Mark Oshiro

Oshiro was born and raised in Riverside, California.^[6] They are a transracial adoptee, their mother being white and their father being Japanese Hawaiian.^[7] Oshiro lived in a relatively small town, and was converted to Catholicism as a teenager.^[8]

Oshiro's science-fiction short story, "No Me Dejas," was published to Slate on April 30, 2018.^[9] On May 22, 2018, they published their debut young adult novel, Anger Is a Gift, through Tor Teen. It follows Moss Jeffries, a gay African-American student who suffers from panic attacks ever since his father was murdered by a police officer. The students organize a protest against police brutality and racist oppression. Moss also develops a romance with Javier, a Latino comic book artist.^[10][11]

This followed by the fantasy novel Each of Us a Desert on September 15, 2020, through the same publisher. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, where the protagonist Xochitl resides in a village called Empalme. Xochitl is the village cuentista, who absorbs everyone's stories. Tired of her role, she ventures out on a journey of self-discovery.^[12] The novel would later be included on Matt Krause's October 2021 list of books to be banned from Texas schools; consequently, Oshiro experienced cancelled class visitations and loss of income.^[13]

Meanwhile, their first middle grade novel, The Insiders, was released on September 21, 2021. It follows Héctor Muñoz, a gay teenager, who finds a magic portal in his closet. Oshiro explained how they wrote it in their freshman or sophomore year of college, though it wasn't polished. Their intention was to "reclaim the closet;" rather than being a coming out book, it was "What if you come out and have to go back in? How do you deal with this reality, which is that you have to come out for the rest of your life and figure out who you can talk to or not?"^[6]

On October 6, 2021, it was announced of Oshiro being co-author of The Sun and the Star.^[14] Originally conceived as one book, Oshiro pitched the next idea of what would become the sequel.^[15] The Court of the Dead was released on September 23, 2025, which takes place months after the first novel.^[16]

Their third YA novel, Into the Light, was released on March 28, 2023, which takes place in three different timelines through two characters and tackles conversion therapy. Colleen Mondor of Locus stated how the author "masterfully takes on an enormously important topic with his compelling, realistic, horrific novel ... powerful".^[17]