Alexandra Ballard moved to Berkeley in 2005. She holds master's degrees from Columbia University (journalism) and Fordham (education) and has taught middle school at New York City Public Schools and Bentley School in Oakland. She's also the author of a young adult novel, WHAT I LOST, and is currently working on her second novel. When she's not teaching or writing, she loves baking, singing, pretending she knows how to play the piano, and hanging out with her husband, two daughters, and golden retriever and cat.