- Her parents were Presbyterian missionaries. They returned to the United States in the late 1920s. She earned a bachelor's degree in English from Wheaton College.
- She is the author of more than four dozen books for children. She is especially known for her biographies of prominent figures of 18th- and 19th-century American history. She made her subjects more human by writing about their flaws as well as their strengths and accomplishments.
- She was an American children's writer best known for American biography and history.
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