Free to Learn

Cynthia Levinson is the author of nonfiction books for young readers that focus on social justice, including The Youngest Marcher, The People’s Painter, and Fault Lines in the Constitution. Her books have received the Sibert Medal, the Carter G. Woodson Book Award, the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, and numerous other honors. She has two daughters, two sons-in-law, four grandchildren, and two grand-dogs—all of whom are thoroughly splendid. Cynthia and her husband divide their time between Austin and Boston, which, helpfully, rhyme, in case she gets lost. Mirelle Ortega is a Mexican writer and artist based in Los Angeles. She is the author-illustrator of Magic: Once Upon a Faraway Land, a Pura Belpré Honor Book, and the illustrator of several books, including Small Room, Big Dreams: The Journey of Julián and Joaquin Castro by Monica Brown and Free to Learn by Cynthia Levinson. Mirelle has a BFA in digital art and 3D animation from the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico and an MFA from Academy of Art University in San Francisco.