I am a part of everything I have read.

~ John Kieran ~

I spent my childhood in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and New Mexico, camping at the Red Sea in one and eating red chile in the other. As a girl I danced ballet, raced through books about Laura Ingalls, Anne Shirley, Ramona Quimby, and Taran the Pig Boy, put on magic shows in a homemade cape, and wrote poetry on a hand-me-down typewriter. Our house was open to all kinds of people, and family dinners often included exchange students, folks down on their luck, missionaries, or friends passing through.

Roman ruins in the Middle East

At fifteen, I moved to Australia as an exchange student, where I camped in the Outback, climbed Ayers Rock, held a koala, and got bitten by an emu. My Vegemite advice? Spread it thinly on buttered toast.

Kangaroo heart to heart

I’ve taught both social studies and English in New Mexico, Florida, Virginia, and Louisiana, working to instill in my students a passion for books, the freedom to experiment with words, and a curiosity about the past.

Vacuum tubes can double as great alien outerwear

Now back in Albuquerque with my husband and two sons, I write full-time about kids, snickerdoodles, emus (the non-biting kind), and bayous, hoping to honor childhood through the stories I create.