About the Author

When Shelly was fifteen years old, she hopped into the cockpit of a small plane and took a flight. Her friend's dad offered her the controls, joking that she could fly a plane before she could drive a car if she wanted. She took the yoke, and from that day, her fascination with flight and travel has only grown.

She never did become a pilot, but the sky never really let her go either. She and her husband, George, have built a life that looks a lot like flight: always moving, always landing somewhere new. Married in 1995, they packed up and moved to George's home country of Romania in 1999, raising three bilingual children and traveling across more than twenty countries before returning to Shelly's hometown of St. Louis. These days, George leads a nonprofit, and Shelly writes the kinds of books she's always loved to read. They are proud parents, proud in-laws, and absolutely besotted grandparents to two children who, if you ask Shelly, are the most enchanting people on the planet.

"At first, I was incredulous-how in the world would Amanda actually be put in this position? Then, page by page, it all fell beautifully into place, and I was NOT willing to put the book down until I had reached the very last word. I can’t recommend this book (and author) enough!"