2005: About the Author

Rachel Simon

As well as being the author of Riding the Bus with My Sister, Rachel Simon is the author of a novel, The Magic Touch, a collection of stories, Little Nightmares, Little Dreams, and an inspirational book for writers, The Writer's Survival Guide. She teaches in the Creative Writing Program at Bryn Mawr College.

Rachel was born in Newark, New Jersey, but her family moved around New Jersey and Pennsylvania several times when she was a child.

In the late 1990's, Rachel was juggling several jobs: writing fiction and non-fiction; running events for a Princeton, New Jersey Barnes & Noble; teaching at Brin Mawr; and writing commentaries for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

As readers of Riding The Bus With My Sister know, Rachel’s life changed when she wrote an article about her sister Beth’s unusual lifestyle of riding the buses in the city where she lives. Over the course of riding with Beth for the next year, Rachel came to leave most of her jobs behind, found her way back to her sister, and rediscovered her friendships. She also finally moved outside New Jersey and Pennsylvania, ending up in a nearby state.

(Adapted from rachelsimon.com)