Rita Murphy

The daughter of a pianist and an English teacher, she grew up surrounded by stories, rhythm and the creative process. After her son was born in 1992, she discovered her love of storytelling and began writing short stories. In 1999, her first novel, Night Flying won the Delacorte Press Prize at Random House Children's Books, was voted one of the Best Books for Young Adults by The American Library Association and Smithsonian Magazine in 2000, and has been translated into seven languages. Chosen a Flying Start Author by Publisher's Weekly, Ms. Murphy is the author of five YA novels: Night Flying (2000), Black Angels (2001),Harmony (2002), Looking For Lucy Buick (2005), and Bird (2008). She studied writing at the University of Vermont and dance at The Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado. She has been a creative writing instructor at The Monteverde Friends School in Monteverde, Costa Rica, a guest author in Vermont Public Schools and is currently on the faculty of The Breadloaf Young Writers Conference in Middlebury, Vermont. She lives with her husband and son in Burlington, Vermont and is currently at work on her next novel.