The daughter of a geologist and a journalist, J.L. Powers spent much of her childhood camping and searching for fossils in the American West, and considers herself a true “desert rat.” She grew up on the U.S.-Mexico Border in El Paso, Texas. She’s taught African history and freshman composition, research and argument, creative writing, and literature at the University of Texas at El Paso, Stanford University, and Skyline College. Jessica is semi-proficient in three languages–Spanish, Portuguese, and Zulu–and now sometimes answers in Zulu when spoken to in Spanish. Though she now lives in California, where she just finished a Master’s Degree in African History at Stanford University, she will always consider El Paso, Texas “home.” She is the author of one picture book (Colors of the Wind: The Story of Blind Artist and Champion Runner George Mendoza); 3 novels for young adults (Amina; This Thing Called the Future; and The Confessional); editor of two collections of essays (That Mad Game: Growing Up in a Warzone; and Labor Pains and Birth Stories: Essays on Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Becoming a Parent); and author of one non-fiction hiking guide (A Bark in the Park: The 52 Best Places to Hike with Your Dog in the El Paso/Las Cruces region).