Surviving Middle School: One Great Middle Grade Book at a Time

Nina Ciatto has worked as a New York City public school teacher, primarily with middle school students, for more than twenty years. Her areas of focus have been English language arts, social studies, special education, and social emotional learning. She has presented at conferences such as the International Literacy Association's annual conference. She conducted professional development for teachers in Azerbaijan through the U.S. Department of State's Teach Excellence and Achievement award, studied in Poland through a Fulbright-Hayes summer seminar, and wrote curriculum for the International Rescue Committee via the Sandy Feldman Fellowship. In her current role, Nina works with teacher teams as they look at student data and make instructional decisions based on that data. Nina lives in Brooklyn with her daughter and her partner.

 Lisa Yee is a Newbery Honoree and National Book Award finalist for Maizy Chen’s Last Chance. She is also the author of over 21 books for young people, including the groundbreaking Millicent Min, Girl Genius; Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time; and the DC Super Hero Girls novel series. Lisa is a frequent contributor to NPR’s Books We Love. A third-generation Chinese American, Lisa says, “I wrote Maizy Chen’s Last Chance as a tribute to my grandparents and to all the immigrants who made the journey to America.” Lisa divides her time between Western Massachusetts and Los Angeles.