Christina is not so unlike most authors. Enamored of the written word, she remembers feeling giddy whenever her mother handed her money for the school book fair. After perusing the fair’s shelves and claiming her bounty, she’d take it home, devour it, and then store it in a shoebox she kept under her bed.

For all of joy reading brought her, she eventually realized that she rarely saw herself reflected in the mainstream stories she read. She also understood that she wasn’t alone in feeling this disconnect. That realization motivated her to pick up her pen and create stories that celebrated diversity and inclusivity.