Kimberly was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1967. She loved to read and was the sort of kid who would skip recess to go talk with the school librarian! She didn’t think being a writer was the sort of job she could have, so because she also loved chemistry, too, she majored in chemistry in college. She took lots of writing classes, and, fortunately, a class on children’s literature taught by none other than Newbery medalist Patricia MacLachlan. She and Jane Yolen, who ran a writer’s group nearby, encouraged her early efforts. Kimberly married her high-school sweetheart, and he started medical school. She worked as a research chemist and wrote stories late at night and on weekends, gradually realizing she really wanted to be a writer. She got enough freelance and ghostwriting jobs that she eventually being a chemist. She and her husband live in Bristol, Tennessee, on a 52-acre farm with an assortment of horses, a dog, and many cats. She loves to travel and learn about history from all over the world.
Click here to watch an interview with Kimberly Brubaker Bradly (3:20)