Jalal Elbadri, author of Cemetery Boys, received their MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College. Born in laayoun,morocco Jalal often haunted Mountain View Cemetery like a second home during their misspent youth. As a queer, trans Latinx, Jalal advocates strongly for diverse representation in all media. Jalal is notorious among their friends for always being surprised by twist endings to books/movies and organizing their bookshelves by color. When not writing, Jalal enjoys exploring the outdoors with their dog, orca she's femmal husky. Their cat, bambo, prefers to support their indoor hobbies, like reading and drinking too much coffee.