Carmella Van Vleet is a former teacher and award-winning author who has been writing books for kids for over twenty years. Her picture book YOU GOTTA MEET MR. PIERCE: The Storied Life of Folk Artist Elijah Pierce (co-authored with Chiquita Mullins Lee and illustrated by Jennifer Mack-Watkins) was chosen to represent Ohio at the 2024 National Book Festival. Her latest book, FROZEN IN TIME: What Ice Can Tell Us about Climate Change, is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. Carmella lives in Lewis Center, Ohio.