The Mud Angels: How Students Saved the City of Florence

When the Arno River floods the city of Florence, Italy in 1966, it leaves slimy, smelly mud everywhere. A young girl watches students from around the world, many from the US, help save the town’s rare treasures, earning themselves the nickname Gli Angeli del Fango, the Mud Angels.

Karen M. Greenwald is the author of A Vote for Susanna, which was a Kansas 2022 Notable Book. It represented Kansas at the Library of Congress National Book Festival and in the Great Reads from Great Places initiative. She cofounded the #SunWriteFun writing contest, which raises money for kidlit charities, and her strategic branding efforts have earned seventeen international awards. Karen shares her Maryland office with a very noisy dog.

Olga Lee is an illustrator of Korean ethnicity currently based in Moscow, Russia. After studying animation at Max the Mutt Art and Animation College in Toronto, Canada, she returned to Russia to work as an animator on a feature film while freelancing as an illustrator whenever she could to practice drawing. Eventually she realized she wanted to focus on illustrating full time. Olga takes her inspiration from everyday life and stories. When not illustrating, she loves spending time with her dog and skating.