Pam Munoz Ryan was born in Bakersfield, California on December 25, 1951.

Pam was raised by her mother and step-father, who she considered to be her father. She was raised in San Joaquin Valley in a big family, with diverse cultures. Pam was raised around both of her grandmothers, one from Mexico and one from Oklahoma.

Pam graduated with her bachelor's. She married her husband in 1975, and she started her career as an early childhood teacher. Pam continued to work for the next three years, before leaving work to start their family.

Pam had left work to start their family. She and her husband had 4 children, two girls and twin boys. After all four children were born Pam stayed home until her youngest started kindergarten. She then became the director of an early childhood program and she went back to school, at San Diego State University, to pursue her master's degree. She wanted to teach Children's Literature at the college level.

While in her last few weeks obtaining her master's degree, Pam had a professor ask her to stay after class. This professor asked her if she had ever thought about writing books. While writing was something that she enjoyed, the idea had never crossed her mind. This planted a seed. As fate would have it, a few weeks later Pam had a friend ask if she would help her write a book for adults. She then started writing children's stories.

Following countless rejections of stories submitted, Pam finally got her first book published in 1994. One Hundred is a Family is a picture book that helps children learn to count from one to ten and then from ten to one hundred using groups, that can be called families.

After years of publishing children's illustrated books, Pam tried her hand at writing a novel. It was an amazing hit. In 1998 Riding Freedom was published. Several awards were to follow this book. This book was a start to a common theme among Pam's other books to come. In Riding Freedom you have a girl that is being raised in the 1800's in an orphanage for boys, she overcomes and does what she believes she is supposed to do. She is smart and goes against what is thought to be her destiny, just because she is a girl. This book brought several awards to Pam including: California Young Reader Medal – Teacher’s Choice Award – The Willa Cather Award – Arizona Grand Canyon Reader Award – Arkansas Young Reader Award Honor – Parenting Magazine Reading Magic Award – Texas Bluebonnet Award, Noteworthy – IRA Teachers’ Choice

Pam wrote Esperanza Rising, one of her most known novels, after hearing the story of her grandmother from Mexico. The theme of the strong "underdog" girl who rises up above what she is supposed to be is carried throughout her novels, including this book. She had always assumed her grandmother was poor, but in reality her grandmother was very wealthy in Mexico, and was forced to flee during the Great Depression to California and work on a farm. This was a story she thought was a great story line, a girl starting off with everything and then losing it and having to work her way back up. It is very inspiring and has won Pam many awards. Her awards for this book include:Pura Belpré Medal – Jane Addams Children’s Book Award – The Willa Cather Award – Américas Award Honor Book – ALA Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults – Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of the Year – NY Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing – IRA Notable Book for a Global Society – NCSS Notable Book for Young People – Jefferson Cup Award Worthy of Note – Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist – Smithsonian Best Book of the Year – Southern California Judy Lopez Memorial Award – Arizona Young Adult Book Award

With over forty published books and multiple awards, New York Times Best Selling Author Pam Munoz Ryan, has been a very accomplished writer, even though this was not the journey she had planned for herself. Her fiction books bring hope and inspiration, especially to those with hardships or others from different cultures. Over the last two decades, Pam has continued to write award winning novels, with no signs of letting up. She already has her next book, Mananaland, set to be released in March 2020.

References:
A video interview with Pam Muñoz Ryan | Reading Rockets. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/ryan

Pam Munoz Ryan - New York Times Best Selling Author - Pam Muñoz Ryan. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.pammunozryan.com/

Video Interviews with Top Young Adult Authors | Resources for Parents and Educators of Kids in Grades 4 - 12 | All About Adolescent Literacy | AdLit.org. (2019). Retrieved from http://www.adlit.org/authors/