When the real-life tragedy of the bus crash that killed 16 members of the Humboldt Broncos, a junior hockey league team, made international news in 2018, author Becca Sandford couldn’t stop thinking about it. A story began to form with the central character of a young woman. Jessa’s trials and triumphs are drawn from Sandford’s own experiences—as an adolescent, and as a leader at a youth camp,—as well as her love of YA literature. Sandford lives in Strathroy, Ontario, with her three kids, husband, and dog.
