Lynne Reid Banks was born in London, England on July I929. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, she acted and wrote for the repertory stage.Eventually, she turned to journalism, becoming one of Britain's first female television news reporters. Banks was fired from her job as a reporter, and while working a different job, she wrote her first novel, which went on to become a best seller. Her titles include Fair Exchange, Tom Country, The Spice Rack, and Polly and Jake.
Brock Cole is an award-winning children's author as well as a noted artist and illustrator. His latest novel, The Facts Speak for Themselves, is an honest, uncompromising portrait of adolescent life from an author with a startling ability to capture the poignant and confusing reality of today's youth. Brock Cole's The Goats was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, an ALA Notable Book, a New York Times Book Review Notable Book, a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, and a Booklist Children's Editor's Choice. The New York Times Book Review praised it as "a beautifully written and persuasive first novel," and the Chicago Sun-Times called it "one of the best novels of the year." His… second novel, Celine, was called "a masterful novel" by School Library Journal which named it a Best Book of the Year. It was also named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, a Booklist Editor's Choice, a Booklist Best Book of the 80's, and a Publishers Weekly Notable Childrens Book of the Year. Brock Cole lives in Buffalo, NY.