Join BookBrowse today and get access to free books, our twice monthly digital magazine, and more.

Rita Murphy biography

Author Biography  | Books by this Author  | Read-Alikes

Rita Murphy
Photo credit: Emily Sloan

Rita Murphy

Rita Murphy Biography

Rita Murphy was born in Syracuse, New York on February 3, 1964. 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 several novel for young adults. 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.

Rita Murphy's website

This bio was last updated on 10/26/2017. In a perfect world, we would like to keep all of BookBrowse's biographies up to date, but with many thousands of lives to keep track of it's simply impossible to do. So, if the date of this bio is not recent, you may wish to do an internet search for a more current source, such as the author's website or social media presence. If you are the author or publisher and would like us to update this biography, send the complete text and we will replace the old with the new.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Books by this Author

Books by Rita Murphy at BookBrowse
Night Flying jacket
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Rita Murphy but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • Lian Hearn

    Lian Hearn

    Lian Hearn is a pseudonym for Gillian Rubinstein, a well-known Australian writer of children's books and plays. She chose not to publish Tales of the Otori, (the series originally consisted of three books but she later added ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Night Flying

    Try:
    Across the Nightingale Floor
    by Lian Hearn

  • James Patterson

    James Patterson

    James Patterson has created more enduring fictional characters than any other novelist writing today with his Alex Cross, Michael Bennett, Women's Murder Club, Private, NYPD Red, Daniel X, Maximum Ride, and Middle ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Night Flying

    Try:
    When The Wind Blows
    by James Patterson

We recommend 3 similar authors

View all 3 Read-Alikes

Non-members can see 2 results. Become a member
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Support BookBrowse

Join our inner reading circle, go ad-free and get way more!

Find out more


Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Clear
    Clear
    by Carys Davies
    John Ferguson is a principled man. But when, in 1843, those principles drive him to break from the ...
  • Book Jacket: Change
    Change
    by Edouard Louis
    Édouard Louis's 2014 debut novel, The End of Eddy—an instant literary success, published ...
  • Book Jacket: Big Time
    Big Time
    by Ben H. Winters
    Big Time, the latest offering from prolific novelist and screenwriter Ben H. Winters, is as ...
  • Book Jacket: Becoming Madam Secretary
    Becoming Madam Secretary
    by Stephanie Dray
    Our First Impressions reviewers enjoyed reading about Frances Perkins, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's ...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
A Great Country
by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
A novel exploring the ties and fractures of a close-knit Indian-American family in the aftermath of a violent encounter with the police.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    The House on Biscayne Bay
    by Chanel Cleeton

    As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.

  • Book Jacket

    The Flower Sisters
    by Michelle Collins Anderson

    From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention.

Win This Book
Win The Funeral Cryer

The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu

Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.

Enter

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

M as A H

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.