Mindy McGinnis grew up on a farm in Ohio where she learned the meaning of physical labor from a young age. Her family did not have much money, so McGinnis learned to entertain herself using her own imagination. She was also exposed to the natural world as a child on the farm as she witnessed the cycle of life and death of farm animals firsthand. McGinnis’s upbringing provides a foundation for some of the themes in Be Not Far From Me as she incorporates Nature’s Wildness and creates Ashley’s character, who also comes from a low-income background.

McGinnis features small-town life in many of her novels, and Be Not Far From Me is no exception. Having grown up in a small town where rural poverty was common, McGinnis incorporates rural life and poverty into much of her work. Although Be Not Far From Me takes place in the woods rather than in Ashley’s hometown, McGinnis provides information about Ashley’s small-town life through flashbacks and Ashley’s reflections. Ashley struggles with being content living in a small trailer with her dad. Money is constantly tight, and they don’t always have enough to buy groceries for the week. Furthermore, small-town living limits Ashley’s options of friends, and she feels discontent with the differences that exist between her and her best friend,

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