Author Spotlight: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

At my school, I am a Library Leader. (Library Leaders promote reading in the middle school and recommend books for the younger grades.) The Library Leaders had the fortunate opportunity of eating lunch and meeting with Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. We got to ask her questions and just talk with her. Mrs. Bradley also spoke to the whole seventh and eighth grade in assembly about her research.

1)     When/How does she write?

Mrs. Bradley writes in the morning, but this depends on her chores for the day. She got into her routine when her children, now graduating college and out of college, were small and went to school. She would always wait until her husband took them to drop them off at school. She likes for her writing space to be very quiet. She prefers typing when she when she writes as to writing. (This may be pretty common; I do not know what the common format among writers is today. I just thought I would include everything.)

2)     What book inspired her to write?

Kimberly Brubaker Bradley read A Wrinkle in Time and it inspired her read more. Through this book, she understood how writers make choices when creating characters, plot, and setting. She was fascinated with the book and kept reading it repeatedly.

3)     What are some other books she reads repeatedly?

Mrs. Bradley reads Jane Austen over and over, but she is also fascinated with an upcoming author Jason Reynolds. (I reviewed one of his books called A Long Way Down.)

4)     Why does she write so many Historical Fiction books?

Mrs. Bradley says that school history curriculum teach history through a one-sided point of view and she wanted to expand this point of view for kids.  She says that history research is also very interesting.

5)     Are there any new middle grade books on the horizon?

Actually, there is!!! Mrs. Bradley hopes to start a book about the exploration of King Tut’s tomb. She hopes to tell the story through the eyes of the water boy on this exploration. Let’s cross our fingers...

Stay tuned for another author spotlight!