We are pleased to announce that Bank Street honored NO-NAME BABY by Nancy Bo Flood as one of their "100 Best Books of 2012." This YA novel tells one girl's story of searching for family truth when women had few rights and even fewer choices. Congrats, Nancy!

Ann Angel is the author of several books for young adults, most recently the biography Janis Joplin: Rise Up Singing which won the 2011 YALSA Award for Excellence in Non-Fiction for Young Adults.

Nancy Bo Flood is the award-winning author of many books for children, most recently Warriors in the Crossfire, a young adult novel that explores one boy's experiences with impending war on the Pacific island of Saipan.

Varian Johnson is the award-winning author of three novels, most recently Saving Maddie. His first middle-grade novel is coming out with Scholastic in 2014.

E. M. Kokie is the author of Personal Effects, a novel for young adults that explores loss, recovery and competing visions of masculinity in the shadow of the conflict in Iraq.

Lyn Miller-Lachmann is the author of several multicultural books, most recently the novel Gringolandia, a 2010 ALA Best Book for young adults. Her novel Rogue will be published by Penguin in June 2013.

Peter Marino's young adult novels Dough Boy and Magic and Misery have been nominated by the American Library Association for Best Books for Young Adults. He is also a playwright: The Grandma Show, "Ralph Smith of Schenectady, New York...” and "The Good Samaritan" have been produced nationwide.

J.L. Powers is the award-winning author of several books, most recently This Thing Called the Future, a coming-of-age novel set in post-apartheid South Africa, and editor of That Mad Game: Growing Up in a Warzone, an anthology of essays from around the world.

The Pirate Tree is a collective of children's and young adult writers interested in children's literature and social justice issues. For editorial or administrative issues, or to contact any of the authors whose email addresses are unlisted, please contact J.L. Powers at the address below. If you have a book you'd like to recommend for a review or an interview subject, guest writer, or topic that you'd like to suggest, please contact J.L. Powers.

Ann: aangel [at] aol [dot] com
Nancy: wflood [at]hotmail [dot] com
Varian: vcj [at] varianjohnson [dot] com
E.M.: emkokie [at] gmail [dot] com
Lyn: lynml [at] me [dot] com
Peter: pmarino300 [at] yahoo [dot] com
J.L.: jlpowers [at] evaporites [dot] com

The writers at The Pirate Tree seek to expose and discuss literature and writers for children and teenagers that delve into themes of social justice and social conscience. The title, “The Pirate Tree,” comes from a picture book that Lyn Miller-Lachmann once wrote about two children whose grandfathers fought on opposite sides of a war. The children were prohibited from going into each others’ yards, but they figured out a way to meet and play pirates together by climbing a tree with limbs and branches above both their yards. Like the story suggested, we are interested in books and writers that question and rebel against the status quo, argue for peace and reconciliation, take the side of the marginalized and powerless, and use creative solutions to overcome obstacles.