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| Order children’s-YA books by Cynthia Leitich Smith. |
Cynthia Leitich Smith is best known as an author of fantastical and realistic fiction for young readers.
She is the New York Times and Publishers Weekly best-selling author of the award-winning Tantalize series, Feral trilogy, and Hearts Unbroken.
These novels were originally published by Candlewick Press in the U.S., Walker Books in the U.K. and Australia/New Zealand, and additional publishers around the globe.
She is also the author of several award-winning Native children’s books, including Jingle Dancer, illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu; Rain Is Not My Indian Name and Indian Shoes, illustrated by Jim Madsen; all published by HarperCollins.
Cynthia was named a Writer of the Year by Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers in recognition of Rain Is Not My Indian Name. She is an enrolled tribal member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and is a member of the Honorary Advisory Board of the We Need Diverse Books nonprofit organization.
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| Wordcraft Circle winner |
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| 2015 Release |
Cynthia has been twice featured at the National Book Festival. Her titles have been honored among Notable Children’s Trade Books in Social Studies, Oklahoma Book Award finalists, NEA Choices, CCBC Choices, Bank Street Choices, Children’s Crown List selections, YALSA Popular Paperbacks, Writers’ League of Texas award winners, TLA Spirit of Texas (YA) choices, and more.
She was
named the first Spirit of Texas Young Adult author by the Young Adult Round Table of the Texas Library Association and the first young adult author to be honored with the Illumine
Award by the Austin Public Library Friends Foundation.
The Austin chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators also instituted the Cynthia Leitich Smith Mentor Award in her honor.
Cynthia is a popular writing teacher, serving on the faculty of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults and leading workshops hosted by, for example, SCBWI chapters, the Highlights Foundation as well as Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers.
Cynthia makes her home in south-central Austin.
Cynthia has written several essays, poems and short stories. These include:
- “Dreams to Write,” Our
Story Begins: Children’s Authors and Illustrators Share Fun, Inspiring,
and Occasionally Ridiculous Things They Wrote and Drew as Kids, edited by Elissa Brent Weissman (Atheneum, 2017); - “All’s Well,” which appears in Violent Ends, edited by Shaun David Hutchinson (Simon Pulse, 2015);
- “Cupid’s Beaux,” which appears in Things I’ll Never Say: Stories About Our Secret Selves, edited by Ann Angel (Candlewick, 2015);
- a letter in Dear Teen Me: Authors Write Letters to Their Teen Selves, edited by E. Kristin Anderson and Miranda Kenneally (Zest, 2012);
- “Mooning Over Broken Stars” (a companion to a short story by Joseph Bruchac), which appears in Girl Meets Boy, edited by Kelly Milner Halls (Chronicle, 2012);
- “Isolation,” which appears in Dear Bully: 70 Authors Tell Their Stories, edited by Megan Kelley Hall and Carrie Jones (HarperTeen, 2011);
- “The Wrath of Dawn,” which appears in Geektastic: Stories from The Nerd Herd, edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci (Little, Brown, 2009);
- “Cat Calls,” which appears in Sideshow: Ten Original Tales of Freaks, Illusionists, and Other Matters Odd and Magical, edited by Deborah Noyes (Candlewick, 2009); and
- “Haunted Love,” which appears in Immortal: Love Stories with Bite, edited by P.C. Cast (BenBella, 2008);
- “Riding with Rosa” which appears in Cicada magazine (March/April 2005);
- “A Real-Live Blond Cherokee and His Equally Annoyed Soul Mate,” which appears in Moccasin Thunder: American Indian Stories for Today, edited by Lori Marie Carlson (HarperCollins, 2005).
Cynthia’s website at www.cynthialeitichsmith.com
was named one of the top 10 Writer Sites on the Internet by Writer’s
Digest and an ALA Great Website for Kids. Her Cynsations blog at cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/ was listed as among the top two read by the children’s/YA publishing community in the SCBWI “To Market” column.
School Library Journal said of Cynsations, “If you read only one blog, this is it!”
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| At the Illumine Award Banquet |
More Information
Cynthia was born in Kansas City, Missouri. Her previous states of residence are: Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Michigan, and Oklahoma.
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| Michigan Law School reading room |
She graduated with degrees (in news/editorial and public relations) from the White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas, Lawrence in 1990 and from the University of Michigan Law School in 1994. She was a co-founder and senior editor of The Michigan Journal of Gender & Law. Cynthia also studied law abroad in Paris, France during the summer of 1991 via Tulane University Law School and the University of Paris IV.