About the Author

 

FRANCISCO JIMÉNEZ immigrated with his family to California from Tlaquepaque, Mexico. He worked in the fields of California as a child, and his autobiographical novel, The Circuit, tells the story of those younger years, as do his two picture books, La Mariposa, a Smithsonian Notable Book, and The Christmas Gift, an ALA Notable Book. He received both his master’s degree and his Ph.D. from Columbia University and is now the Fay Boyle Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures and director of the ethnic studies program at Santa Clara University. He lives in Santa Clara, California, with his wife and three children.