 The illustrator, Caroline Binch, hired members of a family in Gambia as models for Grace and other characters.Hoffman has described the trip to visit them as her first trip to Africa.Hoffman began to focus more on teen fiction in the years since, becoming known for the "Stravaganza" series and the historical novel "The Falconer's Knot", which won the French Prix Polar Jeunesse and was shortlisted for The Guardian Children's Book Award and North East Teenage Book Award.