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Cynthia lives in Texas and has a great website featuring lots of information on a wide arrange of books for children and young adults. Her site has won a great many awards including but not limited to ones from the American Library Association, Britannica and NativeCulture.com

Check it out at:

Cynthia Leitch Smith

Featured Author:

Cynthia Leitch Smith

Do you like vampire novels? Contemporary Native American stories? Fun picture books? Blogs about other great authors? Then the works written by Cynthia Leitch Smith are for you!

Many authors only write for one age group or within one genre - but not Cynthia Leitch Smith! She does it all and I'm looking forward to reading the few books that I have yet been able to get to as well as anything from her in the future. Regardless of what I read from her, I'm not able to put down anything.

Awards Earned:

Cynthia has so many awards and mentions for every book she's written, I've only had room to list one per book!

Jingle Dancer - Named among "Best Multicultural Children's Books for Early Childhood Educators" (Montessori Life)

Rain is Not my Indian Name - Recommended title, SEVEN CHOICES: FINDING DAYLIGHT AFTER LOSS SHATTERS YOUR WORLD by Elizabeth Harper Neeld (Warner Books, 2003)

Indian Shoes - 2003 Best Children's Books of the Year, Bank Street College of Education

Santa Knows - Featured title, 2007 Kansas Book Festival

Tantalize - Featured title, 2007 National Book Festival

Eternal - February 2009 Book of the Month, Native America Calling

What do you think?

Cynthia Leitch Smith Contest!

Enter to win your favorite book from Cynthia*! Email us to tell us what your favorite book by Cynthia is and why in less than 50 words by July 31 to enter to win a copy of it or another book of your choice by her. If you haven't read any of her books yet, just let us know which book you would like to read and why you think you would like it.

Jingle Dancer - I really liked this book about a young Muscogee (Creek) - Ojibwe (Chippewa) girl who wants to participate in the traditional jingle dance but she doesn't have enough 'jingles'. While the reader learns if she can get enough jingles from her family and friends, they learn how people in this family mesh tradition with contemporary living. Geared toward 4-7 year olds this book is great for anyone who likes stories about families.

Santa Knows by Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith Santa Knows - I haven't read this book yet from Cynthia but it looks like a unique Christmas story. She co-wrote it with her husband, Greg Leitch Smith. Here's the information from her site:

Consider Alfie F. Snorklepuss. He thinks he's proven that Santa Claus doesn't exist. Alfie thinks there is no way that Santa could do all the things he's supposed to, like deliver billions of presents all over the world in one night or know what every little kid wants.When Alfie starts spreading the word that there is no Santa Claus, he makes someone very unhappy: his little sister Noelle.

And so Noelle turns to the only person who can help her. The one person Alfie thinks doesn't exist: Santa Claus.

Indian Shoes cover art Indian Shoes - This is another book on my reading list - so here's the blub from Cynthia's site:

INDIAN SHOES (HarperCollins, 2002) is a collection of humorous and touching short stories about Ray Halfmoon and his grandpa in their daily lives in urban Chicago and rural Oklahoma. Illustrated in black and white drawings by Jim Madsen, this early reader chapter book is targeted at ages 7-9.

Cover Art for RAIN Rain is Not My Indian Name - This book has a wide array of emotions from happiness to despair and everything in between. Rain's best friend was killed by accident one night and she has a hard time getting over it until the local paper hires her to photograph a summer camp whose funding is controversial in the town. She has to decide how much she wants to be involved. An excellent coming-of-age story that I recommend.

TANTALIZE Cover Tantalize - I just love this book, which surprised me because I don't normally like vampire fiction. Quincie is an teen orphan who is being raised by her uncle and they run the restaurant her mother left for her. In order to compete with the new Italian restaurant, they decided to re-"vamp" (I love puns!) it with a vampire theme. However, its close to opening time and their chef is killed by what looks like a werewolf attack. Her uncle is acting all goo-goo over his girlfriend is not helping very much. Can she pull the opening together while having to deal with school, the murder and her werewolf best-friend (whom she wants as a boyfriend) leaving to find his own pack?

TANTALIZE Cover

Eternal - After I read Tantalize, I couldn't wait to read this book. I did think that it was going to be a sequel, however it wasn't. In this book, Zachary is Miranda's guardian angel - really! He has watched over her throughout her life but it gets harder and harder as she gets older. On one fateful night, she goes with her friend to meet a relative stranger in the cemetery only to find out this stranger is a Vampire who then transforms her into a Vampire as well. Zachary loses his wings but is given a mission to save her soul.

*contest is open for anyone living in Carbon County, PA and surrounding areas. Entries must be received either by email or snail-mail by June 30, 2009.

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