Carolyn Reeder was born in 1937 and went to college to become a teacher. Before becoming a writer, she worked as both a reading specialist and an elementary school teacher. Reeder is well-known for her middle grade historical fiction, but before she started on these works, she wrote multiple non-fiction books about the Shenandoah Valley. Reeder was inspired by the novels of Laura Ingalls Wilder. She spent most of her life living in Washington DC, and she died at the age of 74 from kidney cancer.

Shades of Gray is perhaps Reeder’s best-known work of historical fiction, and it won numerous awards. She wrote several other works of historical fiction for children as well. Many of these center on either the Civil War or World War II, and some of them present familiar themes. For example, her novel Across the Lines tells the story of two boys who live together: one an enslaved person and the other the son of enslavers. This book presents the friendship of the two boys; this theme is parallel to Will’s experience in Shades of Gray. While Will never befriends any enslaved people, he does signify that his family had a close relationship with the people they enslaved.