ZAILA AVANT-GARDE is a New York Times bestselling author, and was named SportsKid of the Year 2021 by Sports Illustrated Kids. Hailing from New Orleans, Louisiana, she won the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee, making her the first African-American to win in almost 100 years of the competition.
Avant-garde's spelling triumph is just one entry on a very impressive resume. Avant-garde also holds two Guinness World Records for her basketball prowess.

KAH YANGNI is an illustrator living in Philadelphia, PA. They make hyper vibrant art about justice, queerness, and joy using cut up paper, drawings, paint, and Photoshop to show a world where we are free. Kah illustrated Not He or She, I'm Me by A.M. Wild, a 2024 Stonewall Book Award Honor Book, and The Making of Butterflies by Zora Neale Hurston and Ibram X. Kendi. Their art has been covered by NBC News, Ebony Magazine, Mic, and them, and their poster work is in the permanent collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Free Library of Philadelphia.