About the Author

Author of the Fellowship Farm series, Crowned Heart series, and Unity in Diversity series. Melanie Lotfali PhD is a graduate of the Australian College of Journalism in Professional Writing for Children. She is the author of twenty-plus books of fiction and non-fiction for children, and the illustrator of five. Melanie has taught spiritual education classes for children for the past twenty years in five countries and is currently an active animator and trainer of animators for the Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program. She is a qualified counselor and classroom teacher, and for the past six years has facilitated violence prevention and respectful relationships programs in high schools. Much of her childhood was spent on the farms, beaches, and mountains of Tasmania, where the Fellowship Farm series is set. As an adult, she spent four years in Siberia and four years in East Timor as a pioneer. She currently lives in Lismore, Australia, with her family.