Kathleen McDonnell grew up in Chicago, but has lived in Canada for all of her adult life and graduated with a BA from the University of Toronto. She is the author of nine books of non-fiction and YA fiction. She's also written more than a dozen plays, many of which have had award-winning productions in Canada and the United States. As befits a passionate swimmer, McDonnell lives on Toronto Island; a unique, vibrant, mostly car-free community a ten-minute ferry ride from downtown Toronto where she and her life partner Alec raised their two daughters, Martha and Ivy.