Serena Casey is retired from Riverton-Hanley Central School. The fictitious Riverton in northwestern Pennsylvania was modeled on another rural school where Serena spent more than thirty years teaching American history and a variety of other social studies courses. Most of her career was spent in middle school, with a few forays into high school. Serena holds a degree in history from Ohio State University and a master’s degree in education from the small Catholic university on which St. Clare University is based. She is the coauthor of another book about a famous scholarship. Serena still lives in Riverton among her former students.