Bronte Bella had just moved to sunny California from her mountain town in New Mexico. Living right by a beach is wonderful, but word-loving, quirky Bronte is worried she won't fit in. She starts a book club to make new friends, but at first no one comes in this story about trust and friendship.
Kristiana Gregory grew up in Manhattan Beach, California, two blocks from the ocean. She's always loved to make up stories [ask her family!], telling her younger siblings whoppers that would leave them wide-eyed and shivering. Her first rejection letter at age ten was for a poem she wrote in class when she was supposed to be doing a math assignment. She's had a myriad of odd jobs: telephone operator, lifeguard, camp counselor, reporter, book reviewer & columnist for the LA Times, and finally author.
"Jenny of the Tetons" [Harcourt] won the Golden Kite Award in 1989 and was the first of two-dozen historical novels for middle grade readers. "Bronte's Book Club" [Holiday House] is set in a town by the sea and is inspired by the girls' book club she led for several years. "My Darlin' Clementine" [HH] takes place in an Idaho mining camp of 1866, based on the song of that name.
Her popular "Cabin Creek Mysteries" are from stories she told her sons when they were little and needed a bribe to go to bed. All she needed to say was, "Do you guys want to hear a Jeff and David story?" and boom they were there. Kristiana's most recent title is "Cannons At Dawn" in Scholastic's Dear America series, a sequel to the best-selling "The Winter of Red Snow," which was made into a movie for the HBO Family Channel.
Kristiana and her husband have two adult sons, and live in Idaho with their two golden retrievers. In her spare time she loves to swim, walk, read, and hang out with friends. She's trying to learn to knit, but isn't yet having much success.
Check out Kristiana's blogs at http://notesfromthesunroom.blogspot.com/ for behind-the-scenes stories about her books, and with photos from her childhood.
