School Library Journal says of Cynsations:
“If you're going to read only one blog, this is it!”
“Cynthia Leitich Smith is the Anne Rice for teen readers…”
—The Bloomsbury Review
I'm honored that your journey has brought you to my site.
You may be familiar with my contemporary Native American writing, featured in such books as JINGLE DANCER (Morrow, 2000), RAIN IS NOT MY INDIAN NAME (HarperCollins, 2001), INDIAN SHOES (HarperCollins, 2002). Or you may enjoy my realistic, contemporary short stories for middle grade and young adult audiences.
More recently, I've expanded my writing to include fantasy, including a picture book, SANTA KNOWS (Dutton, 2006), co-authored by my husband Greg Leitich Smith, and an upper level young adult gothic fantasy novel, TANTALIZE (Candlewick, 2007).
But this site is about far more than just me! I encourage you to explore the children's and young adult literature resources—which include annotated bibliographies, author/illustrator interviews, original articles, as well as information and encouragement for writers.
This site includes substantial
teacher support information about Cynthia's books as well as tremendous
resources related to the entire
body of children's and young adult literature.
It has been recognized among “Great Web Sites For Kids” by the American Library Association (in the "Authors & Illustrators" category), and listed among “Useful Online Resources” in the CHILDREN'S WRITER'S AND ILLUSTRATOR'S MARKET by Alice Pope (Writers Digest, 2007).
My debut YA gothic fantasy novel is TANTALIZE (hard-cover, Candlewick, 2007) (audio production release, Listening Library/Random House, 2008) (U.S. paperback release, Candlewick, 2008) (U.K. paperback release, Walker U.K., 2008).
Listen to a clip from the audio book.
Read an interview with Shayne Leighton and view the book trailer she created for the novel.
