"My books," Margaret Rostkowski comments in Twentieth-Century Young Adult Writers, "begin with questions, with things I want to explore and learn more about." In her three young adult novels, Rostkowski examines how young people react when history intrudes on their lives. Sometimes the intruding history is on a worldwide scale, such as World War I in After the Dancing Days and the Vietnam War in The Best of Friends. Sometimes it is on a smaller scale, as is the case with the Anasazi Indians and early settlers of southern Utah in Moon Dancer. In each case, however, Rostkowski's protagonists are changed by their contact with history. They grow and change on a personal level. Rostkowski's "powerful, thought- provoking books," writes Kathy Piehl in Twentieth-Century Young Adult Writers, "make young adults think about ... causes and consequences."

Rostkowski's own life has been influenced by warfare and American history since her...