Books with author Kristen Smith

Yay-sayers are the people in your life who believe in the same future for you that you do. Yay-sayers are not yes men or women; they are mentors, fans, and all other encouraging people who eagerly and confidently counteract the more plentiful (and frequently nearer and dearer) naysayers in your life.When you're in school, yay-sayers are professionals in most cases: teachers, counselors, actors, musicians, robotics engineers, sports players, and others who are in positions to evaluate your potential and find you eager, adequate, and well on your way, skills-wise, to succeeding in your chosen field.In the author’s case, early-on yay-sayers included four teachers, a Pulitzer prize-nominated author, and a well-known iconic actor whose encouragement counteracted the oft-repeated fears Kris's parents shared that writing wasn't a "real" career and that something more secure (and 9-to-5) was a better career choice.In this self-help guide, Kris becomes the professional yay-sayer in your corner, eager to help you embrace the other yay-sayers in your life and start listening to them exclusively.

Captain Jani Kilian’s life should have ended in front of a firing squad. Instead, she evaded battlefield justice by dying in a transport crash. End of story, according to official Commonwealth Service records. But doctors repaired her in secret, using the most advanced Service Medical technologies available, or so they assured her. In the last days of the idomeni civil war, she escaped their homeworld of Shèrá, and spent the next 18 years on the run. But someone like Jani leaves a trail no matter how hard they try to hide it, and she soon learns the Service hunt for her never ended. When Interior Minister Evan van Reuter, her former lover, tracks her down and begs her help in finding his wife’s killer, she has no choice but to agree. The search takes her to the Commonwealth capital of Chicago, a hotbed of political intrigue as dangerous as any warzone. As the danger mounts, so do Jani’s struggles. Her rebuilt body is breaking down, and memories long suppressed are flooding back. Of one horrible night 18 years ago, and the gut-wrenching decision that changed her life forever.

Noah and his sister, Anna, love to use their imagination when looking at their mother's collection of peg people and their village.Readers (ages 7-10) will enjoy the colorful pictures of peg people and wooden animals, scenes, and props. Noah and Anna are summoned by the peg people leaders, Peggy, Dolly and Shorty when they encounter wooden people and objects blinking to colors red, blue an yellow. The emergency? Pepper, the puppy is missing! Has someone taken Pepper? Where he is? Children will enjoy a great ending as well as learning writing strategies (alliteration) and rhyming words throughout the book.At the end of the story, there are fun and non-threatening writing activities encouraging kids to write creatively.

Abby Diamond girl detective does not allow blindness to get her way of being the best girl detective around. She, along with her five best friends will travel with a famous movie star during filming to Charleston where they will encounter ghosts from years past. Are there really ghosts, or is this one again the imagination of Abby Diamond- Girl Detective?

Abby Diamond, girl detective who happens to be blind, is back with another fun mystery when Abby and the gang meet Alison for the first time. Alison claims she is the lost and neglected daughter of a well-known movie star the gang knows of. Is Alison telling the truth? Abby and her gang will once again uncover the mystery behind the beautiful girl who is poor and lonely.

Yay-sayers are the people in your life who believe in the same future for you that you do. Yay-sayers are not yes men or women; they are mentors, fans, and all other encouraging people who eagerly and confidently counteract the more plentiful (and frequently nearer and dearer) naysayers in your life.When you're in school, yay-sayers are professionals in most cases: teachers, counselors, actors, musicians, robotics engineers, sports players, and others who are in positions to evaluate your potential and find you eager, adequate, and well on your way, skills-wise, to succeeding in your chosen field.In the author’s case, early-on yay-sayers included four teachers, a Pulitzer prize-nominated author, and a well-known iconic actor whose encouragement counteracted the oft-repeated fears Kris's parents shared that writing wasn't a "real" career and that something more secure (and 9-to-5) was a better career choice.In this self-help guide, Kris becomes the professional yay-sayer in your corner, eager to help you embrace the other yay-sayers in your life and start listening to them exclusively.