Raquel Eliz­a­beth Arti­ga de Paz emi­grat­ed from El Sal­vador to Mass­a­chu­setts. Raquel is learn­ing Eng­lish, work­ing as a care­tak­er with peo­ple in their own homes, and singing in a cho­rus. She and Jane Yolen met at the Cen­ter for New Amer­i­cans and with the help of trans­la­tor Lau­rie Mill­man (head of the Cen­ter), they worked on her part of this book together.