Martha Elizabeth "Libba" Bray (March 11, 1964) is an American writer of

young adult novel Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

s including the

Gemma Doyle Trilogy The ''Gemma Doyle Trilogy'' is a trilogy of fantasy novels by American writer Libba Bray. They are told from the perspective of Gemma Doyle, a girl in the late nineteenth century. The ''Gemma Doyle Trilogy'' consists of three books: ''A Great and ...

, '' Going Bovine'', and '' The Diviners''.

Early life

Martha Elizabeth Bray was born in

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

. Her father was a

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

Presbyterian minister Presbyterian (or presbyteral) polity is a method of church governance ("ecclesiastical polity") typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session or ...

, and her mother was an English teacher. She and her family moved to

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

for a brief period, then to Corpus Christi, Texas and finally to

Denton, Texas Denton is a city in and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, United States. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the 27th-most populous city in Texas, the 197th-most populous city in the United States, and the 12th-most populous ...

, where Bray attended high school. At the age of eighteen, three weeks after graduating high school, Bray was involved in a serious car accident. She had to undergo thirteen surgeries over six years to reconstruct her face, and has an artificial left eye because of the accident. Bray graduated from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...

in 1988 as a

Theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

major. As a budding playwright, she felt it important to be in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. When her childhood best friend, already living in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, called saying she was looking for a roommate, Bray moved to New York. Bray is married to Barry Goldblatt, a children's book agent, and the couple have a son, Josh.

Career

Bray's first job was in the publicity department of

Penguin Putnam Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a merger that was finalised on 1 July 2013, with Bertelsmann initially ...

, followed by three years at Spier, an advertising agency specializing in book advertising. Bray was encouraged to write a young adult novel by her husband, Barry Goldblatt, a

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

agent and Ginee Seo, an editor at

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

. Before this, using a

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

, she had written three books for 17th Street Press (a publisher of romances). Her first novel, '' A Great and Terrible Beauty'' became a ''New York Times'' bestseller. In November 2006, a video promoting the book was a part of The Book Standard's Teen Book Video Awards. She wrote two more books to finish the trilogy she had started with ''A Great and Terrible Beauty'': '' Rebel Angels'' and '' The Sweet Far Thing''. Bray is friends with many young adult authors such as

John Green John Michael Green (born August 24, 1977) is an American author, YouTube content creator, podcaster, and philanthropist. His books have more than 50 million copies in print worldwide, including '' The Fault in Our Stars'' (2012), which is ...

and

Maureen Johnson Maureen Johnson (born February 16, 1973) is an American author of young adult fiction. Her published novels include series leading titles such as ''13 Little Blue Envelopes'', ''The Name of the Star'', ''Truly Devious,'' and ''Suite Scarlett''. ...

, and with fellow YA fantasy authors

Holly Black Holly Black (''née'' Riggenbach; born November 10, 1971) is an American writer and editor best known for her children's and young adult fiction. Her most recent work is the ''New York Times'' bestselling young adult ''Folk of the Air'' series. ...

and

Cassandra Clare Judith Lewis (née Rumelt; born July 27, 1973), better known by her pen name Cassandra Clare, is an American author of young adult fiction, best known for her bestselling series ''The Mortal Instruments''.'' Personal life Clare was born Judith ...

. Her blog can be read on https://web.archive.org/web/20101023044746/http://libba-bray.livejournal.com/. '' Going Bovine'' was published by Delacorte in 2009 and won the annual Michael L. Printz Award from the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

recognizing literary excellence in young adult literature. It is a dark comedy about a 16-year-old boy named Cameron who has mad cow disease and a 16-year-old dwarf named Gonzo whom he met in the hospital. Gonzo is a video gamer who thinks that everything is trying to kill him. Cameron has visitation from a punkish angel named Dulcie who has a propensity for spray-painting her wings. They are all on a mission to cure Cameron's mad cow disease. ''Beauty Queens,'' about a group of beauty pageant contestants whose plane crashes on an island, was published by Scholastic Press on May 24, 2011. Bray's novel, '' The Diviners'', was published on September 18, 2012. It centers around Evie O'Neill, a seventeen-year-old with a special power who has been sent to live with her uncle in New York City in 1926. The sequel, ''Lair of Dreams'', was released in August 2015 and the third book, ''Before The Devil Breaks You'', was released in October 2017. The fourth and final book in the series, ''The King of Crows'', was released in February 2020.

Awards and honors

Awards

Honors

'' A Great and Terrible Beauty'', '' The Sweet Far Thing,'' received starred reviews from ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

. Going Bovine'' received starred reviews from ''

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...

'' and ''Publishers Weekly''. ''Before the Devil Breaks You'' and the audiobook renditions of ''Beauty Queens'' and ''The King of Crows'' received starred reviews from ''Booklist''. '' The Diviners'' received starred reviews from ''Booklist,'' '' Kirkus Reviews'', and ''Publishers Weekly.'' ''Lair of Dreams'' received starred reviews from ''Kirkus Reviews'' and ''Publishers Weekly''. '' A Great and Terrible Beauty'', '' Rebel Angels, The Sweet Far Thing'' were national best sellers for children's fiction.

Publications

Gemma Doyle trilogy

The Diviners series

Standalone novels

*'' Going Bovine'', Delacorte (2009) *''Beauty Queens'', Scholastic Press (2011)

Anthologized short stories

*''21 Proms'', Scholastic Paperbacks (2007) *''The Restless Dead'',

Candlewick Press Candlewick Press, established in 1992 and located in Somerville, Massachusetts, is part of the Walker Books group. The logo depicting a bear carrying a candle is based on Walker Books's original logo. Sebastian Walker launched Walker Books fro ...

(2007) *''Up All Night'', HarperTeen (2008) *''Vacations from Hell'', HarperTeen (2009) *"The Thirteenth Step", a short story in ''The Eternal Kiss: 13 Vampire Tales of Blood and Desire'', ed. Trisha Telep, Running Press (2009) *"The Last Ride of the Glory Girls," Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Stories (2015)

References

External links

*
Live Journal fan site
*
''The Diviners''
(official) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bray, Libba 1964 births Living people 21st-century American novelists American fantasy writers American women novelists American young adult novelists Michael L. Printz Award winners Novelists from Alabama Place of birth missing (living people) Women science fiction and fantasy writers 21st-century American women writers Women writers of young adult literature People from Denton, Texas Writers from Montgomery, Alabama Novelists from Texas