Identify I did!! Enough to want to visit this staircase one day. They know I am a Catholic and that I would identify with the Catholic aspects of this book. This book was recommended by a good friend AND his daughter. She says that she writes young adult books 'because I like to write them.' Rinaldi says she got her love of history from her eldest son, who brought her to reenactments. Prior to this, she wrote four unpublished books, which she has called 'terrible.' She became a grandmother in 1991. Her first published novel, Term Paper, was written in 1979.

She continued the column, called The Trentonian, through much of her writing career. Her career, prior to being an author, was a newspaper columnist. Rinaldi currently lives in Somerville, New Jersey, with her husband, Ron, whom she married in 1960. She also writes for the Dear America series. She is the most prolific writer for the Great Episode series, a series of historical fiction novels set during the American Colonial era. In 2000, Wolf by the Ears was listed as one the best novels of the preceding twenty-five years, and later of the last one hundred years.

She has written a total of forty novels, eight of which were listed as notable by the ALA. She is best known for her historical fiction, including In My Father's House, The Last Silk Dress, An Acquaintance with Darkness, A Break with Charity, and Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons. August 27, 1934, in New York City) is a young adult fiction author.

The Staircase by Ann Rinaldi