Works by
Lucy Jane Bledsoe
(Writer)

As Editor

• Lesbian Travels: A Literary Companion (1998)

• Heatwave Women in Love and Lust: Lesbian Short Fiction (1995)

Fiction

Adult

• Biting the Apple (2007) -- Nominated 2007 Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction
  Biting the Apple is the story of Eve Glass, once an Olympic sprinter and now a motivational speaker. She’s the author of two books, Going the Distance: Endurance for Achievers and If Grace is the Goal. The problem is, her own endurance is waning and her confidence in her expertise on grace is paling. Even worse, her kleptomaniac tendencies are intensifying, and a friend from her childhood has begun stalking her.
  
  Glass, a product of other people’s dreams her entire life, is now a woman in search of authenticity. She sheds her ex-husband/coach, shakes free from her business manager, and lands not only in jail, but eventually in the arms of her stalker. As her handlers panic, Glass finally walks away as the author of her own story. Biting the Apple pokes fun at some of our dearest-held postmodern ideas about the existence of a true self and humanity as product.

• This Wild Silence: A Novel (2003) - Finalist, 2003 Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction
  "I like to tell Liz that I'm her dark side," says Christine, the narrator of critically acclaimed author Lucy Jane Bledsoe's newest novel. And Christine and her sister, Liz, are indeed opposites. Liz, married to her high school sweetheart Mark, has an outwardly perfect life, but her fierce control is beginning to falter. Christine, a doctor in San Francisco's Tenderloin district who is buried in her work, cannot connect meaningfully with any of the women with whom she falls in love. But the sisters share a secret, one that has bound them tightly to each other for 30 years.
  
  "Scanning the horizon for Timothy is almost an instinct with me," Christine reveals in the book's opening sentence. Timothy, her little brother, disappeared 30 years ago while she and Liz were supposed to be watching him, and their guilt over this event and the lies they have almost come to believe have haunted both sisters throughout their lives. On a winter expedition in California's Sierra Nevada mountains with Liz, Mark, their current juvenile delinquent charge Lenny, and Mark's assistant Melody, an undercurrent of tension bursts into open hostility when a sudden storm traps them on the mountain.
  
  Through Lucy Jane Bledsoe's graceful writing, the -sisters' lifetime of deception is gradually and heartbreakingly revealed, and finally, in this harsh and dangerous environment, secrets are exposed and lies give way to the kind of healing truth that provides a possibility for hope.

• Working Parts: A Novel (1997) -- Winner American Library Association Stonewall Award
  Lori, an adult bicycle mechanic, learns to read -- and much more.

• Sweat: Stories and a Novella (1995) -- Nominated xxxx Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction
  Sports and adventure stories.

  Children

• The Antarctic Scoop (2003)
  Twelve-year-old Victoria saves an endangered continent.

• Hoop Girlz (2002)
  River wants to make the WNBA!

• Cougar Canyon
  A mountain lion prowls into an urban neighborhood.

• The Big Bike Race (1997) with Sterling Brown,  Illustrator
  Ernie was hoping for a sleek new racing bike for his tenth birthday, not a big, secondhand, yellow clunker. He knew it was all his grandmother could afford, yet he was still disappointed -- and embarrassed to show it to his friends. But the laughter of the other kids doesn't stop Ernie from racing. . .or proving that it's determination, not the bike, that makes the winner!  Ages 9-12.

• Tracks in the Snow (1997)
  When Amy doesn't show up to baby-sit, Erin knows that something must be terribly wrong. But who will believe her? Not her parents, not even the police. They all tell Erin the same thing--Amy is irresponsible--so Erin decides to take things into her own hands. She persuades Tiffany, her new science partner, to do a project on animal tracks, figuring the project will give her an excuse to search for Amy. While the two girls are in the woods, a sudden spring blizzard strikes. Erin and Tiffany are now snowbound, with only one thought--survival.  Ages 9-12.

Nonfiction

Adult

• The Ice Cave: A Woman's Adventures from the Mojave to the Antarctic (2006)
  For Lucy Jane Bledsoe, wilderness had always been a source of peace. But during one disastrous solo trip in the wintry High Sierra she came face to face with a crisis: the wilderness no longer felt like home. The Ice Cave recounts Bledsoe’s wilderness journeys as she recovers her connection with the wild and discovers the meanings of fear and grace. 
  
  These are Bledsoe’s gripping tales of fending off wolves in Alaska, encountering UFOs in the Colorado Desert, and searching for mountain lions in Berkeley. Her memorable story “The Breath of Seals” takes readers to Antarctica, the wildest continent on earth, where she camped out with geologists, biologists, and astrophysicists. These fresh and deeply personal narratives remind us what it means to be simply one member of one species, trying to find food and shelter—and moments of grace—on our planet.

Children

• How To Survive In Antarctica (2006)
  During her exploratory sojourns to Antarctica, Lucy Jane Bledsoe witnessed many amazing sights, such as mummified seals, and picked up more than a few survival tactics; for example, if you should find yourself in danger of falling into a cravasse, you should stretch out your body to avoid dropping farther. Part memoir, part survival tips, part curiosities. Lucy Jane Bledsoe's book lets readers vicariously experince the author's adventures while on exploration in Antarctica.  Ages 9-12