Allen Jay and the Underground Railroad

Marlene is an award-winning author of almost 70 titles for readers preschool through adult. She began writing while teaching children with disabilities, producing materials to help her students learn. With time, the desire to write grew stronger. Soon she was writing for a variety of formats—magazines, internet, newspapers, scripts, books, and textbooks for readers of all ages. Yet, she never forgets where the dream of writing originated—through work with children. She is drawn back into classrooms to share the wonders of research and writing, and, of course, reading books.

Janice Lee Porter was born and raised in Chicago. She has a BFA in painting from the Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA from California State University, Chico. She is the illustrator of over two dozen children's books and is an art faculty member at Shasta College in Redding, California, where she teaches painting and drawing. She lives in Chico, California.