Brit Bennett facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Brit Bennett
Born	1989/1990 (age 34–35) Oceanside, California, U.S.
Occupation	Writer
Education	Stanford University (BA) University of Michigan (MFA)
Notable works	"I Don't Know What to Do With Good White People" (2014) The Mothers (2016) The Vanishing Half (2020)

Brit Bennett is a talented American writer who lives in Los Angeles. She is known for her amazing novels. Her first book, The Mothers, came out in 2016. It quickly became a New York Times best-seller.

Her second novel, The Vanishing Half, was published in 2020. This book also became a New York Times best-seller. It was even picked for the Good Morning America Book Club. The Vanishing Half was named one of The New York Times' top ten books of 2020. It was also a finalist for the 2021 Women's Prize for Fiction.

Early Life and Education

Brit Bennett grew up in Southern California. She went to Stanford University for her college degree. There, she studied English. Later, she continued her education at the University of Michigan. She earned a special degree called a MFA. She also spent some time studying at Oxford University.

Writing Career Highlights

While Brit Bennett was studying at the University of Michigan, she wrote an essay. This essay was called "I Don't Know What to Do With Good White People." It was published on the Jezebel website in 2014. The essay became very popular. It was viewed over a million times in just three days.

During her time at Michigan, she also won some awards. She received a Hopwood Award for her short fiction. She also won the 2014 Hurston/Wright Award for College Writers.

Popular Essays and Reviews

Brit Bennett has written many other non-fiction essays. One of her essays was about black dolls. It was called "Addy Walker, American Girl" and appeared in the Paris Review. She also wrote a review of a book by Ta-Nehisi Coates. This review was for The New Yorker magazine. Vogue magazine praised her essays. They said her writing helps readers understand the present by looking at the past.

The Mothers Novel

In 2016, Brit Bennett's first novel, The Mothers, was released. Riverhead Books published the book. It was a big success and received great reviews. The Mothers quickly became a New York Times best-seller. The Times newspaper said it was one of the biggest new books of that fall.

Brit Bennett was also recognized by the National Book Foundation. She was named one of their "5 under 35" promising new novelists. The Mothers was nominated for the 2016 Goodreads Choice Awards. In 2017, Warner Bros. announced plans to make The Mothers into a movie. The famous actress Kerry Washington was set to be a producer for the film.

The Vanishing Half Novel

Brit Bennett's second book, The Vanishing Half, came out in 2020. Riverhead Books also published this novel. It quickly reached the number-one spot on The New York Times best-seller list in June. The book was also chosen for the Good Morning America Book Club.

The Vanishing Half was named one of The New York Times' ten best books of 2020. It was a finalist for the 2021 Women's Prize for Fiction. The book also won the 2020 Goodreads Choice Award for Historical Fiction. The Washington Post newspaper described the book as a strong look at identity. Just a month after it was published, HBO bought the rights to turn the book into a TV series. Brit Bennett is an executive producer for this series.

Working with American Girl

In 2022, Brit Bennett worked with American Girl. This company makes popular dolls and books. She helped create a new character for their "Historical Characters" line. The new character is a Black girl named Claudie Wells. Claudie's stories are set in 1922 during the Harlem Renaissance.

The American Girl team asked Brit Bennett to write for them. They saw her social media posts about wanting to write an American Girl book. She has said that she loved American Girl books and dolls when she was a child. She especially liked the character Addy. Brit Bennett worked with a team of researchers and historians. Together, they created Claudie's character and her stories. She has written two books in this series: Meet Claudie (2022) and Adventures with Claudie (2023).