489 ratings | 216 reviews | avg rating:3.60

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Beatrice Gormley

Goodreads Author

Born

in Glendale, CA, The United States

Website

http://www.beatricegormley.com/

Genre

Biography, Historical Fiction, Children's

Influences

Alison Lurie; C.S. Lewis, Robert A. Heinlein, E. Nesbit ...more

Member Since

September 2009

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/bgormley

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Born in Glendale, California, Beatrice grew up in Southern California. After graduating from Pomona College, she worked in publishing near San Francisco. There she met and married Robert Gormley, and they moved to Massachusetts. They have two daughters.
Since age 9 Beatrice had wanted to become a writer. But it wasn't until after her children were born that she really focused on her writing. In 1981 her first book, Mail Order Wings,was published. Since then she's written many popular novels and biographies for young people. Her most recent books are Second Lives, a novel of humans and other animals, and the biography Joe Biden: Our 46th President.
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Combine Editions
Beatrice Gormley’s books

Average rating: 3.84 · 2,379 ratings · 361 reviews · 48 distinct works • Similar authors

	Laura Ingalls Wilder: Young Pioneer by Beatrice Gormley (Goodreads Author), Meryl Henderson (Illustrator) 4.14 avg rating — 322 ratings — published 2001 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Adara 3.84 avg rating — 275 ratings — published 2002 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mail-Order Wings 4.12 avg rating — 218 ratings — published 1981 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	C.S. Lewis: Christian and Storyteller 3.95 avg rating — 151 ratings — published 1997 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Amelia Earhart: Young Aviator by Beatrice Gormley (Goodreads Author), Meryl Henderson (Illustrator) 3.78 avg rating — 153 ratings — published 2000 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Louisa May Alcott: Young Novelist by Beatrice Gormley (Goodreads Author), Meryl Henderson (Illustrator) 3.76 avg rating — 153 ratings — published 2008 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Salome 3.35 avg rating — 121 ratings — published 2007 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Back to the Titanic (Travelers Through Time, #1) 3.53 avg rating — 110 ratings — published 1994 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Barack Obama: Our 44th President 3.82 avg rating — 99 ratings — published 2008 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Poisoned Honey: A Story of Mary Magdalene 3.54 avg rating — 104 ratings — published 2001 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Beatrice Gormley's Blog

Just in time for the inauguration.

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Published on November 19, 2020 21:00

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Beatrice is Currently Reading

Beatrice Gormley is currently reading

What We Can Know

by Ian McEwan (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading, contemporary-fiction, literary-fiction, satire

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Beatrice Gormley said: " This novel is so dense and tricky that I couldn't finish it before the book was due back at the library. To be continued . . . ...more "

Nov 22, 2025 06:49AM · see review

Beatrice Gormley is currently reading

We Solve Murders (We Solve Murders, #1)

by Richard Osman

bookshelves: currently-reading, mystery

read in December 2024

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Beatrice Gormley said: " A disappointment. I loved Osman's Thursday Murder Club series, but We Solve Murders reads like a feeble imitation of Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie mysteries. The characters seem trite or implausible, and I don't care very much what happens to them. ...more "

Sep 26, 2025 06:21PM · see review

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Beatrice’s Recent Updates

Beatrice Gormley rated a book liked it Sandwich by Catherine Newman (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Newman's entertaining way of writing made me laugh a lot, but -- what a colossal drama queen her main character was! And I couldn't quite believe in the character of her husband, who tolerated all those theatrics. ...more
Jan 11, 2026 06:42PM · like · see review
Beatrice Gormley rated a book really liked it The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 11, 2026 06:40PM · like
Beatrice Gormley rated a book it was amazing Raising Hare: A Memoir by Chloe Dalton	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 11, 2026 06:39PM · like
Beatrice Gormley rated a book really liked it Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 22, 2025 06:53AM · like
Beatrice Gormley rated a book really liked it Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 22, 2025 06:50AM · like
Beatrice Gormley rated a book liked it What We Can Know by Ian McEwan (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This novel is so dense and tricky that I couldn't finish it before the book was due back at the library. To be continued . . . ...more
Nov 22, 2025 06:45AM · like · see review
Beatrice Gormley rated a book really liked it The Martians: The True Story of an Alien Craze that Captured Turn-of-the-Century America by David Baron (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A good read! Not so much about the planet Mars itself, but more about the evolution of astronomical discoveries around the turn of the nineteenth century. And the extraordinary lengths that Percival Lowell, an educated, wealthy, personable amateur as ...more
Nov 22, 2025 06:22AM · like · see review
Beatrice Gormley liked kathleen's review of Heart the Lover: "The beginning of this short novel did not engage me. It made me uncomfortable as a too-close, too-real depiction of college friendships and college life. It felt like reading the diary of a 21 year old ,really. Maybe my own from that time! I admired " Read more of this review »
Oct 31, 2025 06:21PM · see review
Beatrice Gormley rated a book really liked it Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Again, a high-quality escape read from T. Kingfisher. A page-turner quest. Quirky but not too cute, with a plucky heroine and a great cast of sidekicks. I like the way T.K. thinks!
Sep 26, 2025 06:44PM · like · see review
Beatrice Gormley rated a book really liked it A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Delicious quirky fantasy.
Sep 26, 2025 06:44PM · like · see review

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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Readers and Reading: May 2011 reads	9	25	Jun 05, 2011 07:03AM
Book Nook Cafe: What I read in May 2011	67	85	Jun 17, 2011 07:51AM
The Seasonal Read...: Summer Challenge 2012: Completed Tasks - DO NOT DELETE ANY POSTS IN THIS TOPIC	2637	935	Aug 31, 2012 09:02PM
Challenge: 50 Books: Tory's 50 for 2012	48	73	Dec 31, 2012 05:11PM
Crazy for Young A...: A-Z Author Names	790	505	Sep 09, 2014 01:21AM
The Seasonal Read...: Spring 2015 Completed Tasks - DO NOT DELETE POSTS	3347	574	May 31, 2015 08:59PM
Nothing But Readi...: NBRC 26 Alphabet 2: Animals: A to Z (Spell-it-Out)	612	1352	Dec 29, 2016 05:14AM
What's the Name o...: 80s children's book about trading places? featured a girl with a fairy godmother. She makes a wish to be the popular girl and wakes up in the other girl's body	9	1037	Apr 22, 2022 08:43PM

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Beatrice’s Quotes

“Every good idea sooner or later degenerates into hard work.”
― Calvin Trillin

tags: humor, inspirational

47 likes

“We come to life in the middle of stories that are not ours.”
― Paul Elie

tags: inspirational

12 likes

“If you show someone something you've written, you give them a sharpened stake, lie down in your coffin, and say, ‘When you’re ready’.”
― David Mitchell, Black Swan Green

tags: literary-criticism, writing

410 likes

“This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.”
― Sid Ziff

tags: bad-reviews, book, humorist, misattributed-dorothy-parker, wit

1616 likes