View source for Libba Bray

{{Short description|American writer (born 1964)}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Libba Bray
| image       = Libba Bray by David Shankbone.jpg<!-- just the filename, without the File: or Image: prefix or enclosing [[brackets]] -->
| alt         = 
| caption     = Libba Bray
| birth_name  = Martha Elizabeth Bray
| birth_date  = {{Birth date and age|1964|03|11}}
| birth_place = [[Montgomery, Alabama]], U.S.
| death_date  = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} or {{Death-date and age|Month DD, YYYY|Month DD, YYYY}} (death date then birth date) -->
| death_place = 
| nationality = 
| alma_mater  = [[University of Texas at Austin]]
| other_names = 
| known_for   = ''[[Gemma Doyle Trilogy|The Gemma Doyle Trilogy]]''
| occupation  = Author
| spouse      = Barry Goldblatt
| children    = 1
}}
'''Martha Elizabeth''' "'''Libba'''" '''Bray'''<ref name="libbabray.com">{{cite web|url=http://libbabray.com/about-libba|title=Libba Bray - Official Website of author Libba Bray - About Libba|website=libbabray.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222024322/http://libbabray.com/about-libba|archive-date=2014-02-22}}</ref> (March 11, 1964) is an [[American people|American]] writer of [[young adult novel]]s including the [[Gemma Doyle Trilogy]], ''[[Going Bovine]]'', ''Beauty Queens'', ''[[The Diviners (Bray novel)|The Diviners]]'' series, and ''Under the Same Stars''.

== Early life==
Martha Elizabeth Bray was born in [[Montgomery, Alabama]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=About Libba |url=https://libbabray.com/about/ |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=Libba Bray |language=en-US}}</ref> Her father was a [[gay]]<ref name=":0" /> [[Presbyterian ministers|Presbyterian minister]], and her mother was an English teacher.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Bray, Libba (Martha E. Bray) |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/bray-libba-martha-e-bray |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=Encyclopedia.com}}</ref>

She and her family moved to [[West Virginia]] for a brief period, then to [[Corpus Christi, Texas]] and finally to [[Denton, Texas]], where Bray attended high school.<ref name="libbabray.com" /> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.libbabray.com/LBAutobiography.html|title=Libba Bray's Accident at 18|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070509095114/http://www.libbabray.com/LBAutobiography.html|archive-date=2007-05-09}}</ref>

Bray graduated from the [[University of Texas at Austin]] in 1988<ref name=":1" /> as a [[Theatre]] major. As a budding [[playwright]], she felt it important to be in [[New York City]]. When her childhood best friend, already living in [[Manhattan]], called saying she was looking for a roommate, Bray moved to New York.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}

Bray is married to Barry Goldblatt, a children's book agent, and the couple have a son, Josh.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Corbett |first=Sue |date=2007-11-29 |title=PW Talks with Libba Bray |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/interviews/article/3894-children-s-bookshelf-talks-with-libba-bray.html |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[Publishers Weekly]] |language=en}}</ref>

==Career==
Bray's first job was in the publicity department of [[Penguin Putnam]], followed by three years at Spier, an advertising agency specializing in book advertising.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}

Bray was encouraged to write a young adult novel by her husband, Barry Goldblatt, a [[Children's literature|children's book]] agent and Ginee Seo, an editor at [[Simon & Schuster]]. Before this, using a [[pseudonym]], she had written three books for 17th Street Press (a publisher of romances).{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}{{clarify|date=March 2013|reason=what pseudonym? what books? the book mentioned next is not her first}}

Her first novel, ''[[A Great and Terrible Beauty]]'' became a [[New York Times bestseller list|''New York Times'' bestseller]]. In November 2006, a video promoting the book was a part of The Book Standard's Teen Book Video Awards.<ref>[http://www.thebookstandard.com/bookstandard/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003439349 Teen Book Video Awards Debut Tonight] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311181152/http://www.thebookstandard.com/bookstandard/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003439349 |date=2007-03-11 }}</ref> She wrote two more books to finish the trilogy she had started with ''A Great and Terrible Beauty'': ''[[Rebel Angels (Bray novel)|Rebel Angels]]'' and ''[[The Sweet Far Thing]]''.

Bray is friends with many young adult authors such as [[John Green]] and [[Maureen Johnson]], and with fellow YA fantasy authors [[Holly Black]] and [[Cassandra Clare]]. Her blog can be read on https://web.archive.org/web/20101023044746/http://libba-bray.livejournal.com/.

''[[Going Bovine]]'' was published by [[Delacorte Press|Delacorte]] in 2009 and won the annual [[Michael L. Printz Award]] from the [[American Library Association]] recognizing literary excellence in young adult literature.<ref name=printz/> 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 (Libba Bray 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<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.goodreads.com/work/best_book/21848181-lair-of-dreams|title=Lair of Dreams (The Diviners, #2)|website=www.goodreads.com|access-date=2019-02-19}}</ref> and the third book, ''Before The Devil Breaks You'', was released in October 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.goodreads.com/work/best_book/45897241-before-the-devil-breaks-you|title=Before the Devil Breaks You (The Diviners, #3)|website=www.goodreads.com|access-date=2019-02-19}}</ref> The fourth and final book in the series, ''The King of Crows'', was released in February 2020.

==Awards and honors==

=== Awards ===
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible"
!Year
!Title
!Award
!Result
!Ref.
|-
! rowspan="2" |2010
| rowspan="2" |''[[Going Bovine]]''
|[[Michael L. Printz Award]]
|'''Winner'''
|<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2010-01-13 |title=2010 Michael L. Printz Award |url=https://www.ala.org/yalsa/2010-michael-l-printz-award |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Morales |first=Macey |last2=Petersen |first2=Jennifer |date=2010-01-18 |title=“Going Bovine” Wins 2010 Printz Award |url=https://www.ala.org/news/news/pressreleases2010/january2010/2010printz_pio |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[American Library Association]] |language=en}}</ref>
|-
|[[Audie Award for Young Adult Title]]
|Finalist
|<ref>{{Cite web |title=2010 Audie Awards® |url=https://www.audiopub.org/winners/2010-audies |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=www.audiopub.org}}</ref>
|-
! rowspan="3" |2012
| rowspan="3" |''Beauty Queens''
|[[Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults]]
|Top 10
|<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2012-01-24 |title=2012 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults Top Ten |url=https://www.ala.org/yalsa/audiobooks/2012/topten |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-03-01 |title=Best Fiction for Young Adults: 2012 |url=https://www.booklistonline.com/Best-Fiction-for-Young-Adults/pid=5313983 |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[Booklist]]}}</ref>
|-
|[[Audie Award for Narration by the Author]]
|'''Winner'''
|<ref>{{Cite web |last=Boretz |first=Adam |date=May 29, 2014 |title=Billy Crystal Takes Top Honors at 2014 Audie Awards |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/audio-books/article/62580-billy-crystal-takes-top-honors-at-audie-awards.html |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[Publishers Weekly]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=2012 Audie Awards® - APA (en-US) |url=https://www.audiopub.org/winners/2012 |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=www.audiopub.org}}</ref>
|-
|[[Audie Award for Young Adult Title]]
|Finalist
|<ref>{{Cite web |last=Seattle_Quick_Picks |title=Audie Award Winners: Best Audio Books 2012 |url=https://seattle.bibliocommons.com/list/share/86922331/113123884 |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[Seattle Public Library]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":2" />
|-
!2013
|''{{Sortname|The|Diviners|link=The Diviners (Bray novel)}}''
|[[Audie Award for Young Adult Title]]
|Finalist
|<ref>{{Cite web |title=2013 Audie Awards® - APA (en-US) |url=https://www.audiopub.org/winners/2013-audies |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=www.audiopub.org}}</ref>
|-
! rowspan="3" |2016
| rowspan="2" |''Lair of Dreams''
|[[Audie Award for Narration by the Author]]
|Finalist
|<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=2016 Audie Awards® - APA (en-US) |url=https://www.audiopub.org/winners/2016-winners-circle |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=www.audiopub.org}}</ref>
|-
|[[Audie Award for Young Adult Title]]
|'''Winner'''
|<ref name=":3" />
|-
|''Before the Devil Breaks You''
|[[Audie Award for Young Adult Title]]
|Finalist
|<ref>{{Cite web |title=2018 Audie Awards® - APA (en-US) |url=https://www.audiopub.org/winners/2018-audies |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=www.audiopub.org}}</ref><ref name="Eighteen">{{cite web |title=Audies Award Finalists and Winners 2018 |url=https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/audies/2018/?category=&winners=true |access-date=17 May 2019 |website=AudioFileMagazine.com |publisher=AudioFile Publications, Inc.}}</ref>
|}

=== Honors ===
''[[A Great and Terrible Beauty]]'',<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-12-08 |title=A GREAT AND TERRIBLE BEAUTY by Libba Bray |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780385730280 |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[Publishers Weekly]]}}</ref> ''[[The Sweet Far Thing]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-10-29 |title=The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780385730303 |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[Publishers Weekly]]}}</ref>'' received starred reviews from ''[[Publishers Weekly]]. [[Going Bovine]]'' received starred reviews from ''[[Booklist]]''<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 2009 |title=Going Bovine |url=https://www.booklistonline.com/Going-Bovine-Libba-Bray/pid=3535357 |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[Booklist]]}}</ref> and ''Publishers Weekly''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-08-03 |title=Going Bovine by Libba Bray |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780385733977 |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[Publishers Weekly]]}}</ref> ''Before the Devil Breaks You<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Julia |date=2017-11-01 |title=Before the Devil Breaks You |url=https://www.booklistonline.com/Before-the-Devil-Breaks-You-Libba-Bray/pid=9189758 |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[Booklist]]}}</ref>'' and the audiobook renditions of ''Beauty Queens<ref>{{Cite web |title=2011-09-15 |url=https://www.booklistonline.com/Beauty-Queens-/pid=4897514 |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[Booklist]]}}</ref>'' and ''The King of Crows<ref>{{Cite web |last=Booth |first=Heather |date=2020-05-15 |title=The King of Crows |url=https://www.booklistonline.com/The-King-of-Crows-/pid=9733530 |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[Booklist]]}}</ref>'' received starred reviews from ''Booklist''. ''[[The Diviners (Bray novel)|The Diviners]]'' received starred reviews from ''Booklist,''<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 2012 |title=The Diviners |url=https://www.booklistonline.com/The-Diviners-Libba-Bray/pid=5604302 |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[Booklist]]}}</ref> ''[[Kirkus Reviews]]'',<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 18, 2012 |title=The Diviners |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/libba-bray/diviners/ |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[Kirkus Reviews]]}}</ref> and ''Publishers Weekly.''<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-01-28 |title=The Diviners by Libba Bray |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780449808733 |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[Publishers Weekly]]}}</ref> ''Lair of Dreams'' received starred reviews from ''Kirkus Reviews''<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 16, 2015 |title=Lair of Dreams |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/libba-bray/lair-of-dreams/ |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[Kirkus Reviews]]}}</ref> and ''Publishers Weekly''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-08-17 |title=Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780316126045 |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[Publishers Weekly]]}}</ref>

''[[A Great and Terrible Beauty]]'',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Maryles |first=Daisy |date=2005-08-15 |title=Children's Fiction Bestsellers |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20050815/33502-children-s-fiction-bestsellers.html |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[Publishers Weekly]] |language=en}}</ref> ''[[Rebel Angels (novel)|Rebel Angels]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Roback |first=Diane |date=2007-02-12 |title=Children's Fiction Bestsellers |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20070212/14144-children-s-fiction-bestsellers.html |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[Publishers Weekly]] |language=en}}</ref> [[The Sweet Far Thing]]''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Roback |first=Diane |date=2008-01-14 |title=Children's Fiction Bestsellers |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20080114/10699-children-s-fiction-bestsellers.html |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[Publishers Weekly]] |language=en}}</ref> were national best sellers for children's fiction. 
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible"
!Year
!Title
!Honor
!Ref.
|-
!2006
|''[[Rebel Angels (novel)|Rebel Angels]]''
|[[American Library Association|ALA]] [[Best Fiction for Young Adults|Best Books for Young Adults]]
|<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-03-28 |title=Rebel Angels {{!}} Awards & Grants |url=https://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/content/rebel-angels |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[American Library Association]]}}</ref>
|-
!2011
|''Beauty Queens''
|[[Booklist Editors' Choice]]: Media
|<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-04-30 |title=Beauty Queens {{!}} Awards & Grants |url=https://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/beauty-queens-1 |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[American Library Association]]}}</ref>
|-
!2012
|''Beauty Queens''
|[[American Library Association|ALA]] [[Rise: A Feminist Book Project|Amelia Bloomer List]]
|<ref>{{Cite web |title=2012-03-01 |url=https://www.booklistonline.com/Amelia-Bloomer-List/pid=5315863 |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[Booklist]]}}</ref>
|-
!2012
|''Beauty Queens''
|[[American Library Association Rainbow Book List|ALA Rainbow Book List]]
|<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-03-01 |title=Rainbow List: 2012 |url=https://www.booklistonline.com/Rainbow-List/pid=5315878 |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[Booklist]]}}</ref>
|-
!2012
|''[[Going Bovine]]''
|[[Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults]]
|<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-05-02 |title=Going Bovine {{!}} Awards & Grants |url=https://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/going-bovine |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[American Library Association]]}}</ref>
|-
!2013
|[[The Diviners (Bray novel)|''The Diviners'']]
|[[Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults]]
|<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-02-01 |title=The Diviners {{!}} Awards & Grants |url=https://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/diviners |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[American Library Association]]}}</ref>
|-
!2013
|[[The Diviners (Bray novel)|''The Diviners'']]
|[[Best Fiction for Young Adults]]
|<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-02-04 |title=The Diviners {{!}} Awards & Grants |url=https://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/diviners-0 |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[American Library Association]]}}</ref>
|-
!2016
|''Lair of Dreams''
|[[American Library Association Rainbow Book List|ALA Rainbow Book List]]
|<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-12-07 |title=Lair of Dreams {{!}} Awards & Grants |url=https://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/lair-dreams |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[American Library Association]]}}</ref>
|}

==Publications==
===Gemma Doyle trilogy===
{{ordered list|start=
| ''[[A Great and Terrible Beauty]]'', [[Delacorte Press|Delacorte]] (2003)
| ''[[Rebel Angels (Bray novel)|Rebel Angels]]'', Delacorte (2005)
| ''[[The Sweet Far Thing]]'', Delacorte (2007)}}

===The Diviners series===
{{ordered list|start=
| ''[[The Diviners (Libba Bray novel)|The Diviners]]'', [[Little, Brown Books for Young Readers]] (2012)
| ''Lair of Dreams'', Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (2015)
| ''Before the Devil Breaks You'', Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (2017)
| ''The King of Crows'', Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (2020)
}}

===Standalone novels===
*''[[Going Bovine]]'', Delacorte (2009)
*''Beauty Queens'', [[Scholastic Press]] (2011)
*''Under the Same Stars'', [[Farrar, Straus and Giroux]] (2025)

===Anthologized short stories===
*''21 Proms'', Scholastic Paperbacks (2007)
*''The Restless Dead'', [[Candlewick Press]] (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 Strange Stories (2015)

==See also==
{{Portal bar |Children's literature |Speculative fiction |United States}} <!-- delete "bar" if/when there are enough ordinary See also -->

==References==
{{reflist |refs=
<ref name=printz>
[http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklistsawards/bookawards/printzaward/previouswinners/winners "Michael L. Printz Winners and Honor Books"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326175223/http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklistsawards/bookawards/printzaward/previouswinners/winners |date=March 26, 2014 }}. [[YALSA]]. American Library Association. Retrieved 2013-03-08.</ref>

}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{commons category}}
* {{official website }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20101023044746/http://libba-bray.livejournal.com/ Live Journal fan site]
*[https://archive.today/20070616124049/http://www.booktrailerpark.com/book_trailerpark/2006/12/social_networki.html Video for ''A Great and Terrible Beauty'']
*{{isfdb name|29198}}
* [http://thedivinersseries.com ''The Diviners''] (official)
* {{LCAuth|n00032935|Libba Bray|10|}}

{{Libba Bray}}
{{Michael L. Printz Award Winners}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bray, Libba}}
[[Category:1964 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:21st-century American novelists]]
[[Category:American fantasy writers]]
[[Category:American women novelists]]
[[Category:American young adult novelists]]
[[Category:Michael L. Printz Award winners]]
[[Category:Novelists from Alabama]]
[[Category:Place of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:American women science fiction and fantasy writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American women writers]]
[[Category:American women writers of young adult literature]]
[[Category:People from Denton, Texas]]
[[Category:Writers from Montgomery, Alabama]]
[[Category:Novelists from Texas]]