Catherine Gilbert Murdock Books in Order

Catherine Gilbert Murdock was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and grew up in Litchfield, Connecticut, on a small farm with bees, goats, and Christmas trees. She shared that out-of-the-way childhood with her sister, novelist Elizabeth Gilbert. With few nearby distractions, the sisters read widely and made up stories and plays.

Murdock wanted to be an author by fifth grade. The idea stuck.

At Bryn Mawr College, she studied Growth and Structure of Cities, with a special interest in architectural history. She graduated in 1988, then earned a doctorate in American Civilization from the University of Pennsylvania. Her first published book grew from that research: Domesticating Drink, a nonfiction history of alcohol, gender, temperance, Prohibition, and repeal in America.

Before writing novels, Murdock spent years trying screenwriting. That experience taught her to think visually and keep scenes moving, but prose gave her more room to follow a character's private thoughts. That became especially useful when she began writing stories narrated by teenagers who have plenty to say, even when they don't always say it aloud.

A dream helped start her first YA novel.

In 2006, Dairy Queen introduced D.J. Schwenk, a quiet Wisconsin farm girl whose family's dairy farm, football culture, and unspoken problems all pile up at once. D.J.'s funny, direct voice carried into The Off Season and Front and Center, books about family pressure, injury, friendship, sports, romance, and learning how to speak up for yourself. A later companion, Heaven Is Paved with Oreos, returns to that world through fourteen-year-old Sarah Zorn.

Murdock also likes taking familiar story shapes and turning them sideways. Princess Ben follows an awkward princess who discovers magic while trapped under the control of a formidable queen. Wisdom's Kiss returns to that fairy-tale world through several connected narrators, mixing royal politics, kitchen work, romance, witchcraft, and a circus.

Her historical adventures are just as interested in young people trying to find their footing. The Book of Boy, set in 1350, follows a lonely boy and a relic thief on a dangerous journey through medieval Europe. It received a 2019 Newbery Honor. In Da Vinci's Cat, a mysterious wardrobe links a modern girl with Federico Gonzaga, a young political hostage in Renaissance Rome, as art, time travel, and friendship reshape both their lives.

The settings may change, but the questions often don't.

Murdock's books return to communication, family secrets, responsibility, food, faith, and young people discovering that they can make choices rather than simply endure what comes at them. Her characters can be awkward, stubborn, funny, and scared, which is often what makes their hard-won confidence feel believable.

She has lived in Philadelphia with her husband and two children, and she also visits schools to talk with young readers about writing, history, and the stories that grow from careful research and a little imagination.