Mike Curato

Mike Curato is the award-winning author and illustrator of the Little Elliot series, which debuted in 2014, and the graphic novel Flamer, and has illustrated a number of other books for children, including What If… (by Samantha Berger), Worm Loves Worm, and All the Way to Havana. It’s the summer between middle school and high school, and Aiden Navarro is away at camp. As we follow him on Flamer (Henry Holt and Co.) everyone’s going through changes—but for Aiden, the stakes feel higher. As he navigates friendships, deals with bullies, and spends time with Elias (a boy he can’t stop thinking about), he finds himself on a path of self-discovery and acceptance. Kirkus, in a starred review, said “This is a story that will be read and reread, and for some, it will be the defining book of their adolescence.”