Lori Carlson-Hijuelos was born in Jamestown, New York. She went to college at Indiana University, earning a master’s in Hispanic literature. She has taught at several universities, most recently Duke, and is the editor of several books and collections for children and young adults, including Cool Salsa, Sol a Sol, Voices in First Person, Burnt Sugar Caña Quemada, and Path to the World. She lives in New York City.

Joseph Bruchac is the author of many critically acclaimed novels, poems, and stories, many drawing on his Abenaki heritage. Mr. Bruchac and his wife, Carol, live in upstate New York.

Jeremy Lee joined Sam & Eddie Hart at Quo Vadis in Soho in early 2012, becoming Chef Proprietor. Jeremy had previously manned the stoves of Blueprint Cafe on the first floor of the Design Museum, which Sir Terence Conran created on the south bank of the River Thames near Tower Bridge.

Anna Quindlen is a novelist and journalist whose work has appeared on fiction, nonfiction, and self-help bestseller lists.

She is the author of eight novels: Object Lessons, One True Thing, Black and Blue, Blessings, Rise and Shine, Every Last One, Still Life with Bread Crumbs, and Miller’s Valley.

Her memoir Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, published in 2012, was a number one New York Times bestseller. Her book A Short Guide to a Happy Life has sold more than a million copies.

While a columnist at The New York Times she won the Pulitzer Prize and published two collections, Living Out Loud and Thinking Out Loud. Her Newsweek columns were collected in Loud and Clear.