Gallego García, Laura 1977-

Personal

Born October 11, 1977, in Valencia, Spain. Education: University of Valencia, Ph.D. (medieval literature). Hobbies and other interests: Traveling, sleeping, volleyball, Tae Kwon Do.

Addresses

Home—Apartado de Correos 76, 46120 Alboraya, Valencia, Spain.

Career

Novelist.

Awards, Honors

Premio el Barco de Vapor, Groupo SM, 1999, for Finis mundi, and 2002, for La leyenda del rey errante.

Writings

Finis mundi, Ediciones SM (Del Valle, México), 1999.

El valle de los lobos, Ediciones SM (Del Valle, México), 2000, translated by Margaret Sayers Peden as The Valley of the Wolves, Arthur A. Levine Books (New York, NY), 2006.

El cartero de los sũenos, Editorial Brief (Valencia, Spain), 2001.

Las hijas de Tara, Ediciones SM (Del Valle, México), 2002.

La maldición del maestro, Ediciones SM (Del Valle, México), 2002.

La leyenda del rey errante, Ediciones SM (Del Valle, México), 2002, translated by Dan Bellm as The Legend of the Wandering King, Arthur A. Levine Books (New York, NY), 2005.

La llamada de los muertos, Ediciones SM (Del Valle, México), 2003.

Mandrágora, Editorial Pearson (Madrid, Spain), 2003.

¿Dónde está Alba?, Ediciones SM (Del Valle, México), 2003.

Feris, el elfo, Ediciones SM (Del Valle, México), 2004.

El coleccionista de reloges extraordinares, Ediciones SM (Del Valle, México), 2004.

Alas de fuego, Editorial Laberinto (Madrid, Spain), 2004.

Memorias de Idhún: la resistencia, Ediciones SM (Del Valle, México), 2004.

La hija de la noche, Groupo Edebé (Barcelona, Spain), 2004.

Max ya no hace reír, Ediciones SM (Del Valle, México), 2005.

Alba tiene una amiga muy especial, Ediciones SM (Del Valle, México), 2005.

Un fantasma en apuros, Algar Ediciones (Alzira, Spain), 2005.

Memorias de Idhún: Tríada, Ediciones SM (Del Valle, México), 2005.

Sidelights

At age twenty-one Laura Gallego García proved herself a precocious writer by winning Spain's prestigious Barco de Vapor award for her first young-adult novel, Finis mundi. Since producing her first publication in 1998, Gallego García has sustained a prolific career as a writer, authoring many more novels geared toward children and young adults. In 2001, she won a second Barco de Vapor award for La leyenda del rey errante, a novel that has also been translated into English as The Legend of the Wandering King.

A book worm by nature, Gallego García grew up in Valencia, Spain, where she indulged in reading fantasy fiction novels that included translations of Michael Ende's The Neverending Story and J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy as well as the works of Spanish fantasy writer Joan Manuel Gisbert. Captivated by these imaginary worlds, Gallego García began writing her own fantasy fiction and entered her stories into various contests, eventually winning the Barco de Vapor award for Finis mundi.

The Valley of the Wolves—the English translation of Gallego García's El valle de los lobos—centers on Dana, a young and lonely girl born with sapphire eyes and a unique demeanor that sets her apart from those in her small farming village. Dana is further estranged when she develops a special friendship with Kai, a spirit whom Dana only can see. Dana's life changes when she begins to plan for her future and apprentices to a powerful magician. As Dana's magical powers get stronger her friendship with Kai begins to diminish, and this struggle between magic and friendship is at the heart of the novel. Gillian Engberg noted in Booklist that Gallego García successfully creates a "vivid world, both enchanted and treacherous," while April Spisak observed in the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books that "the well developed and convincing bond between Dana and Kai and the successful balance between action and introspection give the familiar theme added energy."

In The Legend of the Wandering King Gallego García brings to readers the world of pre-Islamic Arabia. Booklist reviewer Gillian Engberg regarded The Legend of the Wandering King as a "captivating, magical tale … steeped in rich cultural specifics." As in The Valley of the Wolves, The Legend of the Wandering King follows its protagonists as they undergo a path to self-discovery. In Kirkus Reviews a writer commented that the latter novel is a "beautifully symmetrical tale of the possibility of redemption, of fate vs. free will, [and] of the necessity of heart in art."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 15, 2006, Gillian Engberg, review of The Valley of the Wolves, p. 248; October 15, 2005, Gillian Engberg, review of The Legend of the Wandering King, p. 40.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, May, 2006, April Spisak, review of The Valley of the Wolves, p. 400.

Críticas, February 1, 2003, Michelle Herrera Mulligan, "Spanish Lords Swords & Magic."

Kirkus Reviews, July 1, 2005, review of The Legend of the Wandering King p. 735; April 1, 2006, review of The Valley of the Wolves, p. 347.

School Library Journal, October, 2005, Patricia D. Lothrop, review of The Legend of the Wandering King, p. 161.

ONLINE

Laura Gallego García Home Page,http://www.lauragallego.com (September 11, 2006).