Erskine, Kathryn: - Kathryn Erskine is the National Book Award-winning author of Mockingbird along with several other novels for children and teens. Her first picture book, Mama Africa! How Miriam Makeba Spread Hope with Her Song, illustrated by Charly Palmer, received three starred reviews and won the Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe Award for New Talent in Illustration as well as the Africana Book Award.