Patricia C.and Fredrick L. McKissack are the authors of numerous and acclaimed books, including REBELS AGAINST SLAVERY: AMERICAN SLAVE REVOLTS and BLACK HAND, WHITE SAILS: THE STORY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN WHALERS, both CSK Honor Books. They have also collaborated on SOJOURNER TRUTH: AIN'T I A WOMAN?, a CSK Honor Book, winner of an NAACP Image Award, and a Boston Globe/Horn Book Award. For the first time this husband-wife team invites their grown son, John McKissack, a mechanical engineer, to join them as a technical advisor in the creation of this new series. The elder McKissacks live in St. Louis, MO. John lives in Memphis, TN with his wife, Michelle, and three sons, John, Everett and Peter.