History is Joanne's passion, and she was excited to bring a new way of looking at the great figures of the past to young readers today, particularly in terms of seeing a truly global past, with World history as opposed to Western history, and giving credit to the astonishing breadth of great (and terrible!) men and women from many cultures who've left their imprints on our world today.

Udayana Lugo was born in Russia, but grew up in Mexico City. She can't remember a time when she was not drawing. She studied product design in Mexico, and did her masters in Italy. Life took her back to Mexico, then to the UK, and finally to Vancouver, Canada, where she currently resides with her husband and two kids.