Israel Moya roots for underdogs and loves to write about them. As a child, his mother’s mystical tales about life in Mexico shaped his imagination, and his own stories capture that spirit. His professional journey has been a whirlwind adventure in classrooms as a teacher, in the Amazon jungle championing environmental justice, and in refugee camps protecting the rights of children. He was the first in his family to graduate college and has degrees from Bakersfield College, UCLA, and the University of Michigan Law School. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan. Monarchs in the Wild is his first novel.