www.cynthialeitichsmith.com
Blog: cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com

Cynthia Leitich Smith is the award-winning author of Jingle Dancer (Morrow, 2000)(ages 4-up), Rain Is Not My Indian Name (Harper, 2001)(Listening Library, 2001)(ages 10-up), Indian Shoes (Harper, 2002)(ages 7-up), Santa Knows (Dutton, 2006)(ages 4-up), and Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007)(ages 14-up). Cynthia also has published middle grade and YA short stories in anthologies and Cicada magazine.

Cynthia is a former Wordcraft Circle Children's Writer of the Year. She has been called a "rising star" by Multicultural Review, one of "100 History Making Ethic Women" by Library Media Connection, and she and her husband, author Greg Leitich Smith, were named "People to Watch" by the JAAL. Cynthia's web site was named one of the top 10 writer sites on the Internet by Writer’s Digest and it was recognized among "Great Sites for Kids" by the American Library Association. Her Cynsations blog has been named one of the two "most read" by SCBWI National's "To Market" to market column, and School Library Journal said, "If you're going to read only one blog, this is it!"

Cynthia has been a featured author/speaker at the Texas Book Festival and the National Book Festival as well as at schools, public libraries, museums, universities, and conferences of such groups as: the American Library Association; the Texas Library Association; the International Reading Association; the National Council of Teachers of English; the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents; Reading The World; The Second Native American Authors Conference; Star-Lit Children's Literary Festival; etc.

She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Kansas, Lawrence and a law degree from The University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor. She also studied law abroad in Paris via Tulane University and The University of Paris IV. Cynthia is on the faculty of the Vermont College MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults. She has previously lived in Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, and Oklahoma, and now makes her home in Austin, Texas; with her husband, author Greg Leitich Smith.