The author of several award-winning novels for young adults, S. L. Rottman was initially inspired to write novels, as she told Pamela Sissi Carroll in the ALAN Review, by the negative response her students always gave to reading assignments in or out of class. "It amazed me the number of students who wouldn't read--at all," Rottman recalled. "So I set out with the goal of writing something that would capture my students' interest, but still have some literary merit to it. I hope one day to reach that goal." Many reviewers and critics would affirm that Rottman has, in fact, already reached that goal. In novels such as Hero, Rough Waters, Head above Water, Stetson, and Shadow of a Doubt she explores difficult issues such as alcoholism, abuse, the death of parents, the effects of Down syndrome on family dynamics, and missing siblings. "What I try to do...