The novel was based on an actual bus crash in Alton, Texas and its aftermath just before the book was written. At 7:30 A.M. on September 21, 1989, a Coca-Cola truck hit a Mission school bus, knocking it into a gravel pit at the corner of Five-Mile Road and Bryan Road. Twenty-one children from the Alton area were drowned, and 49 were injured. This was the worst school bus accident to date in Texas history. The driver of the truck, Ruben Perez, was found to be at fault for the crash by the NTSB.