Laura Shovan's debut middle-grade novel, The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary, was a NCTE 2017 Notable Verse Novel and a Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book of the Year, and won a Cybils Award for poetry, as well a Nerdy Book Club award. Her son's experiences as a member of a travel wrestling team were the inspiration for Takedown. Laura and her family live in Maryland, where she is a longtime poet-in-the-schools for the Maryland State Arts Council. Visit her online at laurashovan.com, or follow her on on Facebook (facebook.com/laura.shovan.poet/) and on Twitter at @LauraShovan.
