BA from American University, an MA from the University of Baltimore, and an MFA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She has written more than 40 books and has earned many awards including the NAACP Image Award, a Coretta Scott King Award, and a Caldecott. She often writes about African American history, families and traditions, and jazz. Weatherford is the winner of a Ragan-Rubin Award for Literary Achievement from the North Carolina English Teachers Association and the North Carolina Award for Literature. She lives in North Carolina and teaches at Fayetteville State University.