Nationality American Role Author Name Andrew Smith | Genre Young Adult Fiction Period 2008 - present | |
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Occupation Novelist, short story writer, educator Education California State University Northridge (B.S. Notable works Winger
Marbury Lens
Ghost Medicine
Grasshopper Jungle Notable awards Boston Globe–Horn Book Award Books Grasshopper Jungle, Winger | ||
Andrew Anselmo Smith (born 1959) is an American author and short story writer in the young adult fiction genre, and an educator. He has written ten novels including the critically acclaimed Winger and Grasshopper Jungle, which is currently being adapted into a movie. Smith is known for his dark subject matter, and his random writing style.
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Early life
Andrew Smith was born in California in 1959. He always knew that he wanted to be a writer ever since he was the editor of his high school newspaper. He traveled around the world and from job to job, working in metal mills, as a longshoreman, in bars and liquor stores, in security and as a musician. After graduating 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. After much traveling around the world, Smith finally settled for a job as a high school teacher. He taught advanced placement classes and coached a rugby team. 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. In 2008 his first novel, Ghost Medicine, was published, followed by several more successful novels including Grasshopper Jungle and The Alex Crow.
Personal life
He is currently married with two children and teaches Government, US History, and Economics at Canyon High School in Santa Clarita, California. 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.
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, the Booklist Editor's Choice 2010 award, and was named Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of the Year for 2010. His novel Winger was given an Amazon Best of the Year award and received an American Library Association Top 10 for 2014. 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. 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 and was a 2015 Michael Printz Honor Book.