Julie Chibbaro is the award-winning author of three novels: Into the Dangerous World (Viking, 2015), Deadly (Simon & Schuster 2011), and Redemption (Simon & Schuster 2004). She is currently at work on a memoir about her search for home entitled Good Bones, a story about how an abandoned house and its rehabilitation saved her family.
About Good Bones: Some people rescue abandoned houses. Some abandoned houses rescue people.
To create a solid foundation for their troubled daughter, Julie and her artist husband use the last of their money to purchase a century-old, abandoned ruin with busted windows and no heat, electricity, or water. Growing up with a violent father and a mentally ill mother, Julie has no framework for what it means to rebuild a broken home. Her deep wounds prevent her from knowing the meaning of home, from knowing how to make one. Her body betrays her—chronic pain, and the legacy of the breast cancer that took her mother and sister. The couple did have experience building a tiny house on wheels to near completion. The big question is, do they have what it takes to make the dilapidated house a true home for their rootless family on their modest income?
As the renovation work begins, Julie discovers the abandoned house has a mysterious past that mirrors her own difficult secrets. She begins to understand that rehabbing the ghost house means healing her heart and the work becomes a journey of self-discovery, about meeting ancestors, reversing the effects of trauma, and discovering wisdom.
To create a solid foundation for their troubled daughter, Julie and her artist husband use the last of their money to purchase a century-old, abandoned ruin with busted windows and no heat, electricity, or water. Growing up with a violent father and a mentally ill mother, Julie has no framework for what it means to rebuild a broken home. Her deep wounds prevent her from knowing the meaning of home, from knowing how to make one. Her body betrays her—chronic pain, and the legacy of the breast cancer that took her mother and sister. The couple did have experience building a tiny house on wheels to near completion. The big question is, do they have what it takes to make the dilapidated house a true home for their rootless family on their modest income?
As the renovation work begins, Julie discovers the abandoned house has a mysterious past that mirrors her own difficult secrets. She begins to understand that rehabbing the ghost house means healing her heart and the work becomes a journey of self-discovery, about meeting ancestors, reversing the effects of trauma, and discovering wisdom.
Published Books
Deadly, winner of the National Jewish Book Award!
A Bank Street Best Book
The New York Times: "Paced like a medical thriller . . . a rare YA novel."
New-York Historical Society interview
Kirkus Reviews: "Fever 1793 meets Newes from the Dead in this absorbing diary of a fictional teen who witnesses the epidemic unleashed on turn-of-the-20th-century New York by the infamous 'Typhoid Mary.'”
New York Journal of Books: "This book will be especially welcome to girls with an interest in science, medicine, history, or just in reading about a strong, honest female protagonist."
A Bank Street Best Book
The New York Times: "Paced like a medical thriller . . . a rare YA novel."
New-York Historical Society interview
Kirkus Reviews: "Fever 1793 meets Newes from the Dead in this absorbing diary of a fictional teen who witnesses the epidemic unleashed on turn-of-the-20th-century New York by the infamous 'Typhoid Mary.'”
New York Journal of Books: "This book will be especially welcome to girls with an interest in science, medicine, history, or just in reading about a strong, honest female protagonist."
Into the Dangerous World, a Junior Library Guild selection!
Publishers Weekly starred review: "Set in 1984, amid the thriving street culture of New York City . . . this striking combination of story and illustration creates a powerful portrait of a budding artist."
Kirkus Reviews: "A thought-provoking, beautiful exploration of the artistic process."
New York Observer: "The mixed format of the book, which includes Ror’s drawings every few pages, adds to the novel’s intrigue."
Nikki Grimes, award-winning author: "This bold book wakes us up to an urban tribe who operate in the margins. The powerful, primal art feels so organic to the text, it's hard to imagine one without the other."
Publishers Weekly starred review: "Set in 1984, amid the thriving street culture of New York City . . . this striking combination of story and illustration creates a powerful portrait of a budding artist."
Kirkus Reviews: "A thought-provoking, beautiful exploration of the artistic process."
New York Observer: "The mixed format of the book, which includes Ror’s drawings every few pages, adds to the novel’s intrigue."
Nikki Grimes, award-winning author: "This bold book wakes us up to an urban tribe who operate in the margins. The powerful, primal art feels so organic to the text, it's hard to imagine one without the other."
Redemption, winner of the American Book Award!
Kirkus Reviews: "Chibbaro writes colorfully, and the monstrous baron, religious dissenters, the Atlantic crossing, and the early meetings of Europeans and northeast woodlands Indians, well before Jamestown in 1607, offer a fascinating look at a little-known side of American history."
Booklist: "Chibbaro works in a huge amount of historical background that will be new to most readers, but Lily's immediate present-tense narrative makes the drama personal."
School Library Journal: "This absorbing read will appeal to older teens who have a thirst for adventure and historical fiction."
Kirkus Reviews: "Chibbaro writes colorfully, and the monstrous baron, religious dissenters, the Atlantic crossing, and the early meetings of Europeans and northeast woodlands Indians, well before Jamestown in 1607, offer a fascinating look at a little-known side of American history."
Booklist: "Chibbaro works in a huge amount of historical background that will be new to most readers, but Lily's immediate present-tense narrative makes the drama personal."
School Library Journal: "This absorbing read will appeal to older teens who have a thirst for adventure and historical fiction."