William Durbin is an award-winning author and a former teacher who lives at the edge of Minnesota's Boundary Waters Wilderness. A winner of the Great Lakes Book Award and a two-time winner of the Minnesota Book award, Mr. Durbin has published eleven novels for young readers. His novel El Lector was optioned for film by Jane Startz Productions; and his most recent work, The Winter War, deals with Stalin's invasion of Finland in 1939. His other honors include a Junior Library Guild Selection, Bank Street College Children's Book of Year list, the ALA's Amelia Bloomer list, New York Library Books for the Teen Age list, Maud Hart Lovelace nomination, Jefferson Cup Series of Note Award, America's Award commended title, and a Book Sense Summer Pick.