Mary Margaret McAllen Amberson

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.