M. M. McAllen

M. M. McAllen was raised on a storied south Texas ranch and writes about the history of the Southwest and Mexico. Her first book, the award-winning and best-selling I Would Rather Sleep in Texas (2003), depicts families from the area and the blending of cultures against the backdrop of the Mexican- American War, the Civil War, and upheavals along the border. Her second book, A Brave Boy and a Good Soldier: John C. C. Hill and the Texas Expedition to Mier (2006), tells the 1842 biography of thirteen-year-old Texan John C. C. Hill, who was captured in battle and later adopted by Antonio López de Santa Anna, president of Mexico. This saga of one boy’s survival and success won numerous awards and has become a curriculum standard in a number of Texas schools. She has written book introductions and contributed to anthologies. McAllen has appeared on the PBS series History Detectives— in an episode about the origins of the Chisholm Trail— and has contributed to Faces of America, Henry Louis Gates’s series on the origins of famous citizens. She continues to research and write articles on transborder topics and has contributed to various books and anthologies. She lives in San Antonio.