User:Maria L. Retana

María Luisa Retana was born in Cuba. She received her B.A. in Spanish and Comparative Literature from the University of California, Riverside. She has worked extensively with children of all ages in scholastic and cultural events as well as in theater. She is also the author of seven published bilingual children’s books and the owner and publisher of High Desert Productions, a small independent press located in Bisbee, Arizona. Mrs. Retana is a literary presenter for students, teachers, librarians, and parents.

Mrs. Retana has been influenced by the classic writers as well as those writers responsible for the rich French, Russian, Italian, German, English, Spanish and Latin American Literature. However, there is a writer that fired her passion for writing. This writer is the English crime writer Agatha Christie. She made a powerful impact in Mrs. Retana's teen years. Mrs. Retana hopes someday to write under the category "mystery" for young adults. She will dedicate the first book under the already mentioned category to Agatha Christie.

Books written and publish by Maria Luisa Retana

The Pig That is Not a Pig/El cerdo que no es cerdo, Born Into The Pack/Nacer en la manada, Tall Tails From a Mountain Slope/Los rabos altos de la ladera, The Afternoon Snack/La merienda, The Mystic Call/La llamada mística, Tanilí (an Afrocuban Folktale)and Grandma's Trunk/El baúl de Mamaíta.

In 2008 Mrs. Retana received her first Literacy Award given by The International Reading Association and The Cochise Area Council. She was selected for their "Celebrate Literacy Award" under the category "Exemplary Service in the Promotion of Literacy."