LAUREN R. HARRIS grew up in a military family that moved across the United States. In each new place, she found the nearest library and devoured every book she could get her hands on. As her love of reading grew, Harris sought to share it with others, becoming a teacher and then a writer. She wrote for the Rapid City
Journal, Down Country Roads, and Black Hills Pioneer, documenting community life. When writing her first children’s book on the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, titled The Plum Neighbor, she met and interviewed Kenny Higashi for the first time. Today, Lauren lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, two sons, and daughter and continues to record soldiers’ stories and experiences.