Tahereh Mafi is a girl. She was born the youngest child with four older brothers in a small city somewhere in Connecticut, and currently resides in Orange County, California, where the weather is just a little too perfect for her tastes. She graduated from a tiny liberal arts college two miles from the shores of Laguna Beach, has varying levels of competency in eight different languages and spent a semester abroad in Barcelona, Spain, where she had the opportunity to study Spanish literature in its native form. Shes traveled all over the world, lived on both sides of the country, and even spent some years writing really bad poetry. When unable to find a book, she can be found reading candy wrappers, coupons, and old receipts. She has no idea how to multiply big numbers in her head, and hopes to God no one will ever ask her to.