Jane O'Reilly is the author of the acclaimed middle grade novels, The Secret of Goldenrod and The Notations of Cooper Cameron. She is the recipient of a McKnight Fellowship in Screenwriting and also holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. The youngest of five children, she grew up in an old house, enjoyed her early summers traveling the USA and Mexico on family road trips, and spent her teenage summers in the North Woods at the cabin her grandfather built. Curious about nearly everything, Jane and her stories are inspired by small towns, old houses and the universal need for hope. Although born and raised in Minnesota, Jane and her husband, John, and dog, Poppy, now call Des Moines, Iowa, home.