Angie Thomas transformed her challenging experiences into groundbreaking novels, inspiring young African Americans to raise their voices.

Known as the Father of American Literature, Mark Twain used satire and a sharp wit to explore and reveal the realities of US society in the 19th century. In doing so he developed an all-new “American style” of writing.

The first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, Gwendolyn Brooks wrote about the hardship and struggles of ordinary people.

A trailblazer in more ways than one, Sandra Cisneros was the first Mexican-American woman to be published by a mainstream publisher. Her work brought Hispanic culture to a wider audience of readers.