¿Ya mero llegamos, mami?

was born and raised in Calexico, California. She holds an Associate’s Degree in Art from Imperial Valley College, a nursing degree from Maric College of Medical Careers in San Diego, and Bachelor’s of Science Degree in English Literature and a California Multi-Subject Elementary Teaching Credential from San Diego State University. She has been a teacher in Calexico for the past twenty years and teaches at Rockwood Elementary School, the same school she attended as a child, and in the very same classroom she herself was a kindergartener. She is teaching her kindergarteners how to be authors and illustrators themselves by writing, illustrating, and publishing their original work on their iPads. Mary is one of the illustrators in the Piñata and Mas Piñata literacy series. She lives in Calexico, California with her husband James, their son Sebastian, daughters Layla and Natalie, their dog Molly, their turtle, their two guinea pigs, and their gecko.