IOWA CITY — Iowa City native Emily Galvin Almanza has had many titles in her professional life: public defender, nonprofit co-founder, professor, author. Now, with the publication of “Andromeda Diaz and the Reasonable Doubt,” there’s a new one to add to the list: children’s author.
Her transition from defense lawyer to writer of a new mystery series for middle-grade readers is rooted in Galvin Almanza’s own childhood experiences.
“Before I was a public defender, I was actually a kid who needed to be defended,” she said. “… I know quite personally what it’s like to stand up in front of a judge and not know what’s going to happen next, or even what the grownups around you are necessarily talking about in legalese.”…