Prior to her literary career, Soontornvat worked at a science museum. In an interview, she stated that
All Thirteen, which describes the 2018
Tham Luang cave rescue, was told "from the Thai perspective as much as possible, and to let people know about Thailand". Both books were awarded a
Newbery Honor in 2021, making Soontornvat the third author to receive two Newbery awards in the same year (after
Meindert DeJong in 1954 and
E. L. Konigsburg in 1968). It was created in response to book festival cancellations due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, including the
Tucson Festival of Books, where Soontornvat and Oh had been scheduled to speak on a panel. The event included live and pre-recorded segments featuring authors of children's and young adult books, and was attended by over 43,000 online viewers. ==Personal life==