Kather­ine Pater­son was born in Chi­na, where she spent part of her child­hood. After her edu­ca­tion in Chi­na and the Amer­i­can South, she spent four years in Japan, the set­ting for her first three nov­els. She has received numer­ous awards for her writ­ing, includ­ing two Nation­al Book Awards and two New­bery Medals. An active pro­mot­er of read­ing and lit­er­a­cy, she lives with her hus­band in Barre, Ver­mont. They have four grown children.