Amber Smith is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of young adult and middle grade novels, including The Way I Used to Be, The Last to Let Go, Something Like Gravity, and her forthcoming middle grade debut, Code Name: Serendipity.
Amber’s young adult novels deal with topics and issues near and dear to her heart, such as: mental health, gendered violence and abuse, and LGBTQ+ equality. Her debut young adult novel, The Way I Used to Be (2016) was an Eliot Rosewater Award Honor Book, a Bank Street Best Book of the Year, an American Library Association Amelia Bloomer List selection, and nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award, as well as Connecticut’s Nutmeg Book Award. 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, a TAYSHAS List selection, and named a “must-read” 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, Entertainment Weekly, and The Advocate. She has also contributed to the nonfiction YA anthology Our Stories, Our Voices (2018) which received a starred review from School Library Journal, was a Eureka! Nonfiction Award Honor Book and a Bank Street Best Book of the Year.
On the middle grade side, Amber loves to create worlds that are full of imagination, centering around family, friendship, and the challenges of growing up. Her debut MG novel, Code Name: Serendipity will be released in January of 2022 from Razorbill Books/Penguin Random House.
Amber grew up in Buffalo, New York, and now lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her wife and their ever-growing family of rescued dogs and cats. She writes in the hope that her books can help to foster change and spark dialogue.