An American citizen with Thai heritage, Christina Soontornvat grew up in Texas, where her family owned a Thai restaurant, but visited her cousins in Thailand frequently. She currently lives in Austin, Texas, but was visiting Thailand in June 2018 when the boys from the Wild Boars soccer team went missing inside Tham Luang. In fact, Soontornvat’s family lives in Chiang Mai, just a few hours from Tham Luang. She and her family had talked about visiting nearby caves on the same day the Wild Boars went missing, but decided not to because of rain in the forecast. The same rainstorms that trapped the boys in the cave kept Soontornvat and her family from venturing out. While Soontornvat was in Thailand, she watched the rescue efforts unfold on Thai news stations and became wrapped up in the worry and hope that captivated so many. Once the boys were safely extracted from the cave, she wanted to tell their story.

Soontornvat is the author of several fictional books for children of all ages, including middle grades books, chapter books, and picture books. When she began work on All Thirteen, Soontornvat wanted to highlight not only the divers who performed the rescue but also the many people who worked behind the scenes to make the rescue a success.