Books with author Andrew F. Smith

What do you get if you cross a magical cat, a grumpy lasagne, a mad scientist and a tap-dancing bat … with … a small boy, a sock puppet, a heroic blacksmith, a mysterious butler and about ten thousand rampaging aliens?Good question ... I'm not entirely sure. But, if you throw in a ghostly dog, a miserable tax collector and a genius young woman in a lab coat then the answer is obvious; what you get is this truly marvellous book! The Rise of the Foctopus (an Aldo's Cat adventure) is an awesome tale of science and magic ... and biscuits, in a race against time, evolution, gravity ... and tentacles. It starts one dark and stormy night when a hapless scientist accidentally creates THE FOCTOPUS, an amazing multi-coloured creature with a taste for steel bars and global conquest. Suddenly everything and everyone is in peril and the sounds of POP-POPPING tentacles are EVERYWHERE. Now, a boy, a cat and an unlikely band of heroes must battle to save the world and halt the almost unpronounceable Foctopocalypse. The Rise of the Foctopus is perfect for fans of Roald Dahl, David Walliams and Andy Stanton ... or anyone else looking for a sparkling adventure sprinkled liberally with nonsense, strong female characters and a sarcastic cat.

We were just kids when we met. . .He was the boy from down the beach.I was the transplant from Tennessee.He became my best friend.I became his best girl.And then . . . it became us.We shared things . . . our dreams, our secrets . . . first kisses and then our hearts.Seth Drake was my everything. My first crush. My first love. My forever passion. Until that day when everything changed through no fault of ours.I was crushed. We were crushed.

Religious oppressors from the Brothers of Dawn have seized control of the realm and driven all non-human races into hiding. Fay is an Elven girl whose identity is kept secret, even from her. She discovers her adopted father is part of a secret resistance that plans to rescue a key member of their organization from the Brother’s of Dawn. When the attempt fails and her father is captured, Fayrinthia must set out on her own to rescue her father and defeat the Dawn before they succeed in their apocalyptic aims to destroy the world and have it reborn in the image of their god. Fayrinthia soon learns that she has a much bigger role in this than she realized. She discovers her true identity when she meets with her Elvish ancestors and learns that she is a child of prophecy. Only she has the power to stop the Brothers of Dawn and the birth of their evil god.

Jonah and his younger brother, Simon, are on their own. They set out to find what’s left of their family, carrying between them ten dollars, a backpack full of dirty clothes, a notebook, and a stack of letters from their brother, who is serving a tour in Vietnam. And soon into their journey, they have a ride. With a man and a beautiful girl who may be in love with Jonah. Or Simon. Or both of them. The man is crazy. The girl is desperate. This violent ride is only just beginning. And it will leave the brothers taking cover from hard truths about loyalty, love, and survival that crash into their lives. One more thing: The brothers have a gun. They’re going to need it.

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. Sixteen-year-old Austin Szerba has always filled notebooks with the histories of his family and the narrative of his daily life, but his story takes an epic, dangerous turn when he and his best friend, Robby, accidently bring about the end of humanity by unleashing an unstoppable army of horny, hungry, six-foot-tall praying mantises on their small Iowa hometown. While struggling with their own confusing love triangle, the boys piece together the origin of the unstoppable soldiers from stories that have been locked away in an absurd underground bunker for decades.

The summer before Troy Stotts turns seventeen, his mother dies. Troy and his father barely speak, communicating instead by writing notes on a legal pad by the phone. Troy spends most of his time with his closest friends: Tom Buller, brash and fearless, the son of a drunk; Gabe Benavidez, smart enough to know he’ll never take over the family ranch; and Gabe’s sister, Luz, whose family overprotects her, and who Troy has loved since they were children. Troy and his friends don’t want trouble. They want this to be the summer of what Troy calls “ghost medicine,” when time seems to stop, so they won’t have to face the past or the future. But before the summer is over, their paths will cross in dangerous and fateful ways with people who will change their lives: Rose, a damaged derelict who lives with a flock of wild horses and goats; and Chase Rutledge, the arrogant sheriff’s son. Troy and his friends want to disappear. Instead, they will become what they least expect —brothers, lovers, heroes, and ghosts.

Casey Jones is best known for his work as a railroad engineer and for his dramatic death, which occurred when he was trying to stop his trainnamed Cannonballin order to save lives. This volume details Casey Jones's life and the tragic railroad accident that catapulted him to fame. Illustrated and narrated through the graphic-novel format, this volume is an excellent tool for getting students interested in history and reading.

“I feel pity for you and all of your kind. Evil never knows the beauty of love, the strength of passion or the joy of laughter.”—Lythiral the UnicornTime is running out. Princess Elliney knows she only has a few days before the eclipse and the Unicorn’s power will wane sufficiently for her enemies to capture her. The noble beast is pursued by a fiendish demon and his hired assassin. He seeks her immortal tears to prolong the life of his captured love. Only Elliney, her Knight Valiant and an old hunter stand in their way. Now sneaking away from the castle at night doesn’t sound like such a good idea…

“A marvel—endlessly inventive, witty.” —Booklist (starred review) From New York Times bestselling author Andrew Smith comes the stunning, long-awaited sequel to the groundbreaking Printz Honor Book Grasshopper Jungle.It’s been sixteen years since an army of horny, hungry, six-foot-tall praying mantises forced Arek’s family underground and into the hole where he was born; it’s the only home he’s ever known. But now, post-end-of-the-world, the army of horny, hungry praying mantises might finally be dying out, and Arek’s ready to leave the hole for good. All he has are mysterious letters from Breakfast, a naked, wild boy traveling the countryside with his silent companion, Olive. Together, Arek and his best friend Mel, who stowed away in his van, navigate their way through the ravaged remains of the outside world. This long-awaited sequel to the irreverent, groundbreaking Printz Honor Book Grasshopper Jungle is riveting, compelling, and even more hilarious and beautifully bizarre than its predecessor.

From the critically acclaimed author of cult teen novel Grasshopper Jungle, Andrew Smith, comes a startlingly original tale of friendship and brotherhood, war and humanity, identity and existence.Ariel, the sole survivor of an attack on his village in the Middle East is ‘rescued’ from the horrific madness of war in his homeland by an American soldier and sent to live with a family in suburban Virginia. And yet, to Ariel, this new life with a genetic scientist father and resentful brother, Max, is as confusing and bizarre as the life he just left.Things get even weirder when Ariel and Max are sent to an all-boys summer camp in the forest for tech detox. Intense, funny and fierce friendships are formed. And all the time the scientific tinkerings of the boys’ father into genetics and our very existence are creeping up on them in their wooden cabin, second by painful second . . . An immersive read for fans of Michael Grant, John Green, Stephen King, and Sally Green's Half Bad novels.Andrew Smith has always wanted to be a writer. After graduating college, he wrote for newspapers and radio stations, but found it wasn't the kind of writing he'd dreamed about doing. Born with an impulse to travel, Smith, the son of an immigrant, bounced around the world and from job to job, before settling down in Southern California. There, he got his first ‘real job’, as a teacher in an alternative educational program for at-risk teens, married, and moved to a rural mountain location. Smith has now written several award-winning YA novels including Winger, Stick, and Grasshopper Jungle.Praise for Grasshopper Jungle'Grasshopper Jungle is what would happen if Kurt Vonnegut wrote a YA book. This raunchy, bizarre, smart and compelling sci-fi novel defies description – it's best to go into it with an open mind and allow yourself to be first drawn in, then blown away.' - Rolling Stone‘A cool/passionate, gay/straight, male/female, absurd/real, funny/moving, past/present, breezy/profound masterpiece of a book.' - Michael Grant, bestselling author of the GONE series.‘If you only read one book this year about sexually confused teens battling 6 foot tall head-chomping praying mantises in small town America, make it this one.' - Charlie Higson, author of the bestselling Young Bond series.'I devoured @marburyjack’s wonderful ‘cool/passionate’ Grasshopper Jungle’. Sally Green, author of Half Bad.‘Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith. You must read immediately. It’s an absolute joy. Scary, funny, sexy. Trust me.’ - Jake Shears, lead singer of The Scissor Sisters‘Not for the faint-hearted. Mutant grasshoppers, rampant lust – a tale of teen self discovery that grips like a mating mantis.’ - Metro