Esme Raji Codell

Esmé Raji Codell is a Chicago-based author, teacher, librarian, and children's literature specialist who began her career teaching in Chicago's public schools after graduating from Northeastern Illinois University. She gained acclaim with her memoir Educating Esmé: Diary of a Teacher's First Year (1999), detailing her first year in an inner-city school, and later wrote novels like Sahara Special (2003), which won the IRA Children's Book Award. Codell founded the PlanetEsme.com website and literary salon, promoting children's literature through her blog and events.[1][2][4]