For the 28th day of 28 Days Later, we’re happy to celebrate the works of author Lori Aurelia Williams. Williams is the author four novels, including When Kambia Elaine Flew In from Neptune (Simon and Schuster, 2000), Shayla’s Double Brown Baby Blues (S&S, 2001), and Broken China (S&S, 2005). She holds a master’s degree in English from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was awarded both a James A. Michener Fellowship and a scholarship in creative writing. Born in Houston, Lori Aurelia Williams lives in Austin, TX.
When Kambia Elaine Flew in from Neptune was praised by critics and authors alike. Michael L. Printz Award Winner Angela Johnson said that the novel, “intrigues, breaks hearts, then soars,” while two-time National Book Award Finalist Rita Williams-Garcia called the novel “one of those stories that shoots straight to the heart and hits dead-on.” In her second novel, Shayla’s Double Brown Baby Blues, Williams continued 13-year-old Shaya’s story, with Publishers Weekly noting that, “Readers will feel the undercurrent of authenticity in her characters and situations throughout the novel.”
In Williams’s latest novel, Maxine Banks Is Getting 
Married (Roaring Brook, 2010). we follow seventeen-year-old Maxine as she marries her longtime boyfriend, Brian. Publisher’s Weekly called Maxine, “a gutsy and likeable protaonist” and Booklist praised the novel for its “honest story of love, heartbreak, and kindness….”
For more information about Lori Aurelia Williams, check out her interview at Cynthia Leitich Smith’s website.