When I was planning out the Astrid Maxxim series, I knew I was going to set it in the American southwest.  I therefore needed and wanted one of the main characters to be hispanic.  Valerie Diaz therefore became one of Astrid’s two good friends.  Valerie is one of the two Valeries in the series, and therefore supplies one of the running gags– that everybody has to differentiate which Valerie they are talking to. Valerie is a shy, pretty girl who has strict parents. Her father Sergio is head of Maxxim Industries Security and her mother is one of the few women in the story who are housewives.  Valerie’s mother is one of the few people in the series who doesn’t think that Astrid is perfect.  I think a lot of young readers will identify with Valerie.  She’s the kid that doesn’t always get noticed.