Contenders

Traci Sorell writes fiction and nonfiction books, as well as poems for children. Her debut nonfiction picture book, We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga, was a Junior Library Guild selection. Her other books for young readers are At The Mountain's Base, which won an American Indian Youth Literature Award, We Are Still Here: Native American Truths, which received five starred reviews, and Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer. Traci is also an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation and lives in northeastern Oklahoma, where her tribe is located.

Arigon Starr is an actor, musician, playwright, and comic book writer. She grew up on the road as part of a military family. An enrolled member of the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma, she also has deep roots in the Muscogee (Creek) Nation thanks to her Mom. She has released four music CDs, written many stage plays, created the comic superhero Super Indian and uses her storytelling talents to highlight contemporary Native America.

Traci Sorell writes fiction and nonfiction books, as well as poems for children. Her debut nonfiction picture book, We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga, was a Junior Library Guild selection. Her other books for young readers are At The Mountain's Base, which won an American Indian Youth Literature Award, We Are Still Here: Native American Truths, which received five starred reviews, and Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer. Traci is also an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation and lives in northeastern Oklahoma, where her tribe is located.

Arigon Starr is an actor, musician, playwright, and comic book writer. She grew up on the road as part of a military family. An enrolled member of the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma, she also has deep roots in the Muscogee (Creek) Nation thanks to her Mom. She has released four music CDs, written many stage plays, created the comic superhero Super Indian and uses her storytelling talents to highlight contemporary Native America.