Breanna J. McDaniel (she/her/hers) is the co-founder of REIYL (Researchers Exploring Inclusive Youth Literature) and an author. She’s published in myriad academic journals, an academic anthology and her debut picture book Hands Up! was published with Dial Books in 2019, while her newest picture book Impossible Moon was published with Denene Millner Books in June of 2022. In 2024 her two titles, GO Forth and Tell: The Life of August Baker, Librarian and Master Storyteller; and Cute Toot were released. Breanna’s academic research is focused on surveillance and respectability politics in representations of Black children as food in contemporary picture books. A proud alumna of Emory University and Simmons University, she completed her PhD in Education in September of 2022.