Short Bio
Jenny Torres Sanchez is a full-time writer and former English teacher. She has lived on the border of two worlds her whole life. She is the author of several young adult novels, many of which have landed on Best of Lists and won various honors. Her latest, We Are Not from Here, is a Pura Belpré Honor book and has been described by the New York Times as “a novel precisely for this moment.”
Jenny has also contributed to several short story and essay anthologies. And her debut picture book, With Lots of Love, was Jumpstart’s Read for the Record selection for 2023.
Extended Bio
My name is just Jenny, not Jennifer, or Victoria, or Elizabeth, or Lizzie, which is what I tried to make friends and my sister call me when I was younger because Jenny didn’t sound fancy enough. I spent a lot of time trying to come up with better names.
I even tried to convince my fourth grade teacher that my name was Gennifer (like the creative spelling?), which caused a lot of confusion on that year’s state assessment test. Anyway, I like Jenny now and find it suits me just fine.
When I graduated high school, I swore I’d never go back. But I did, as a teacher, and I made teens read The Scarlet Letter, The Great Gatsby, A Streetcar Named Desire, and other works they swore they’d never understand. But they did, and we had some very cool discussions, and my students were some of the coolest people I have ever met and a large part of why I write YA.
In addition to writing, I like to paint and take pictures. I also like to listen to music. A LOT. Like all the time. I wish there was a way for music to play in the background of my life and change according to my mood and situation–like a movie. My taste ranges from The Cure to the Violent Femmes, to the The Jesus and Mary Chain, to Lila Downs, to Los Tigres del Norte and Los Bukis.
One more bit about me: I tend to overuse the word cool, but this by no means diminishes its utter awesomeness and coolness. Thanks for checking out my site. You’re cool.