Miali Coley-Sudlovenick is an Inuk-Jamaican born and raised in Iqaluit, Nunavut. Miali’s first play Blackberries was produced and aired on CBC Gem in 2021. Miali is the owner of Allurvik, a consulting business focused on teaching Inuktitut, Inuit culture, and education. Since completing her bachelor of education in 2013, Miali has taught elementary students and adult learners in person and online. In 2018, Miali created the first Inuktitut podcast, called Tusaavisii?. Being Different is Miali’s first book.

Alex Aldrich Barrett was born in Philadelphia and now works from Los Angeles. She studied painting and printmaking at The Cooper Union in New York, and began her career illustrating for magazines and animating for independent films. She loves traditional media and works mainly with charcoal, gouache, and ink on thick rolls of paper. Inspired by the natural world, books, and fairy tales, the characters she creates have full and interesting personalities. She seeks to reflect the real-life diversity that kids deserve to see in the media. When she’s not at her desk, she is at the beach or on a hike with her sweet old dog, Abacus.