A contemporary writer of historical fiction for young adults, Karen Cushman considers herself to be a "late bloomer." At age 53, she wrote her first novel, Catherine, Called Birdy (1995), a novel that won numerous awards including a Newbery Honor. Six months later, Cushman finished her second novel, The Midwife's Apprentice (1996), and earned the Newbery Medal. Cushman's novels, set in diverse social and historical settings, are about the aristocracy and homeless in medieval England and the California gold rush; however, the struggles faced by her heroines are timeless. Cushman's protagonists are strong females who have a will of their own that surfaces as they discover their identity. Her characters possess hope, determination, and imagination. Cushman writes about universal issues — the search for identity, perseverance, limitations, and the humane treatment of all individuals.
Cushman was born on October 4, 1941, in Chicago, Illinois, to Arthur and Loretta Lipski. Her family moved to Southern California when she was eleven. Cushman discovered the library at an early age, and books became a big part of her life. She loved fiction, but from time to time she would find herself interested in a variety of nonfiction topics such as the Civil War, physiology of the brain, or anesthetics. She read everything she could get her hands on about each topic.
Cushman attended private schools. Because her formal education was not a match for her imagination, she became interested in plays. She would hold plays with friends from her neighborhood. Once, she got a book about ballet and had her friends pretend to be taking a ballet class. Her friends used car door handles like a ballet bar and Cush-man read to them, directing them in what to do. One of Cushman's first attempts at writing was a play called Jingle Bagels, a multicultural Christmas story in which Santa Claus goes down the wrong chimney and ends up in a Jewish house during Hanukkah. Growing up, she also wrote poems about Elvis Presley and plots for Elvis movies.
