Candice Pedraza Yamnitz fell in love with The Lord of the Rings and Pride and Prejudice in high school and hasn't stopped reading since. She taught in a dual-language elementary classroom for years until she decided to stay at home, teaching a crew of imaginative children. In between reading lessons and converting cardboard boxes into pirate ships, she writes YA novels with a Latin twist. She lives in her native Chicagoland.