She attended Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts and received a degree in chemistry in 1989. Bradley was always fascinated with chemistry, but when her sophomore roommate convinced her to take an Introduction to Children's Literature course, she immediately loved it. Her instructor, the Newbery medalist Patricia MacLachlan encouraged Bradley to continue writing and helped her learn more about writing for children. During college, she began writing by working as a freelance writer for equestrian magazines. Bradley's knowledge of horses influenced some of her children's literature, such as the award-winning The War That Saved My Life. After college, Bradley married her high school sweetheart, Bart Bradley. While he attended medical school, she worked primarily as a research chemist, while still writing as a part-time editor for equestrian magazines and creatively whenever she could. Bradley currently lives with her husband and two children on a 52-acre farm in Bristol on the Tennessee/Virginia border in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.
Career
Her first novel, Ruthie’s Gift, was published in 1998 and she has continued to publish 17 books catered to children and young adults. She has won numerous awards for her stories as well as many other literary honors. Bradley has published 17 books, which have won various awards and honors.
''Ruthie's Gift''
Bradley's first novel is set in a small Indiana farming community at the start of World War I, and follows the story of Ruthie, an 8-year-old tomboy who strives to form a stronger sense of self and selflessness during a particularly dramatic year in her life: the year her sixth brother is born, the year she makes her first friends, the year she almost dies of pneumonia, the year the war takes one of her brothers from her..
''Jefferson's Sons: A Founding Father's Secret Children''
Bradley's 2011 book, Jefferson’s Sons: A Founding Father’s Secret Children, received 5 starred book reviews and numerous accolades. The story is told by three young boys, two of whom were the children of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, one of his slaves. Although Jefferson's children get special treatment from him, they are still his slaves and cannot mention who their father is to anyone. The lighter-skinned children have a chance to convert to white society, but the children who look more like their mother do not. As each child continues to grow up, the distinction between freedom and slavery becomes even more prominent.
''The War That Saved My Life''
Aimed at middle-school readers, The War That Saved My Life follows 10-year-old Ada and her little brother Jamie, who are in the middle of London during World War II. When Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the bombings, Ada sneaks off with him to escape their cruel mother. Ada has never left her one-room flat before because her mother was embarrassed by Ada's clubbed foot. Ada, Jamie, and Susan Smith, the children's caretaker in the country, all begin a new adventure together. Ada then learns how to ride a pony named Butter, and finds a friend named Maggie, while also overcoming her feelings of worthlessness. Ada gains the courage needed to fight her own battles and the much-needed love of a mother figure. Overall, this story has been described as, “the rare novel that can take something as massive as a world war and distill it to its human essence.”
Awards and honors
1998 Publisher's Week “Flying Start” Award for Ruthie’s Gift
2011 Kirkus Reviews Best Children's Books of 2011 for Jefferson’s Sons: A Founding Father’s Secret Children
