Books with author C. S. Smith

Ask anyone who knows Nettie Parker, and they'll say that she's an amazing, mystical woman...what else would you call someone who receives supernatural signs sent just to them? And being able to live longer than anyone else? That alone is pretty amazing! Nettie's been through many hardships in her life, and she's learned first-hand that prejudice can be a multi-headed dragon. but her courage and determination show others that differences in skin color or in physical abilities don't matter. In fact, as Nettie and her fighter-pilot husband both get caught up in World War II, survival becomes what matters most-not just for them, but also for the eight Jewish refugee children she comes to care for. Now Nettie faces her toughest struggle yet: uncovering the mystery of her supernatural signs and the purpose of her unusually long life. Do the strange statues that suddenly appear in her backyard point to any clues? Halley, Nettie's young friend, plays detective as she re-visits Nettie's past, a journey that takes the reader from South Carolina to England and back again. Can Halley put all the pieces together and solve the puzzle?

In a future where growing your own food is against the law, three young friends risk their safety by studying the illegal subject of gardening.The children's mentor, an elderly acquaintance named Ana, entices the children with her description of the food she knew as a child--food unlike the square, processed, packaged food they have always known.Constantly watching, however, is GRIM, the government agency that controls the nation's food and keeps in check all potential troublemakers.Will the children succeed in their quest to learn about gardening, and find a place of food freedom? And can they, only children, help change the world? Treasure is the 2013 YA Runner-up at the Green Book Festival. Lily, Heirloom, Keeper are available now.

It's definitely not what she had in mind for summer vacation. When her friends disappear under mysterious circumstances, thirteen-year-old Lily sets out to discover more about the secret organization with which they had become involved. Her investigation unearths a disturbing secret from her own past, unsettling her world even more. In the meantime, Lily makes a new friend and falls for a mysterious young man even as she remains unsure about whom she should trust. As her world crashes down around her, Lily struggles to decide what to do next. Lily is volume two of the Seed Savers series but can easily be read out of order. It is is a suspenseful and reflective book with themes of self-empowerment, trust, acceptance of diversity, gardening, and politics.

It's late in the twenty-first century and large corporations have merged with U.S. government agencies to control the nation's food supply. Not only is gardening and seed ownership illegal, but fresh food is unheard of by the masses who are fed the processed food groups of Vitees, Proteins, Carbos, Snacks, and Sweeties. Thirteen-year-old Clare and her brother Dante have escaped to Canada where the old ways still exist. There they make friends with the roguish Jason and learn the political history of their own country's decline of freedoms.Meanwhile, Lily, the friend who was left behind, begins her own journey to find the father she never met--a former leader in the ill-fated Seed Savers rebellion of fifteen years earlier. From Florida to the Smoky Mountains, Lily follows the signs in search of her father and is helped along the way by the quirky characters she meets. Not to mention the attractive Arturo who shows up midway to "protect" her.Heirloom seamlessly weaves the gentle agrarian story of Clare and Dante together with the swiftly-paced adventure of Lily and Arturo. Themes of family, empowerment, and politics meet in this futuristic tale nostalgic for the past. Heirloom is a hopeful dystopia in today's current sea of post-apocalyptic literature. Second Edition Published March 2014

It's late in the twenty-first century and large corporations have merged with U.S. government agencies to control the nation's food supply. Not only is gardening and seed ownership illegal, but fresh food is unheard of by the masses who are fed the processed food groups of Vitees, Proteins, Carbos, Snacks, and Sweeties. Thirteen-year-old Clare and her brother Dante have escaped to Canada where the old ways still exist. There they make friends with the roguish Jason and learn the political history of their own country's decline of freedoms.Meanwhile, Lily, the friend who was left behind, begins her own journey to find the father she never met--a former leader in the ill-fated Seed Savers rebellion of fifteen years earlier. From Florida to the Smoky Mountains, Lily follows the signs in search of her father and is helped along the way by the quirky characters she meets. Not to mention the attractive Arturo who shows up midway to "protect" her.Heirloom seamlessly weaves the gentle agrarian story of Clare and Dante together with the swiftly-paced adventure of Lily and Arturo. Themes of family, empowerment, and politics meet in this futuristic tale nostalgic for the past. Heirloom is a hopeful dystopia in today's current sea of post-apocalyptic literature. Second Edition Published March 2014

Kadogos is hunted by rebel soldiers and ends up in the heart of the ancient forest. In her search for sanctuary, she stumbles upon a forgotten and crumbling manor.There, Kadogos will face her biggest test yet and confront her darkest fears.Because a viper sleeps within this ancient ruin.And soon he will wake from his slumber and be hungry for blood.Will Kadogos pass this ultimate test and become the mightiest warrior of them all?

Bert Tavernor is an engineer who buys a traction engine to restore. He befriends a neighbour Sophie aged 11 who suffered a trauma and can't speak. Sophie and Bert work together restoring the engine and making it "show ready". It is then that an extraordinary thing happens. Sophie "hears" a voice from inside the engine and many adventures unfold as the girl and machine are harmoniously linked.

War has finally arrived. Vultures circle overhead and the scent of death hangs in the air.Khalfini grows more powerful and gathers his rebel army around him for the final reckoning. Time is running out for Kadogos, and she knows it. Will Kadogos be reunited with her warrior tribe? Or will Khalfini slaughter them before she discovers their whereabouts?Because only one can possess the leopard’s eyes. Only one is destined to become the mightiest warrior of all.

These are the words of Khatan . . .Exiled from the grasslands of his home, the soft-spoken Khatan is driven north into the violence of the endless, cyclical Long War; as khans and princes vie for the throne of an empire long dead. But there is respite in the chaos: taken beneath the wing of Oman, charismatic warleader of the Empty Quiver, Khatan seems to have found the family - and love - that his wandering had denied him. As bannerman and khan, Stalking Wolf and Golden Leopard, the two strike out to carve their legend into the annals of the War.Each new victory, though, and each rung on their climb to glory, seems to come at greater cost, and to strain the bonds both are so desperate to hold on to. And, as the Long War approaches its apocalyptic climax, signs appear that perhaps Khatan’s fate was never entirely his own . . .Two Thousand Leagues as the Seabird is Khatan’s death-song. It is the first book of the Created World.

In a future where growing your own food is against the law, three young friends risk their safety by studying the illegal subject of gardening. The children’s mentor, an elderly acquaintance named Ana, entices the children with her description of the food she knew as a child—food unlike the square, processed, packaged food they have always known. Constantly watching, however, is GRIM, the government agency that controls the nation’s food source and keeps in check all potential troublemakers. Will the children succeed in their quest to learn about gardening, and find a place of food freedom? And can they, only children, help change the world? Seed Savers:Treasure (Book 1 in the Seed Savers Series) is the 2013 YA Runner-up at the Green Book Festival. Book 2, Lily, is available now. Book 3, Heirloom, coming this fall.