María Amparo Escandón, a best-selling bilingual writer, is the author of Esperanza's Box of Saints (and its Spanish version, Santitos), which has been translated into 16 languages, as well as the screenplay for the film version, produced by John Sayles, which received 14 fi lm awards. Her most recent book is González & Daughter Trucking Co. She lives in Los Angeles, is an advisor at the Sundance Screenwriters' and teaches fi ctionwriting at UCLA Extension.