Oscar Hijuelos, of Cuban heritage, was born in New York City in 1951. He graduated from City College, and his first novel, Our House in the Last World, was published in 1985. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his best-selling The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, Hijuelos is one of the most beloved and celebrated writers in America. His honors include the 1985 Rome Fellowship in Literature of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and fellowships from the Ingram Merrill Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York State Foundation of the Arts. Hijuelos lives in New York.

Nikki Giovanni, born in 1943 in Knoxville, Tennessee, has written almost 50 books for young people and adults. The focus of Giovanni's work has changed frequently, reflecting her view that life itself is fluid and that change is necessary for growth. Two of her books published in 1968 capture the militant attitude of the Civil Rights movement during that time. Much of her later work focused on family and personal relationships. Giovanni's most recent works have stressed a global outlook. Her books and poems for children include the popular title Ego-Tripping and Other Poems for Young People.