Award-winning author Martha Sears West grew up daydreaming and climbing trees in Bethesda, Maryland. Now the mother of three and grandmother of ten, West hopes everyone with children can see teenagers as the joy and inspiration she found hers to be. West, who received her B.A. degree in linguistics from the University of Maryland, claims to have merely provided the hand that jotted down the story. She feels Hetty composed this book herself.