Hi there! I'm Emmanuella, the author and illustrator of Older. I'm currently 23 years old and a student at Rutgers University, studying to become a K-8 teacher. I was born in Brooklyn and grew up in New Jersey with my parents and two siblings. I've enjoyed reading, writing, and making art ever since I was young, and these are still some of my favorite hobbies today! I began working on Older, my first book, during High School for a class assignment, and self-published it about a year later.