Melinda Marchiano

Melinda Marchiano lives in the rolling, oak-studded hills of the Central Coast of California. Homeschooled through the eighth grade, she enjoyed from a young age the freedom to write and create. Now in high school, she is academically at the top of her class. Melinda dances six days a week and performs with the Civic Ballet of San Luis Obispo and with San Luis Jazz. A childhood cancer survivor, she gives thanks for her life by speaking and fundraising for such organizations as the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation, the Children’s Miracle Network, and the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.

The first edition of Melinda's book, Grace, is the Winner of the 2010 International Book Awards in the Health: Cancer category and was also named an Award Finalist in the Spirituality: Inspirational category.

Melinda's second edition, Grace: A Child's Intimate Journey Through Cancer and Recovery, combines the award-winning story of her first edition along with a compelling foreword written by Dr. Joshua Schiffman (Hodgkin lymphoma survivor as a teenager,) over sixty photographs, impressive endorsements, and outstanding interior/cover designs and distribution by Greenleaf Book Group.