Born in 1945 in a suburb of Cleveland, Sharon Creech dreamed of being many things when she grew up: a painter, an ice skater, a singer, and a teacher. She first fell in love with storytelling while studying literature at Hiram College in Ohio. After continuing her studies in Washington, DC, she began teaching high school English and writing in Switzerland and England. While overseas, she turned her attention to writing and published two adult novels in England that are now out of print (The Recital and Nickel Malley). Soon after, Creech pivoted and focused her efforts on children’s literature. In 1990, she published Absolutely Normal Chaos. This novel, which utilizes journal entries to chronicle a 13-year-old’s chaotic summer with her family, is ultimately a prequel to her 1995 Newberry Medal winning novel Walk Two Moons. Her first book published in the US, Walk Two Moons is based on a family trip Creech took to Idaho one summer when she was young. All of Creech’s subsequent writing has been geared toward middle grade readers. In 2000, she published The Wanderer, a Newberry Honor, and in 2002, Ruby Holler hit the shelves.