Advisory Board

Laura Bush

Honorary Chair
Founder of the Texas Book Festival, 1995
Co-Founder of the Library of Congress National Book Festival, 2001

David Baldacci

Honorary Member
No. 1 New York Times best-selling author
Founder, Wish You Well Foundation

James Patterson

Honorary Member
No. 1 New York Times best-selling author
Founder, ReadKiddoRead.com, winner of the National Book Foundation’s Innovations in Reading Prize 2009
Founding partner, Children’s Reading Fund (UK)

Allister Fa Chang

Former Executive Director, Libraries Without Borders

Chantal Francois, Ed.D.

Assistant Professor, College of Education, Towson University

Juan Felipe Herrera

U.S. Poet Laureate emeritus

John Jacobs

Senior Technical Assistance Specialist

Barbara Johnson

President (retired), Rowland Reading Foundation
Senior Strategic Advisor, Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Past President, American Lawyer Media

Karen Lotz

President and Publisher, Candlewick Press
Group Managing Director, Walker Books Limited

Meg Medina

2019 Newbery Award winner

Ernest Morrell, Ph.D.

Professor, College of Arts and Letters, University of Notre Dame
Director, Notre Dame Center for Literacy Education

Dr. Gholdy Muhammad

Best-selling author
Associate Professor of Language and Literacy, Georgia State University

Karen M. Ristau, Ed.D.

Former President, National Catholic Educational Association
Professor, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn., Retired

Loriene Roy, Ph.D.

Professor, School of Information, University of Texas at Austin
Past President, American Library Association

Benita Somerfield

Founding Executive Director, Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy (1988-2012)
Finance Chair, Reach Out and Read

Michael F. Suarez. S.J.

Director, Rare Book School
University Professor and Professor of English, University of Virginia
Co-editor, The Oxford Companion to the Book (2010)

Angie Thomas

No.1 New York Times best-selling author

Dr. Don Vu

Educator and author