Isabel Estrada O’Hagin has spent much of her professional life as an educator sharing her love of music, dance, and drama with children of all ages, from toddlers to college students. These rich, play-filled experiences have inspired the creativity and passion in her writing. Along with dancing, writing, and listening to her favorite music, Isabel loves to cook and tease her two cats with daily antics.
A native of Arizona, Isabel grew up in Tucson and spent most of her summers in Nogales visiting her nana and tata. She currently lives in Michigan with her husband. Their son, also in Michigan, recently graduated from college and works in the field of international business.
More About Me
One of seven children, I grew up in the barrios of Tucson in a family immersed in music, Mexican-American culture, and storytelling. From my father on down, we told big sapos (whoppers) of ghost stories, urban legends, and plenty of ‘remember whens. . . ‘ As a kid I loved to sing, dance, and act, and growing up poor in a large family afforded me plenty of opportunities to create and improvise. There were plenty of talent shows in the backyard; plenty of mud pies, mud villages, and mud people; and later in high school I discovered poetry, modern dance, choreography, and writing for our high school creative writing journal, in addition to serving as the editor.
Mostly, I loved to read! Books allowed me to go beyond my own experiences and imagine other worlds. Growing up I didn’t see myself on many of the pages and this desire toward self-identity and self-affirmation is what led me to write stories for today’s children and youth.
I enjoy writing for all age levels: from picture books, chapter books and middle grade novels, and more recently, a young adult novel in its first draft. The poet in me loves to play with images and words. And it is all these threads in my life than find their way into the weavings of the stories I need to tell.