Resau, Laura 1973-

PERSONAL:

Born 1973, in Baltimore, MD; married; husband's name Ian. Education: St. Mary's College, B.A.; University of Arizona, M.A. Hobbies and other interests: Hiking, reading, and dancing.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Fort Collins, CO. E-mail—lresau@hotmail.com.

CAREER:

Writer, educator. Previously taught English as a second language (ESL) in Oaxaca, Mexico; Front Range Community College, Fort Collins, CO, cultural anthropology and ESL teacher.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Parents' Choice Award, Parents' Choice Foundation, 2006, for What the Moon Saw; Puffin Foundation Grant; Arts Alive Fellowship; Barbara Deming Memorial Fund Grant.

WRITINGS:

What the Moon Saw: A Novel (children's book), Delacorte Press (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor of essays on Mexico to Lonely Planet and Travelers' Tales anthologies, and of creative nonfiction for children to periodicals including Cicada, Cricket, and Skipping Stones: A Multicultural Magazine.

SIDELIGHTS:

Laura Resau was born in 1973 and spent the first decade of her life running and playing in the alleys of Baltimore. When she was eleven, her family moved to the suburbs, and Resau became enchanted with the woods and streams and fields that she could now freely explore. After graduating from college, she decided to travel and explore more aspects of the world. She went to Oaxaca, Mexico, where the small university offered her a job. She spent two years there, meeting people, learning Spanish, and experiencing the culture and stories of the region. Her time in Mexico led her to study cultural anthropology at the University of Arizona, where she earned her master's degree.

Resau returned to the United States and began to teach English as a second language (ESL) and cultural anthropology at Front Range Community College in Fort Collins, Colorado. She also began to write, inspired by her travels and her love for storytelling. Her essays on Mexico have appeared in the anthologies Lonely Planet and Travelers' Tales, and her creative nonfiction for children has been published in various periodicals, including Cricket. Her first children's book, What the Moon Saw: A Novel, tells the story of Clara Luna, a fourteen-year-old Mexican American girl, as she learns about her heritage and how her father came to the United States. In a review for Kliatt, Janis Flint-Ferguson wrote: "This is a beautifully told story of finding oneself by holding on to ancient traditions." A contributor for Kirkus Reviews found Resau's effort to be full of "evocative language that is rich in imagery and nuance and speaks to the connections that bind us all."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 15, 2006, Gillian Engberg, review of What the Moon Saw: A Novel, p. 47; November 15, 2006, Hazel Rochman, "Top 10 First Novels for Youth," p. 60.

Children's Bookwatch, December, 2006, review of What the Moon Saw.

Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2006, review of What the Moon Saw, p. 912.

Kliatt, September, 2006, Janis Flint-Ferguson, review of What the Moon Saw, p. 17.

School Library Journal, September, 2006, Melissa Christy Buron, review of What the Moon Saw, p. 217; October, 2006, review of What the Moon Saw, p. S50.

ONLINE

Laura Resau Home Page,http://www.lauraresau.com (April 7, 2007).

Parents' Choice Foundation Web site,http://www.parents-choice.org/ (April 7, 2007), award listing.

Slow Sand Writers Society Web site,http://www.slowsand.com/ (April 7, 2007), author biography.