Photo by Maureen Gillis

When Kelly Goldman Bennett was a child, she held “head conversations” instead of speaking her thoughts and created “mind movies” with real and imagined characters—in truth she still does, but now it’s all part of her job! During the 20 years Kelly has been writing professionally, her words, often written with co-author Ronnie Davidson, have appeared in over 50 magazines and newspapers. She has published 12 fiction and non-fiction books for children.

Kelly's latest picture book, Not Norman, A Goldfish Story (Candlewick Press), has received numerous awards including the Texas Institute of Letters Best Children’s Book Award and an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Medal. It is currently on the Nevada and Pennsylvania state reading lists.

Her most recent release, Strangers in Black by Jill Max (Royal Fireworks Press), is a young adult memoir about a 9-year old boy, Mok, and his struggle to survive in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime. For more about Strangers in Black and other titles by the writing team of “Jill Max,” including Spider Spins A Story (Rising Moon), the award-winning collection of Native American spider legends, visit www.jillmax.com.