Kirkpatrick Hill lives in Fairbanks, Alaska. She was an elementary school teacher for more than thirty years, most of that time in the Alaskan bush. Hill is the mother of six children and the grandmother of eight. Her books Toughboy and Sister, Winter Camp, and The Year of Miss Agnes have all been immensely popular. Her fourth book, Dancing at the Odinochka, was a Junior Library Guild Selection.

LeUyen Pham has illustrated more than one hundred books for children, including the Caldecott Honor book Bear Came Along by Richard T. Morris and the bestselling Princess in Black series by Shannon and Dean Hale.

She is the co-creator, along with Shannon Hale, of the bestselling graphic memoirs Real Friends, Best Friends, and Friends Forever. Her own books include The Bear Who Wasn't There and Big Sister, Little Sister. A graduate of the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, LeUyen lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two sons.