Kwame Mbalia is a husband, father, and New York Times bestselling author of the Tristan Strong series, for which he received a Coretta Scott King Author Honor award for Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky. Kwame also cowrote Last Gate of the Emperor with Prince Joel Makonnen and edited the instant New York Times best seller Black Boy Joy: 17 Stories Celebrating Black Boyhood. Kwame lives with his wife and children near Raleigh, North Carolina, where he is currently working on several projects--including a new middle-grade series--and cultivating cutting edge dad jokes.