Francisco X. Stork Books In Order

Publication Order of Disappeared Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

Francisco X. Stork is a wonderful Mexican novelist of young adult, literature, and nonfiction books. He is specifically famous for writing the Disappeared series. Additionally, he has written several widely successful standalone books. Stork made his debut in the field of publishing with the 2000 book called The Way of the Jaguar. This book won the Chicano/Latino prize. Most of his stories revolve around the life of Latino characters and their struggles. Author Stork was born as Francisco Xavier Arguelles in Monterrey, Mexico in 1953. His mother, Ruth Arguelles, was a native of Tampico and raised him as a single mother. Stork’s father didn’t want his mother to give birth to his child in Tampico out of wedlock. So, he forced her to move to Monterrey, where Stork was born in a convent. It was earlier decided that he would be given up for adoption, but his mother reversed her decision after seeing his innocent face.

When Stork was six years old, his mother married a man named Charles Stork, who was 20 years senior to her at that time. Charles not only adopted Stork, but also allowed him to have his name. And as his new father was a strict man, he quickly started instilling discipline in him. When he expressed the desire to become a writer on his 7th birthday, his father gifted him with a portable typewriter. This proved to be the first step in his quest to become an established writer. During the initial few years, Stork’s father wandered about Mexico and lived on his pension from Social Security. And when nothing seemed to work in favor of the family, he decided to move to the United States in search of better opportunities. Subsequently, the family took shelter in El Paso, Texas when Stork was just nine years old.

The relocation was easy as his father was an American citizen. Later, Stork was admitted to a grammar school to learn English. As the 65-year-old Charles was not able to find any job, the family faced hardships in surviving in America. They had to keep changing homes and even lived in trailer houses and apartments before getting kicked out from each one of them. When Stork was 13 years old, his father died in a car accident. Following this tragedy, Stork and his mother decided to stay in America. They obtained an apartment in El Paso through a public housing project. Later, Stork joined the Jesuit High School on the basis of a scholarship. He was a bright student and soon become the class topper.

During the senior year, Stork obtained an Honor’s Scholarship that covered his full living and tuition expenses while he attended the Spring Hill College. It was at this college that he earned his major in English Literature & Philosophy. He even received an award for creative writing from college. This was followed by a Danforth Fellowship that allowed him to join Harvard University graduate school. Stork was among the top 40 senior students out of a total of 5,000 who received this prestigious fellowship. While at Harvard, Stork studied Latin American Literature. One of his fellow classmates was the Mexican Nobel awardee, Octavio Paz. Following his four years of study at Harvard, Stork joined the Columbia Law School because there was too little emphasis and relevance given to scholarly research at that time.

Stork had planned to earn his living by working as a lawyer while continuing with his interest in writing fiction. However, it was only after 20 years and changing more than 12 legal jobs that Stork was able to publish his first book. His law career existed for 33 years in which he worked for numerous public and private venues. In 2015, Stork took retirement from his law career and started working as a full-time writer. Currently, he resides in Boston with his loving wife named Jill Syverson-Stork. He has 2 children and a granddaughter named Charlotte. So far, Stork’s literary career consists of 7 novels and he intends to add more titles in the years to come. Author Stork is hopeful of writing as many books and stories as possible in the years to come. He wishes to be remembered through his work after he is gone.

An excellent novel written by author Francisco X. Stork is entitled ‘Irises’. It was released in 2012 by the Arthur A. Levine publication. Stork has mentioned the primary characters in this book as Mary, Kate, Marcos, Simon, Andy, and several others. Initially, Mary and Kate are introduced as sisters. Kate is about to join Standford for her M.D., but depends on her family’s approval to go. Mary does not have any ambitions in life. She just wants to stay home and practice painting. When their repressive dad dies, the sisters begin to look for ways to support their mother and themselves. Later, three men enter their lives. Kate is asked for marriage by her boyfriend named Simon. Mary finds herself attracted to Marcos, but she fears his violent nature and troubled past. Andy and Kate have the same ambition in life, so he tempts her with romance and much more. The sisters realize that their sudden freedom has brought darkness as well as new possibilities in their lives. But, they fear that the life of their mother could end up dividing them for good.

Another mesmerizing novel penned by Stork is known as ‘The Memory of Light’. It was also published by Arthur A. Levine publication in 2016. This novel features the lead characters in the roles of Vicky Cruz, E.M., Gabriel, Mona, Dr. Desai, etc. The book opens by introducing Vicky Cruz as a 16-year-old girl who attempts suicide and ends in the mental ward of a hospital. She decides to recover from her troubled state and rescue others like her from the mental hospital. After waking up in the Lakeview Hospital, Vicky wonders how she could be alive after attempting suicide. Also, she wonders how come she ended up in the mental ward.

The people around her in the hospital motivate her to reconsider her decision and give another try at living a happy life. They pamper her with stories, hard work, kindness, and honesty. The people include Dr. Desai, Mona, Gabriel, and E.M. After Vicky recovers and is discharged from hospital, she finds that her newfound peace is quite fragile. Following her split from the group, Vicky is sent back to the horrors of her previous life that had forced her to contemplate suicide. She makes up her mind to find the strength and courage to fight the demons and prevent herself from walking the path of destruction again.