Beverly Lewis was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on April 17, 1949. She received a degree in music education from Evangel University. She grew up as an Assembly of God minister's daughter. Although she was not Amish, she had a close family connection to Old Order Mennonites, including her maternal grandmother who left the Mennonite community when she married. Her first book, Mountain Bikes and Garbanzo Beans (now titled Big Bad Beans) was published in 1993. Since then she has written over eighty books. Her titles for children and young adults include several series including the Cul-De-Sac Kids, the Girls Only (GO!), and the Holly's Heart. Her adult fiction books include The Heritage of… Lancaster County series, the Abram's Daughters series, The Rose Trilogy, and the Home to Hickory Hollow series. She has received numerous awards including two Silver Angel Awards for The Postcard and Annika's Secret Wish and a Gold Book Award for The Shunning. In 2014, she made The New York Times Best Seller List with her title Child of Mine.Ronald J. Sider (PhD, Yale University) is the founder and president emeritus of Evangelicals for Social Action and distinguished professor of theology, holistic ministry, and public policy at Palmer Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. He is the author of numerous books, including the bestselling Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger and The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience.