Amber Smith is the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of books for young adults.
Amber’s debut young adult (YA) novel, the New York Times and international bestseller, The Way I Used to Be (2016), was an Eliot Rosewater Award Honor Book, selected for the American Library Association’s Amelia Bloomer List and Texas Library Association’s TAYSHAS List, named a Bank Street Best Book of the Year, a Cosmopolitan Best YA Book of All-Time, and nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award in YA Fiction, as well as Connecticut’s Nutmeg Book Award. Her latest novel, The Way I Am Now (2023), the sequel to The Way I Used to Be was an INSTANT bestseller, debuting on the New York Times, USA Today, and international bestseller lists. It appeared on numerous “most anticipated” lists, was an Amazon “Best of BookTok” selection, and received a Barnes & Noble exclusive edition. Her second novel, The Last to Let Go (2018), received starred reviews from Booklist and VOYA, was nominated for Maryland’s Black-Eyed Susan Award, was a TAYSHAS List selection, and named a most-anticipated book by B&N Teen Blog, Elite Daily, and Bookish. Her third novel, Something Like Gravity (2019) was a Whippoorwill Book Award Winner, received starred reviews from VOYA and BookPage, was selected for Kansas’s NEA Reading Circle List, and named an Amazon Best Book of the Month, a Buzzfeed Best Book of the Year, and “most-anticipated” by BookRiot, NewNowNext, B&N Teen Blog, Entertainment Weekly, and The Advocate. She has also contributed to the nonfiction YA anthology Our Stories, Our Voices: 21 Authors Get Real About Injustice, Empowerment, and Growing Up Female in America (edited by Amy Reed, 2018) which received a starred review from School Library Journal, and was named a Bank Street Best Book of the Year, and was a Eureka! Nonfiction Award Honor Book.
In the middle grade (MG) space, Amber loves to tell stories that are full of heart and imagination. Her debut MG novel, Code Name: Serendipity released in 2022 from Penguin Random House. Inspired in part by her own love of animals and a life spent rescuing them, Code Name tells the heartwarming story of family, friendship, and the special connection between a girl and her dog.
Amber grew up in Buffalo, New York and now lives in Ithaca, New York with her wife and their ever-growing family of rescued dogs and cats. Fueled by a lifelong passion for the arts, story, and creative expression, Amber graduated from art school with a BFA in Painting and went on to earn her master’s degree in Art History. When she’s not writing she’s usually reading, but can also be found in her studio making art or freelancing as an editorial consultant (see Manuscript Services). She has also written on the topics of art history and modern and contemporary art (see Books for more info).
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Amber Smith is the New York Times bestselling author of several novels for young adults, including the international bestsellers The Way I Used to Be and The Way I Am Now, as well as the critically-acclaimed and award-winning novels, The Last to Let Go and Something Like Gravity. Along with her middle grade debut, Code Name: Serendipity, she also contributed to the award-winning YA anthology, Our Stories, Our Voices. An advocate for increased awareness of mental health, gendered violence, and LGBTQIA+ equality, she writes in the hope that her books can help to foster change and spark dialogue. She lives in Ithaca, NY with her wife and their ever-growing family of rescued dogs and cats.