Jim
Murphy
Winner of the 2010 SLJ/YALSA
Margaret A. Edwards Award
for a significant and lasting contribution
to young adult literature
Award-winning author Jim Murphy
is celebrated for his compelling and carefully researched
narrative nonfiction that brings history alive for young
readers. His more than thirty-five books include two
Newbery Honor Books, The Great Fire and An American
Plague (which also won the Sibert Award), and
Blizzard!, which was named a Sibert Honor Book. He
was also named a National Book Award Finalist, has
received three NCTE Orbis Pictus Awards and three
Jefferson Cup awards, among many other accolades.
Growing up, Jim didn’t have much time for or interest
in reading—until a teacher named a book the students
were absolutely forbidden to read. Rushing to see what
the fuss was all about, Jim first read the forbidden book
and then kept on reading—anything he could get his
hands on.
After attending Rutgers University, Jim entered juvenile
publishing as an editor, helping other writers to shape
their work. He then left to devote himself to his own
writing, and published his first book, Weird and Wacky
Inventions, in 1978.
Jim’s varied interests including his voracious appetite
for reading about subjects he finds interesting, and his
immense skill as a researcher, have helped him create
a wide range of entertaining, provocative, and multilayered books for young readers.
Jim lives in a one-hundred-year-old house in
Maplewood, New Jersey, with his wife Alison Blank, an
author and editor of children’s books, his two teenage
sons, a big hairy dog, an African water frog, and a vast
collection of books.
For more information about Jim Murphy, please visit www.jimmurphybooks.com.
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Books by Jim Murphy
Ii
New!
The Crossing
How George Washington Saved
the American Revolution
Published December 2010
It is 1776 and George Washington’s army of rebellious colonists
is emboldened by its stunning victories over the British at
Lexington and Concord, and at having driven the world’s most
formidable army from Boston. But now they face the threat of a
brutal British retaliation.
George Washington, who has little military experience, is
unanimously chosen as commander-in-chief—in the hope that he
can whip his ragtag, unruly troops into a real fighting army. As the
British begin their invasion of New York City and outmaneuver the
Americans in one encounter after another, George Washington isn’t
the only one who is overcome with doubts.
Ages 9–12 • 96 pages
Hardcover • 978-0-439-69186-4 • $21.99
In their panic, American soldiers retreat across Gowanus Creek. Many were shot while
attempting to swim to safety, while others drowned. (Author’s collection)
From The Crossing
The Great Fire
A Newbery Honor Book
A Boston Globe/Horn Book Award Honor Book for Nonfiction
NCTE Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction
for Children
An ALA Notable Children’s Book
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
An ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
Overnight, the great fire of 1871 transformed the flourishing
city of Chicago into a smoldering wasteland. By weaving
personal accounts of actual survivors together with carefully
researched history, Jim Murphy recreates the event with drama
and immediacy.
H “Murphy’s text reads like an adventure/survival novel and is just as
hard to put down…History writing at its best.”
—School Library Journal, starred review
H “The Great Fire will automatically draw readers with its fiery
Ages 9–12 • 144 pages
Hardcover • 978-0-590-47267-8 • $22.99
Paperback • 978-0-439-20307-4 • $12.99
cover…but the text will keep them reading.”—Booklist, starred review
H “Riveting.”—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, starred review
H “Murphy [gives the incident] stunning immediacy for
contemporary readers.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Blizzard!
The Storm that Changed America
A Robert F. Sibert Award Honor Book
An ALA Notable Children’s Book
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
Jefferson Cup Award
NCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book
for Young People
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books Blue Ribbon Book
Jim Murphy orchestrates with fact, science, technology, and
sociology the testimony of survivors and victims to tell the
harrowing story of the phenomenal blizzard that crippled
New York City in March, 1888.
H “Skillfully done: humorous, jaw-dropping, thought-provoking,
and chilling.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
H “A superb piece of writing and history.”—School Library Journal,
Ages 9–12 • 144 pages
Paperback • 978-0-590-67310-5 • $12.99
starred review
H “Stellar nonfiction.”—Booklist, starred review
H “Masterful…gripping.”—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books,
starred review
Truce
The Day the Soldiers Stopped Fighting
An ALA Notable Children’s Book
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
A Kirkus Best YA Book of the Year
A Booklist Editors’ Choice
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
A Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books Blue Ribbon Book
New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
An IRA Notable Book for a Global Society
NCTE Orbis Pictus Recommended Title
On July 29th, 1914, the world’s peace was shattered as the artillery
of the Austro-Hungarian Empire began shelling Serbian troops.
What followed was like a row of falling dominoes as one European
country after another rushed into war. Soon most of Europe was
fighting in this calamitous war that could have been avoided.
Ages 9–12 • 128 pages
Hardcover • 978-0-545-13049-3 • $19.99
But who could have guessed that on December 25th the troops
would openly defy their commanding officers by stopping the
fighting and having a spontaneous celebration of Christmas with
their “enemies”?
H “Murphy’s research is impeccable and his use of primary sources
is both seamless and effective...An excellent addition to middle
and high school libraries, this affecting book has a place in history
curricula as well.”—School Library Journal, starred review
H “Murphy’s excellent telling of this unusual war story begins with an
account of the events that led to WWI and follows the shift in the
soldiers’ mind-sets from the feverish rush to join before the war
ended to the painful realization that no end was in sight.”
—Booklist, starred review
H “Spectacular.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Desperate Journey
A two-time Newbery Honor author turns his formidable talents to this
riveting suspense novel about a spirited Irish-American girl who helps save her
family from ruin on the Erie Canal in the 1840s.
“A must-have for New York state libraries, this will also be welcome wherever
historical fiction is popular.”—School Library Journal
“Murphy moves to historical fiction in this gripping novel about the Erie Canal
in 1848…the real attraction for readers is the journey itself, filled with details
of daily labor on the barge and a sense of the Canal community.”—Booklist
Ages 9–12 • 288 pages
Hardcover • 978-0-439-07806-1 • $16.99