æt ðə tˈaɪm ʃiː ɹˈoʊt mˈaɪn fɔːɹ kˈiːps, lˈɪɾəl wʌz tˈiːtʃɪŋ ɪn ɐ skˈuːl fɚðə dˌɪsˈeɪbəld ænd ʃiː hæd ɹˈɪʔn̩ ðə bˈʊk ˈæftɚ bᵻkˈʌmɪŋ tˈaɪɚd ʌv ɹˈiːdɪŋ hɜː stˈuːdənts bˈʊks ɪnwˌɪtʃ dˌɪsˈeɪbəld tʃˈaɪld kˈæɹɪktɚz ˈiːðɚ mˈiːt dˈɛθs ɔːɹ ɹᵻkˈʌvɚ kəmplˈiːtli lˈaɪk klˈɑːɹɹə ɪn hˈaɪdi, ɔːɹ kˈɑːlɪn ɪnðə sˈiːkɹᵻt ɡˈɑːɹdən.
At the time she wrote Mine for Keeps, Little was teaching in a school for the disabled and she had written the book after becoming tired of reading her students books in which disabled child characters either meet deaths or recover completely (like Clara in Heidi, or Colin in The Secret Garden).