Caroline B. Cooney was born on May 10, 1947, in Geneva, New York, and grew up in Old Greenwich, Connecticut. An excellent student, she was always involved in many activities at school, and by the time she was in the tenth grade, she played the piano for musical productions, directed a choir, and had a job as a church organist. A passionate reader, Cooney often read series books such as the "Hardy Boys" and "Cherry Ames," and it is characters from such books that ultimately had a significant influence on her life. In 1965, Cooney graduated from Greenwich High School and attended various colleges, where she studied music, art, and English. It was in college that she began writing and discovered pleasure in a talent that would develop into an award-winning writing career. Although her first attempts at writing novels of historical fiction for adults remain unpublished...