Bio

    I was born and raised in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn -
a great place to be a kid because there was
always so much to do! Whenever I stepped
outside my front door, there were boys and girls
riding bikes, rollerskating, or playing ball in the
street. When I got a little older I could hop a bus
or a train to just about anywhere - Coney Island,
China Town, even Greenwich Village.

    I was especially lucky because every summer
our family packed our bags and traveled upstate
to our little bungalow in the Catskill Mountains.
For two wonderful months we enjoyed the country
side - swimming in the lake, hiking, catching
frogs, and listening to the crickets at night. We
didn't have a television, so my brother Mark and I
spent a lot of time reading stacks and stacks of,
guess what? Comic books!

    My younger brother Adam was born when I
was thirteen, so one of my favorite things to do
was buckle him into his stroller and cart him all
over the city. My mom was, and still is, an animal
lover, and while I was growing up, our Yorkie,
Muffy, had two litters of puppies. Each time we
kept one (I got to choose!). My dad was a
tugboat captain, and he was out at sea a lot, but
when he came home we jogged and played
tennis together.

    When I was young, I had no idea I would ever
become a writer, but I always loved to read.
Besides comics, some of my favorite books
were, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret,
by Judy Blume, The Changeling, by Zilpha
Keatley Snyder, and The Pigman, by Paul
Zindel.

    In high school my biggest love was
gymnastics. I adored Cathy Rigby and Olga
Korbut, and when I was a junior I had the honor of
competing in the All-City Championship on
balance beam.

   After high school I attended Hunter
College/Bellevue School of Nursing in Manhattan,
and worked several years as a neonatal ICU
nurse. During college I met my husband, Ed.
We've lived in Brooklyn, New Jersey, and even
Japan! Now, we make our home in Austin,
Texas, with our four kids - Liz, Daniel, Jonny, and
Korina.

    My interest in writing for children and young
adults began several years ago when I was
scouring library shelves, looking for great books
for my kids to read. I discovered that I was the
one who absolutely loved reading about
teenagers! So, I set to work and got my first
book published in 2002. So far it's been a
wonderful journey.


          for my interview with children's author,
Cynthia Leitich Smith