Andrew A. Smith

Last updated
Andrew A. Smith
BornAndrew Anselmo Smith
(1959-07-16) July 16, 1959 (age 63)
California, U.S. [1]
Occupation
  • Author
  • educator
Education California State University Northridge
Genre Young Adult Fiction
Years active2008–present
Notable works
Notable awards Boston Globe-Horn Book Award
Website
AuthorAndrewSmith.com

Andrew Anselmo Smith (born July 16, 1959) [1] is an American author and short story writer in the young adult fiction genre. [2] He has written ten novels including Winger and Grasshopper Jungle , which is currently being adapted into a movie. Smith is known for his dark subject matter, and his randomized writing style.

Contents

Early life

Andrew Smith was born in California in 1959. [3] He decided to pursue a career as a writer because he was the editor of his high school newspaper. [4] He traveled around the world and worked in various jobs such as working in metal mills, as a longshoreman, in bars and liquor stores, in security, and as a musician. [5] After graduating from college, he tried pursuing careers as a journalist, writing for newspapers, and writing radio stations, but he felt it wasn't the kind of writing that he wanted to do for the rest of his life. [4] After much traveling around the world, Smith finally settled for a job as a high school teacher. [4] He taught advanced placement classes and coached a rugby team. [5] The writing that he was doing on the side was never for publication; he would write for fun until he was challenged by one of his lifelong friends to get one of his books published. [4] In 2008 his first novel, Ghost Medicine, was published, followed by several more novels including Grasshopper Jungle [4] and The Alex Crow. [6]

Personal life

He is currently[ when? ] married, has two children, and teaches government, US history, and economics at Canyon High School in Santa Clarita, California. [7] [8] Smith's novel Grasshopper Jungle was never meant to be published, as he had decided to quit writing for others, but his son urged him to publish it. [9] [10]

Awards

Andrew Smith has received several awards for his many books. His novel Marbury Lens has received a Young Adult Library Services Association Best For Young Adults award, [11] the Booklist Editor's Choice 2010 award, and was named Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of the Year for 2010. [12] His novel Winger was given an Amazon Best of the Year award and received an American Library Association Top 10 for 2014. [13] Winger was also rated as one of Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2013 and Publishers Weekly Top 10 Summer Reads of 2013, was given a Junior Library Guild Selection for 2013, and was a 2014 Rainbow List Nominee. [14] His novel In the Path of Falling Objects received the Best Book For Young Adults Award. His novel Grasshopper Jungle has been awarded the 2014 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award [15] and was a 2015 Michael Printz Honor Book. [16]

Works

Marbury Lens series

Winger

Sam Abernathy

Grasshopper Jungle

Other works

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References

  1. 1 2 "Smith, Andrew (Andrew Anselmo), 1959–". Library of Congress Authorities. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  2. "Andrew Smith". Gale Literary Databases. Gale Literary Databases. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  3. Smith, Andrew (2014). "Author Andrew Smith". Author Andrew Smith. Macmillan Publishers. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Andrew Smith". amazon.com. Amazon. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  5. 1 2 "Andrew Smith". US.Macmillan.Com. Macmillan Publishers. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  6. 1 2 Reynolds, Jason (2015-04-10). "'The Alex Crow,' by Andrew Smith". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2016-02-23.
  7. Fuller, Amy (2010). "Smith, Andrew 1959- (Andrew Anselmo Smith)". Gale Virtual Reference Library. Archived from the original on May 21, 2011. Retrieved 2014-10-06.
  8. Kearney, Megan (2012-06-07). "Author Andrew Smith shares writing experience with Foothill students". The Foothill Dragon Press. Retrieved 2014-10-06.
  9. Amazon Books (2014-02-12). ""Andrew Smith on "Grasshopper Jungle""". Youtube (Podcast). Youtube. Retrieved 2014-10-06.
  10. "Interview with Andrew Smith". The Book Stop. 2014-04-06. Archived from the original on 2014-10-20. Retrieved 2014-10-06.
  11. "AndrewSmith". authorandrewsmith.com. Retrieved 2014-10-12.
  12. "Marbury Lens". macmillan.com. Macmillan. Archived from the original on 2016-02-05. Retrieved 2014-10-12.
  13. "Winger". bookbrowse.com. BookBrowse. Retrieved 2014-10-12.
  14. "Andrew Smith". ghostmedicine.com. Retrieved 2014-10-12.
  15. "Fiction Reviews of 2014 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Winner and Honor Books". hbook.com. Wordpress. Retrieved 2014-10-12.
  16. 1 2 "2015 Michael Printz winners | Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)". www.ala.org. 24 November 2015. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
  17. "84th Annual California Book Awards Winners".
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 WorldCat author listing
  19. "What to read this summer: Top 20 picks". CNN. 2013-06-19. Retrieved 2014-12-18.
  20. Smith, Andrew (24 September 2019). Exile from Eden. ISBN   9781534422230.
  21. "Rabbit & Robot". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2019-02-08.