Young-adult novelist Jan Marino has won accolades for her sensitive portrayals of adolescents experiencing rather tough, often family-centered crises. Peopled with adults who in some cases could be described as eccentric, Marino's novels usually end on a positive note and affirm a teen's ability to solve dilemmas and grow from them. All of Marino's novels, including Eighty-Eight Steps to September and Searching for Atticus, have garnered positive reviews and a devoted readership. Marino is a Colorado resident who also leads workshops that encourage teens to develop crisis-management skills through creative writing.

Marino was born in 1936 in Boston. As she once stated, "In the house were I grew up there was a leather-bound set of the Harvard Classics. At the age of eight or so, I decided to read all fifty volumes--always known to have one foot in fantasyland. The first five titles rather intimated me and so I...