Patricia Calvert was born in 1931 in Great Falls, Montana. She married George J. Calvert in 1951 and has two children, Brianne and Dana. Since 1964, she has worked for the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, first as a cardiac laboratory technician, then in the enzyme laboratory, and finally as senior editorial assistant in the section of publications. In 1976, she received a bachelor's degree from Winona State University. In addition to her novels for young adults, she has published numerous stories for children's magazines, using the pseudonym of Peter J. Freeman, her mother's maiden name.

Her novels have won numerous awards. In 1981, The Snowbird received the "Best Book" award from the American Library Association, as well as the Society of Midland Authors' Juvenile Fiction Award, the Friends of American Writers Award, and Young Women's Christian Association Award, and was nominated for the Mark Twain Award. In 1984, The...