Kwame Mbalia

Kwame is a husband, father, writer, a New York Times bestselling author, and a former pharmaceutical metrologist, in that order. His debut middle-grade novel, ***Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky***, was awarded a Coretta Scott King Author Honor, and it—along with the sequels ***Tristan Strong Destroys the World*** and ***Tristan Strong Keeps Punching***—is  published by *Rick Riordan Presents*/Disney-Hyperion. He is the co-author of ***Last Gate of the Emperor*** with [Prince Joel Makonnen](https://openlibrary.org/authors/OL9186499A), from Scholastic Books, and the editor of ***Black Boy Joy***, a middle grade anthology from Delacourte. A Howard University graduate and a Midwesterner now in North Carolina, he survives on Dad jokes and Cheezits. ()