Samantha van Leer wrote the novels Between the Lines and Off the Page with her mother, Jodi Picoult. She is a graduate of Vassar College with a degree in psychology and a minor in human development. She graduated Simmons College with a Masters in the Art of Teaching and dual certification in Elementary Education and Special Education. She has spent the past few years as a fourth-grade teacher in Massachusetts. She now lives in Texas with her husband and puppy, where she is working on her next YA novel.