Julie Murphy is the New York Times bestselling author of the young adult books Side Effects May Vary, Dumplin’, Ramona Blue, and Puddin’. Dumplin’ was recently made into a Netflix film starring Jennifer Aniston. Her new book, Dear Sweet Pea, will be out in October 2019. A former librarian, she lives in North Texas.

Alessandra Balzer is copublisher of the HarperCollins Publishers’ young adult imprint Balzer + Bray. In addition to Murphy, her imprint’s authors include Angie Thomas (The Hate U Give), Emily Danforth (The Miseducation of Cameron Post), and Ben Philippe (The Field Guide to the North American Teenager).