Victor Villasenor

Was Born in Carlsbad, California, But was raised in Oceanside California, where he only spoke
Spanish until he entered school. After struggling with school and discrimination he faced he
dropped out of school a year short of graduating and stayed in Mexico a few years. When he
returned in the 1960s he worked as a construction worker and produced nine novels and 65
stories over 10 years, receiving more than 265 rejections before his first novel, Macho, was
published in 1973. He writes Nonfiction and fiction works and has been recognized for various
pieces of work

Works included:
Macho (1973), Jury: The People vs. Juan Corona (1977), Rain of Gold (1991), Wild Steps of
Heaven (1996), Thirteen Senses (2001),Walking Stars: Stories of Magic and Power (1998),
Burro Genius (2004).

In The Greatest Christmas Gift from (Walking Stars: Stories of Magic and Power) we have a few
kids Juan, Domingo, Lucha, and Emilia from the Mexican state of Jalisco who sneak out on
night to go pay the village witch a little visit. They believe that their family is going be cursed
because their older sister is going to marry the witch’s son Luis. Juan is the one who has to go
call the witch out on her devilish ways and he is constantly reminded that the priest and God
encourage him to do so because he wouldn’t only be saving the Villasenor Family, but the world.
The children constantly quote the Priest and Juan actually thinks if he speaks to god I his mind
that he will listen. From this we can see that the Villasenor children along with the others in the
village are very religious.

“I spoke no English when I started school, and within a week in the American school system, I became ashamed
of my parents and my culture. School was a disaster for me”.