Elisa Puricelli Guerra was born in Milan, Italy. She always dreamed of becoming a writer (or an astronaut or a witch) and her love of books was born when her mother read the Pippi Longstocking books to her her aloud. Like Pippi, Guerra has red hair -- a fact that has caused many problems. She never got away with anything in school, because her flaming read hair always caught the attention of the teachers. As a writer, she often gives the main characters in her stories red hair, too, but she makes them extra clever, so they get away with a bit more than she did. Guerra also works as a freelance writer and translator, but if she could make a living by just reading, that is exactly what she would do!