Riding the Devil (Paperback)

José’s story is set in the rich setting of a Southern California Rancho while California was still part of a newly independent Mexico. Eleven-year-old José dreams of being a vaquero, a cowboy. However, he must first conquer his fears by facing the injustices of his era, animal cruelty, wild animals and the vindictive young vaquero, Chaco.

As the child of two successful children's authors, Ed and Ruth Radlauer, Robin Radlauer-Cramer always said she wanted to grow up to be an author, a teacher, or a bus driver. At age 60, she has been all three and more. Robin worked on many nonfiction children's books with her parents, and co-authored Bicycle Motocross with her father in the late 1970's. Teaching is the career Robin has excelled at for 30 years. Reading and Writing are her favorite subjects. In order to share her love of reading with students, she immersed herself in children's literature and served on the California Young Reader Medal committee for three years. Aspiring authors are told to "write what you know." Robin knows children's middle grade literature. She also grew up riding horses in the rolling hills (former cow pastures) of Southern California and trained her young horse herself. These experiences give her first-hand insight for creating some of the characters and events in her story. Robin currently lives near the beach in San Diego County with her husband and their two cats. Her grown children live nearby and make her proud every day.