Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch's 18 award-winning books for young people include Last Airlift: A Vietnamese Orphan's Rescue from War, a Red Cedar Information Book Award winner and OLA Red Maple Honour Book. Its sequel, One Step at a Time: A Vietnamese Child Finds Her Way, is nominated for the OLA Silver Birch Non-Fiction Award. In 2008, in recognition of her outstanding achievement in the development Ukraine's culture, Marsha was awarded the Order of Princess Olha. She lives in Brantford, Ontario.
Muriel Wood's illustrations have appeared in a number of children's books, including Old Bird, L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables, and Margaret Laurence's The Olden Day's Coat. She has also illustrated the three previous titles in the New Beginnings series, Scared Sarah, Lizzie's Storm, and Aram's Choice. A former instructor at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto, Muriel now draws and paints fulltime. She lives with her husband and two cats in Toronto, Ontario.