Cynthia Leitich Smith

Cynthia Leitich Smith is the bestselling, acclaimed author of books for all ages, including Firefly Season, Jingle Dancer, Indian Shoes, On a Wing and a Tear, Sisters of the Neversea, the Blue Stars series, Rain Is Not My Indian Name, Harvest House, and Hearts Unbroken, which won the American Indian Youth Literature Award. Cynthia is also the anthologist of Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids. She has been honored with the American Library Association's Children's Literature Lecture Award and has been named the NSK Neustadt Laureate. She is the author-curator of Heartdrum, a Native-focused imprint at HarperCollins Children's Books, and served as the Katherine Paterson Endowed Chair on the faculty of the MFA program in writing for children and young adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Cynthia is a citizen of the Muscogee Nation and lives in Denton and Austin, Texas.