The Truth About 5th Grade

Mark Parisi is the award-winning cartoonist of the long-running newspaper comic panel Off the Mark. Parisi has won Best Newspaper Panel Comic from the National Cartoonists Society four times and Best Greeting Cards once. More recently Parisi authored and illustrated the HarperCollins middle grade book series Marty Pants. Mark lives on the east coast of Massachusetts and is currently covered in cat hair.

Kim Tomsic was a classroom conversationalist and got in trouble (a lot!) with teachers for talking. The trouble spanned from the East Coast to the West Coast, because she was a military brat and the new girl at eight different schools. In between friendships, she discovered that a good book can be a welcomed companion. Her closest friends know that her favorite foods are ice cream, peanut M&Ms, and Li Hing Muis, and her favorite word is “possibilities.” Kim has two grown children and now lives in Arizona with her husband and dog; The 11:11 Wish is her first middle grade novel and is followed by The 12th Candle. Visit her at kimtomsic.com or kimscritiquingcorner.blogspot.com.