Carlyn Montes de Oca grew up surrounded by secrets. She never knew that her dad was a Marin during World War II or that her grandmother hired kidnappers to bring her mother back home after her parents eloped. But her parents took an even bigger secret to their graves…Carlyn’s identity. At age 57, a DNA test taken for fun revealed that Carlyn’s parents were not her biological parents and everyone in her family, including more than 60 first cousins, knew but hadn’t told her.  The search for her lineage, her identity, and her truth would result in Carlyn’s memoir, Junkyard Girl: A Memoir of Ancestry, Secrets, and Second Chances.



Carlyn is also the author of Dog as my Doctor, Cat as My Nurse and serves as a sought-after expert on human health and well-being.