Marie Marquardt

Marie Marquardt is a college professor who lives with her husband, four kids, a dog, and a bearded dragon in a very busy household in Decatur, Georgia. Dream Things True is her first book of Young Adult fiction, and it was inspired by her work with Mexican immigrants in Georgia. Since the late 1990s, she has been doing research and advocacy with immigrants from Mexico, and has witnessed on both sides of the border the effects of a broken immigration system. Currently, she has the honor of working with an amazing group of volunteers to run El Refugio, a non-profit that offers temporary lodging and support to the loved ones of detained immigrants. As a part of this work, she regularly visits with detained immigrants at one of the largest detention centers in the United States (which happens to be in Southwest Georgia). They assist them as they prepare for deportation. This work is heartbreaking, but it also reminds her every day that love is more powerful than fear.