Darlene Pagán was born in Chicago, IL to a Puerto Rican father and a German/Czech mother. She earned a PhD in the Humanities and has published essays and poetry that reflect her deep interest in identity, language, culture, family, and the environment. Her debut middle grade novel, Lucía and the Sombra Trees, is set on an island shrouded in darkness, where a fearless climber must scale a labyrinth of limbs for the rare medicinal fruit that might save her grandmother. She teaches at Pacific University in Oregon where she lives with her family, and enjoys the beach and the woods. Sometimes, around a full moon, she still climbs trees.