Dori Hillestad Butler began her published career writing for magazines, with stories in Highlights for Children, Children's Digest, and Child Life. She was also a ghostwriter for the popular Sweet Valley Twins Series and continues to ghostwrite for the Boxcar Children Series. She has written numerous children's and middle-school books since, and several of her books appear on the IRA's Children's Choice lists in ten different states. She resides in Coralville, Iowa.