Kathryn Erskine is the author of two novels: Ibhubesi: The Lion, a coming of age story about an American teen in apartheid South Africa, and Quaking, about a teen seeking peace amidst the U.S. involvement in a war in the Middle East. Erskine attended St. Andrews University in Scotland and graduated from the College of William and Mary in Virginia; she also holds a law degree from The American University in Washington, D.C.