Mariama J. Lockington is an adoptee, educator, and Schneider Family Book Award and Stonewall Honor-winning author. She has been telling stories and making her own books since the second grade, when she wore short-alls and flower leggings every day to school. She is the author of For Black Girls Like Me, In the Key of Us, and Forever Is Now, as well as a poetry chapbook The Lucky Daughter. Mariama holds a Masters in Education from Lesley University and Masters in Fine Arts in Poetry from San Francisco State University. She lives in Kentucky with her partner.