Carol Lynch Williams is the author of more than a dozen books for young adult (YA) readers. She has written several for the "Latter-Day Daughters" series, which features likable young protagonists whose Mormon faith helps them overcome a crisis in their lives or community. However, Williams's other books, more lighthearted in tone, impart a moral lesson, too. Her heroines grieve a death in the family or resent the arrival of an aging grandparent in their home, but manage to maintain a sense of humor when encountering the usual comic troubles of adolescence. Williams's talent for creating sympathetic heroines and their quandaries has earned her several awards and a devoted readership. "I think stories come about because of an emotion that stirs me," Williams told Authors and Artists for Young Adults (AAYA) in a 2000 interview. "If I feel something powerfully, doesn't matter the emotion, then I am usually compelled...