About the Book Being raised by their loving grandparents, bat and mouse brothers Daniel and Sora are sad this holiday season because they never knew their parents. Grandma Emily and Grandpa Abram sit them down and share the story of their parents and how they gave up their lives so that the two of them could live. Gift of the Heart is based on the author's own experience as a transplant patient and how it was thanks to his family that he lives today. About the Author Ever since Alexander Espinosa was born, he always had health problems. As such, he couldn't do many of the things normal children could. He couldn't play sports and he had to work twice as hard in school because of his learning disabilities. He spent a lot time in the hospital growing up, but it never bothered him because he always had his family by his side. In fact, it was his sister who introduced him to his favorite thing in the world, video games. When they played together, it was like all his health problems were gone and he was able to explore all these amazing worlds without a care in the world. It got to a point where he wanted to be game designer and even went to school for it. It was at this school, however, that he learned about the power of writing and how much fun it was while he worked for the school newspaper. He got his degree in fine arts, but as he continued writing, he realized that what he really wanted was to tell stories and that's when he decided to become an author. Now he's working hard to pursue that dream of creating the worlds he sees in his mind and share it with as many people as he can and he's able to do this because of his loving family who supports him and his goals. Espinosa says, "My hope is that when people read my book, they will be able to understand just how important family really is, that they will be able to be grateful for what they have, and that they will be able to see things from a different perspective. I'd like to think that what makes my story relevant is that it will help readers understand what it really means to get a gift and know how much love people are capable of."