LidCGaile

I started out as a dancer, became an artist, and now I'm a writer of middle grade and YA novels. Along the way, I taught sculpture at a university, curated art exhibitions, and lectured on art and culture in the African Diaspora. I share my home in Tampa, Florida, with a tortoiseshell cat named Brandie. Although I live in Florida, I'm not really a beach person, but I love rivers and the forest. I enjoy kayaking on the Hillsborough River.

I recently published my first novel, Fearless Freedom, which is a middle grade novel about a girl who participates in the historic 1963 civil rights marches in Birmingham, Alabama. I was nine-years-old at the time and I remember seeing images children attacked by high-pressure fire hoses and police dogs on television. I have always admired the brave people who fought for change in the civil rights movement, and was inspired to write a book about some of the children activists in the movement.