Alan Lawrence Sitomer was named California’s 2007 Teacher of the Year. He is also the critically acclaimed author of numerous books which engage young adult readers.

      In 2004, Mr. Sitomer received the prestigious award for Classroom Excellence from the Southern California Teachers of English and in 2003 he was honored as Teacher of the Year by California Literacy. As an educator, Mr. Alan (as his students like to call him) works as an inner-city high school English teacher in Los Angeles as well as a professor in the Graduate School of Education at Loyola Marymount University. His young adult novels include The Hoopster, Hip-Hop High School and Homeboyz, an urban trilogy published by Disney. Mr. Sitomer is also the author of Hip-Hop Poetry and The Classics, a text used in classrooms across the United States to engage disengaged students.

      Alan is also a nationally renowned speaker specializing in engaging reluctant readers and writers who appears frequently across the country. Currently, Mr. Sitomer lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Tracey, his daughter, Sienna, and his dog, Paris.