Jacqueline Woodson

After her sister taught her how to write her name, Jacqueline Woodson began writing on everything. Once she even wrote on the side of a building! (And got into trouble for it.) Prizes for writing soon followed, and in fifth grade her winning poem about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was so well done, everyone thought she copied it from a book. This notoriety taught Jacqueline that she could use writing to get people s attention. As Jacqueline grew older, she began to notice poverty, discrimination, and in-equality all around her and decided to do something about it. She would use books like I Hadn t Meant to Tell You This, Lena, and If You Come Softly to let everyone know about people who were mistreated because they were different. Today, her books are read around the world and have been published in many languages, including Italian, Dutch, Tagalog, French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Mandarin, and Turkish.