Nolan has previously written about mental illness and nontraditional families in Dancing on the Edge (1997). Books which have similar themes include Kimberly Willis Holt's My Louisiana Sky (1998), in which Tiger Ann takes care of her mentally challenged parents, and Betsy Byars's The Summer of the Swans (1970) which describes a sister's devotion to her mentally handicapped brother. Lisa Rowe Fraustino's Ash (1995) shows how a mentally ill person affects their family. Fraustino also edited Dirty Laundry: Stories About Family Secrets (1998), which depicts mental illnesses and dysfunctional families.

Children's literature about non-traditional families and living situations include Bettie Cannon's Begin the World Again (1991), in which teenager Lake becomes frustrated with her parents and people on the farm commune where she lives. Cassy lives with her mother at an artists' settlement in Gillian Cross' Wolf (1990), and Sara moves into a New Hampshire barn with her father and artists...