Padma Venkatraman is the acclaimed American author of BORN BEHIND BARS, THE BRIDGE HOME, A TIME TO DANCE, ISLAND’S END and CLIMBING THE STAIRS. Her books have won numerous honors and awards (e.g. WNDB Walter Dean Myers Award, Golden Kite Award, South Asia Book Award, ALA Notable etc). She has a doctorate in oceanography and has spent time underwater, on ships where she was the only BIPOC female and the chief scientist, served as diversity director, and teacher. She was born in India, has lived on 5 different continents, and now calls Rhode Island home.