Number the Stars Lois Lowry was born in Hawaii, but because her father was in the army and her husband in the navy, she lived in New York, Pennsylvania, Tokyo, Rhode Island, California, Connecticut, South Carolina, Massachusetts and Maine, where she began her writing career. The main subject of her 30 books is human connections.

Mal di Pietre Milena Agus was born in Genova, but is of Sardinian origin. She teaches Italian and history at a technical school in Cagliari, where she also lives. She wrote her first book, Mentre dorme il pescecane, in 2005. Mal di Pietre is from 2006 and has already been translated into five different languages. It was very successful in France and it has won several awards.

Respidando cerca de mí Jorge Gómez Soto was born in Madrid in 1974. He already began writing while he was studying economics. Writing is in his blood, his dad is a writer as well, and has written several stories for young readers. Jorge Gómez Soto has published 5 novels for young adults, and hopes to publish more. If you want to know more about him, he has a website: www.gomezsoto.com

Luigi Pirandello (28 June 1867 - 10 December 1936) was an Italian dramatist, novelist, poet and short story writer. Awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "bold and brilliant renovation of the drama and the stage". Pirandello's works include novels, hundreds of short stories, and about 40 plays, some of which are written in Sicilian. Pirandello's tragic farces are often seen as forerunners for Theatre of the Absurd.

James Heneghan was born 1930 and brought up in Liverpool, England, and in Ireland, where his parents came from. He was a police officer in Liverpool for a couple of years but decided to leave England for Vancouver, British Columbia. After five years, he worked as a fingerprint specialist with the Vancouver Police but was fed up with staring at fingerprints and decided to become a teacher.

Anne Cassidy was born in London in 1952. She taught in London schools for 19 years before she became a full-time writer. She writes especially for teenagers, and her favourite genres are crime stories and thrillers. She has won many prizes for her work. Here are some of her characters: Jennifer Jones, aged 10, murders her friend. She is sent to a children's prison for 6 years, but what happens when she comes out again? Read 'Looking for JJ' (2004) to find out. A child is found abandoned by his mother - he is only one day old. The police want to find his mother.