ABOUT

"Dominic Carrillo lets us imagine—through his thoughtfully rendered teenage narrators—what an individual life means, and how much each one matters.”
—Rachel DeWoskin, award-winning author of 'Someday We Will Fly'

"Carrillo evokes the wonder and confusion of first love in his debut YA novel."
-Kirkus Reviews

""We were delighted to host the author and teacher, Dominic Carrillo, for a two-day visit in April 2024. He was very easy to work with, extremely accommodating, and customized sessions that met students’ needs and teachers’ unit plans. His presentations and workshops engaged listeners as a group while also treating them as individuals, bringing forth a lot of positive feedback from both students and teachers."
- Shih-Ju Lin, librarian (NOVA School, Skopje, Macedonia

Dominic Carrillo is a teacher and award-winning writer from San Diego, California. Dominic earned both his bachelor and master's degrees from UCLA, where he began creative writing. His stories in San Diego Reader magazine led him to publish his first novel To Be Frank Diego (2012).

Since the publication of The Improbable Rise of Paco Jones (winner of the SDBA for best YA, 2017) Dominic has focused on writing young adult novels with universal coming-of-age themes. The Unusual Suspects (SDBA winner & IAN Book Award finalist) was released in 2018 and translated into Bulgarian soon after. His short story "Ghetto is Not an Adjective" is featured in the YA collection Living Beyond Borders (Penguin 2021). His latest YA novel, Acts of Resistance (Santa Monica Press 2023), is based on the true story of how 48,000 Bulgarian Jews were saved from the Holocaust.

Dominic speaks at library events, schools, and conferences. He lives and works in Sofia, Bulgaria and is working on his next YA novel.

"As a librarian, I strongly recommend Carrillo's book (and his visit!). Paco Jones is an ambassador for teens making sense of their place in a new school and with new friends."
-Dr. John Kurtenbach, librarian (AISJ, South Africa)

"Dominic is an engaging presenter for students of all ages. He captured students attention with funny, relevant anecdotes from his own life and challenged students to be creative, imaginative and brave."

-Pam York, librarian

"Dominic Carrillo talks about peer pressure and the fleetingness of fame and popularity, and how in the end, you must be yourself. It is a nice, fast read for anyone, and a great story for kids trying to find out where they fit in."

-YourDaughtersBookshelf.com

Bulgarian News Agency article

SDBA interview

Bulgarian TV interview

Creative Writing Podcast interview

Born to Write Podcast interview

Imperial Valley Press article

Sopris Sun article

ABOUT

"Dominic Carrillo lets us imagine—through his thoughtfully rendered teenage narrators—what an individual life means, and how much each one matters.” —Rachel DeWoskin, award-winning author of 'Someday We Will Fly'

"Carrillo evokes the wonder and confusion of first love in his debut YA novel." -Kirkus Reviews

"As a librarian, I strongly recommend Carrillo's book (and his visit!). Paco Jones is an ambassador for teens making sense of their place in a new school and with new friends."​ -Dr. John Kurtenbach, librarian (AISJ, South Africa)