Nic Stone is a native of Atlanta and a Spelman College graduate. After working extensively in teen mentoring and living in Israel for a few years, she returned to the United States to write full-time.

Dear Martin, her first novel, is loosely based on a series of true events involving the shooting deaths of unarmed African American teenagers.

Shaken by the various responses to these incidents--and to the pro-justice movement that sprang up as a result--Stone began the project in an attempt to examine current affairs through the lens of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s teachings.

Melissa de la Cruz is the #1 New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times and Publishers Weekly internationally bestselling author of many critically acclaimed novels, including The Isle of the Lost: A Descendants Novel and the Summer on East End series.

Her Blue Bloods series has sold over three million copies.