Sue Ellen Bridgers was born in Greenville, North Carolina, on September 20, 1942. From 1960 to 1963 she attended East Carolina University in Greenville, where she wrote for the literary magazine and majored in English. Before completing her education, she married Ben Bridgers and became the mother of three children. She did little writing during the early years of her marriage, but, as her children grew older, she returned to school at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee and earned a B. A. degree in 1976. In that same year her first novel, Home Before Dark, was published. To her surprise, it was marketed as a young adult novel, although it was also published in Redbook and Reader's Digest's Condensed Books. It was named a New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year, an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults, and an ALA Notable Book of the Year...