Books with author Laura Smith

A book for beginning readers, pre-K through age 8 from Flyleaf Publishing's Books to Remember series. Meg and Jim speed down hills and slide over snow drifts in this delightful winter's tale. Laura Appleton-Smith's reality based story and Carol Vredenburgh Pointek's classic watercolor illustrations follow Meg and Jim through freshly fallen snow as they enjoy the drifts and hills produced by a recent storm. The text is carefully written to be readable by children with beginning reading skills. Supplementary Learning Cards available from Flyleaf Publishing introduce the book's vocabulary and build young readers' skills and confidence.

Jamie and her family have just moved into their new house on a horseshoe-shaped street surrounding a playground. There is a lot to get used to at first. Her brother, Luke, has nightmares. Her sister, Becky, acts like a baby, and all three of them miss their grandparents whose house they had lived in until now. While Jamie’s dad is at work and her mom works from home, Jamie is in charge of her brother and sister for the summer. At the playground, they are introduced to all of the neighborhood kids. Together, they teach each other their favorite games, make up new ones, go on many adventures, and end up having the best summer ever.

A book for beginning readers pre-K through age 8 from the Books to RememberTM Series. The Sunset Pond tells the story of Matt and his dog Bud on their early evening adventure to the Sunset Pond. Along the way, they encounter several animals who are also enjoying the evening there, and have fun playing the games that children and dogs are the best at creating. Beautiful watercolor and pastel illustrations complement the carefully crafted text that is written for children with beginning reading skills.

It’s 1995, and 11-year-old Heidi Williams is just getting used to junior high school when tragedy strikes. One night, her house catches on fire, and she and her parents and adopted brother, Danny, are forced to move into an old rundown house while their house is reconstructed. Heidi is separated from her only friends: her elderly neighbor, Violet and her niece Jenny. She has no clothes or possessions, and everyone at school stares at her like she’s some kind of a freak. While in her new neighborhood, though, Heidi meets Dorothy, the girl next door who befriends her and takes Heidi on new adventures while at her temporary house. With Dorothy’s friend Stacey sometimes along for the ride, they go trick-or-treating, take bus trips to the mall, babysit, celebrate Stacey’s birthday, attend a school dance, and try to find out if a popular eighth grade boy may have a crush on Heidi. What starts as a tragedy turns out to be one of the best things that could ever happen to her.

Many individuals struggle with establishing and maintaining a budget which in turn causes families to go into financial strain and live in poverty. There are many families that find themselves in a cycle of poverty because they continue the pattern. The BASF. Inc's Budget Booklet has been designed to help individuals and families understand the simplicity of budgetting with hopes of breaking generational curses or poverty. It teaches several easy to implement ways to save from generated income.

Eight-year old Penelope and her best friend, Mandy -- a stuffed elephant, search for their roots, but find much more in Cantaloupe Trees. Guided by a fledgling fairy named Impy, they tour the magical Parade of Trees questing for the places where they were grown. Their adventure takes Penelope and Mandy to a myriad of fantastical trees hosted by amazing fairies. They experience marvels such as flying and tasting enchanted food, but are also faced with the darkness of deceit and the challenges of friendship. Along this flying road trip, Mandy finds things much more troubling to an elephant than mice, and Penelope makes a decision which will alter both her and Mandy’s fate forever.

Tour the Los Angeles architecture designed by award winning architect Frank O. Gehry and other architects with this wonderful guide. Fifty-nine vivid color photos display these fascinating and varied structures, while the text provides addresses and detailed descriptions of each structure and its history. Among the public buildings and offices included are the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Museum of Contemporary Art, Santa Monica City Hall, Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, the Venice Renaissance Building, and well-known "Binoculars Building." The private residences include the Gehry House, the home of fellow architect Rudolf M. Schindler, Venice Art Lofts, and the home of actor and artist Dennis Hopper. Get behind the wheel and cruise L.A. for architecture yourself, or stay at home and enjoy the sites from your lounge chair!

How do you move on when It's Over? When four college roommates lose pieces of their lives, the pain isolates and the tension rises. Emotions are hard to hide and even harder to tackle. How can the girls move forward, when there is so much pain in letting go? Together, Claire, Kat, Palmer, and Hannah learn to lean on God and each other, and through it all they learn loss is a part of life. "In It's Over, Laura L. Smith confirms the truth we've been told that we are never alone in the midst of heartache and struggle. In fact, she takes us to a place where we not only get to see, but feel deeply the truth of the fact that every single one of us has a story. Everyone single one of us has experienced pain. But more importantly, that every single one of us has great hope. Smith's writing strikes a deep chord in my heart. It makes sense. It's real--and in my opinion, that transparency makes all the difference." ~Holly Starr, Christian recording artist. "Laura L. Smith speaks for the broken. With a voice that's warm and true, Laura gives words to those rendered speechless by issues that high school and college girls should never have to deal with--but so many of them do. In writing that's raw, relevant, and real, Smith goes where few authors dare to go: straight into the heart of today's young woman." ~Amy Parker, bestselling author "YA author, Laura l. Smith, crafts another story that will appeal to all girls, because no one is untouched by heartache in all its forms. The grace Smith extends the four girls in It's Over will touch readers in deep ways, as they follow these characters through some of the worst parts of life. Best of all, they'll cheer when the girls lean on one another and find ways to be thankful in everything. This is a fantastic read, one that will resonate with teens, college girls, and their mothers." ~Laura Kurk, author of Glass Girl and Perfect Glass