Amber McBride

Amber McBride is an African-American author, poet, and professor. She is best known for her debut novel-in-verse, Me (Moth), which was nominated for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature and won the John Steptoe New Talent Award.

Personal life The first book McBride remembers reading is Mama, Would You Love Me by Barbara M. Jose. McBride says she comes from a family of storytellers, which she credits her love for writing to, as she says that oral storytelling is a big part of her experience of African American culture. She wrote her first book in fifth grade.

McBride was a pre-med student until her junior year of university but transitioned to creative writing after a car accident and subsequent stay in the hospital caused her to realize she didn't enjoy hospitals enough to become a doctor. McBride has a Bachelor of Arts in English from James Madison University and a Master of Fine Arts in poetry from Emerson College. As of 2023, she is an assistant professor of Poetry and English at the University of Virginia.

She credits working with students as one of her inspirations for wanting to write novels for young adults.

In her free time, she practices Hoodoo, and currently lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Career

Me (Moth) (2022) McBride's debut novel-in-verse, Me (Moth), was published in 2022 by Feiwel and Friends. It is about a Juilliard-bound dancer who gets into a car accident that changes the trajectory of her life, having her look to Hoodoo guided by her Rootworker grandfather to ease her pain and taking a trip across the United States and to the Navajo nation. The idea of writing a novel incorporating Hoodoo came to her after her grandfather died in 2019. and a July/August 2021 Kids’ Next List pick. It was a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 2021, and won the John Steptoe New Talent Award in 2022. It was a finalist for the Heavy Medal Mock Newbery by School Library Journal in January 2024.

Awards and honors In 2021, Me (Moth) was named one of the year's best books by NPR, Shelf Awareness, and Time. Booklist included it on their lists of "Best First Novels for Youth" and Booklist Editors' Choice: Books for Youth.

In 2025, The Leaving Room was named one of the best young adult books of the year by Publishers Weekly and Shelf Awareness.

Publications

Picture books

Middle grade fiction

Young adult fiction

Poetry