Jim Haskins was the author of more than one hundred books for young readers, including several other books in the Black Stars series. He also collaborated with Rosa Parks on her autobiography, Rosa Parks: My Story. He received many awards, including the Coretta Scott King Award and the Washington Post Children's Book Guild Award for his work in nonfiction for young people.

Kathleen Benson is the Director of Government and Community Relations at the Museum of the City of New York.
Jim and Kathleen collaborated on more than 25 books.