Vicki Grove has written a number of novels for young readers that revolve around life in the American Midwest, often inside rural farming communities, but the themes and conflicts her protagonists encounter strike a resonant note with adolescent readers everywhere. Grove's teens struggle with sibling rivalry, peer pressure and, most often, economic hardship. As their stories progress, they realize that family, school, and the larger community have provided them with a good moral framework to help them through their particular crises. As Grove told Authors and Artists for Young Adults (AAYA), "I picture my reader as being a young person with an open heart, trying to find the way to live as a decent and compassionate human being in a complicated yet beautiful world."

Grove is a product of the same Midwestern communities in which her novels are set. "My childhood was idyllic," she told AAYA. "I grew...