Bruce Brooks
Encyclopedia
Bruce Brooks is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 of young adult
Young adult literature
Young-adult fiction or young adult literature , also juvenile fiction, is fiction written for, published for, or marketed to adolescents and young adults, roughly ages 14 to 21. The Young Adult Library Services of the American Library Association defines a young adult as "someone between the...

 and children's literature
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...

.

Background

Brooks, born in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

, lived most of his young life in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 as a result of parental divorce. Brooks credits moving around multiple times between the two locations with making him a keen observer of social situations. Switching schools often and having to make new friends evolved his ability to tell good stories. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...

 in 1972, and the Iowa Writers' Workshop
Iowa Writers' Workshop
The Program in Creative Writing, more commonly known as the Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, is a highly regarded graduate-level creative writing program in the United States...

 at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...

 in 1980. Before earning a living as a writer, Brooks had worked as a letterpress operator and a journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

 for magazines and newspapers. Brooks has reported a very diverse list of influences, like Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...

, Henry James
Henry James
Henry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....

, P.G. Wodehouse and Raymond Chandler
Raymond Chandler
Raymond Thornton Chandler was an American novelist and screenwriter.In 1932, at age forty-five, Raymond Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in...

. Brooks has three sons: Alex, born 1984; Spencer, 1992; and Drake, 2006. He lives with his wife Ginee Seo in Park Slope, Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

.

Acclaim

The Moves Make the Man
The Moves Make the Man
The Moves Make The Man is a sports novel written by award-winning author Bruce Brooks that deals with many issues in society including racism, domestic violence, abuse, and family deaths...

was chosen best book of 1984 by School Library Journal
School Library Journal
The School Library Journal is a monthly magazine with articles and reviews for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with a focus on technology and multimedia. Reviews are included for preschool to 4th grade,...

(SLJ), ALA Notable Children's Book, notable book of the year New York Times, and won the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award
Boston Globe-Horn Book Award
The Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards were first presented by The Boston Globe and Horn Book Magazine in 1967. They are among the most prestigious honors in the United States in the field of children’s and young adult literature...

 and a Newbery Honor in 1985.

Midnight Hour Encores was chosen best book of 1986 by SLJ, a best book for young adults by the ALA, Horn Book Fanfare Honor List book in 1987, teacher's choice by the National Council of Teachers of English
National Council of Teachers of English
The National Council of Teachers of English is an American professional organization dedicated to "improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels of education...

 that same year, a young adult choice by the International Reading Association
International Reading Association
The International Reading Association is an international professional organization that was created in 1956 to improve reading instruction, facilitate dialogue about research on reading, and encourage the habit of reading....

 in 1988, and an ALA Booklist "best of the 1980s" book for young adults.

No Kidding was a best book for young adults by the ALA, ALA Booklist young adult editor's choice, a best book by SLJ, and a notable children's trade book in social studies
Social studies
Social studies is the "integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence," as defined by the American National Council for the Social Studies...

.

Everywhere was a notable children's book by the ALA, and a best book by SLJ.

Fiction

  • The Moves Make the Man. New York
    New York City
    New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

     Harper
    HarperCollins
    HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...

    , 1984
  • Midnight Hour Encores. New York: Harper, 1986
  • No Kidding. New York: Harper, 1989
  • Everywhere. New York: HarperCollins, 1990
  • What Hearts. New York: HarperCollins, 1992
  • Boys Will Be. New York: Holt
    Holt, Rinehart and Winston
    Holt McDougal is an American publishing company, a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, that specializes in textbooks for use in secondary schools. Holt, Rinehart and Winston was a division of Harcourt Education...

    , 1993
  • Each A Piece. Illus. By Elena Pavlov. New York: HarperCollins, 1996
  • Asylum for Nightface. New York: Laura Geringer Book, 1996
  • Throwing Smoke. New York: Scholastic Inc. Book, 2000
  • All That Remains. New York: Atheneum, 2001
  • Dolores: Seven Stories About Her. New York:Laura Geringer Book, 2002

Nonfiction

  • On the Wing: The Life of Birds from Feathers to Flight. New York: Scribner
    Charles Scribner's Sons
    Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing a number of American authors including Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Stephen King, Robert A. Heinlein, Thomas Wolfe, George Santayana, John Clellon...

    , 1989
  • Predator. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux
    Farrar, Straus and Giroux
    Farrar, Straus and Giroux is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger W. Straus, Jr. and John C. Farrar. Known primarily as Farrar, Straus in its first decade of existence, the company was renamed several times, including Farrar, Straus and Young and Farrar, Straus and Cudahy...

    , 1991
  • Nature by Design. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1991
  • Making Sense: Animal Perception and Communication: Knowing Nature. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1993

External links

  • Bruce Brooks at Indiana University
    Indiana University Bloomington
    Indiana University Bloomington is a public research university located in Bloomington, Indiana, in the United States. IU Bloomington is the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. Being the flagship campus, IU Bloomington is often referred to simply as IU or Indiana...

     Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication
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