Thelma Hatch Wyss lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. She is the author of "Here at the Scenic-Vu Motel", an ALA Best Book for Young Adults; "Ten Miles from Winnemucca", a Junior Library Guild Selection and a Bank Street College Best Book of the Year; and on the McElderry list, "Bear Dancer: The Story of a Ute Girl", which won the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association Regional Book Award and was on the New York Public Library's "100 Titles for Reading and Sharing" list.