Angela Shelf Medearis
Angela Shelf Medearis has been called "one of the most influential writers of children's literature in Texas" by Texas Monthly Magazine, and rightly so. Her desire to write books for children was the result of working with second-graders who had difficulties reading. Mrs. Medearis went on to become the founder of Book Boosters, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to tutoring elementary school children who need a "boost" in their self-esteem and help with their reading. Medearis has written more than 75 award-winning books for children, and three cookbooks. She is the co-author, with her husband Michael, of five books about African-American arts and Texas history. Her books have sold more than two million copies worldwide, and are featured on a line of Story Time Videotapes which are narrated by Mrs. Medearis. Her works have been translated into Spanish, French, Dutch, and Japanese. Among her better known works are Dare to Dream: The Story of Coretta Scott King and the Civil Rights Movement (Putnam/Penguin, 1999) and Haunts (Holiday House, soon to be republished in a revised edition by Wings). In addition, Mrs. Medearis has been a member of the Texas Governor's Focus on Reading Task Force.