I was signing books at Barnes and Noble in February. As I was signing a woman came up and gave me a letter. I didn't have time to read the letter right then so I asked for her to give me her email address. The next night as I was waiting for a flight I pulled the letter out and read it. It was so heartwarming I just had to post it here along with the photos she sent after I emailed my response. When I write a novel I try to create readers. Austin is one of main reasons I write books. more

February 19, 2009

Dear Mr. Smith,

You helped to change my son's life.  That is not an overstatement, just a simple truth.

They only way I know to thank you is to share a little of his story so that you might know the impact of your work.

Austin is a child living with autism. Because of hard work and the efforts of many amazing people, he is currently attending a typical middle school as a typical student. This is an astounding development given that we were told he would most likely need to be institutionalized and would never be able to live independently.

After 31/2 years in a self-contained building with little to no curriculum, we finally got Austin moved to a typical elementary school (Cedar Ridge Elementary in Columbia, Mo). He was placed with Karen, an amazing learning specialist experienced in working with children with autism.

When Austin arrived in Karen's classroom in October of what should have been his 5'th grade year, he was barely reading on an end of 1'st grade/beginning 2'nd grade level. Seven months later Austin was reading on a 4'th grade level.

The tool Karen used to engage Austin was your book "Zack's Lie". Prior to her introducing him to your books he resisted and refused reading. Once he started there was no stopping him. He went on to "Jack's Run" and several of your other books.

As it happened you were to be at a literacy fair on the Mizzou campus that year. Austin read and did projects on 5 books so that he could attend and see you. It was the highlight of his year.

Austin spent an extra year with Karen and when he graduated from 5'th grade last year, he was reading on a 9'th grade level.

A large part of why he learned to read was because your book reached him. The ability to read has changed his future dramatically. His options are now endless.

Thank you for your part in Austin's amazing success.

Sincerely,

Sheila Castle

In 1941, bombs drop from the night skies of London, demolishing the apartment Nick Freestone lives in with his mother. Deciding the situation in England is too unstable, Nick's mother sends him to live with his father in Burma, hoping he will be safer living on the family's teak plantation.

See a short clip about Elephant Run from Scholastic Book fairs.

Curriculum is ready.

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But as soon as Nick arrives, trouble erupts in this remote Burmese elephant village. Japanese soldiers invade, and Nick's father is taken prisoner. Nick is stranded on the plantation, forced to work as a servant to the new rulers. As life in the village grows more dangerous for Nick and his young friend, Mya, they plan their daring escape. Setting off on elephant back, they will risk their lives to save Nick's father and Mya's brother from a Japanese POW camp.
In this thrilling journey through the jungles of Burma, Roland Smith explores the far-reaching effects of World War II, while introducing readers to the fascinating world of wild timber elephants and their mahouts.

Fourteen-year-old Nick Freestone is sent from London in 1941 by his mother to protect him from the German air raids. As he arrives in Burma to live with his father on the family teak plantation, he is thrust from one theatre of war directly into another. Though Nick had been eagerly anticipating the opportunity to reconnect with his father and learn about the management of the family plantation, particularly the elephants used to harvest the teak, this is not to be. Now safe from the German army, he and his father are taken prisoner by the Japanese army. Nick is kept on as slave labor at the plantation while his father is sent to a POW camp nearby. Maya, the beautiful sister of one the plantation elephant handlers is imprisoned at the plantation as well. Her beauty draws her unwanted attention and puts her in danger. As one of her captors escalates his advances towards her, Nicks father is becoming sicker and sicker in the POW camp. Nick and Maya decide they must escape. With the help of a local monk and one of the plantation elephants, Nick and Maya attempt to escape, taking Nicks father with them. This book provides a moving story of a boy´s journey into manhood as well as an action-packed adventure that keeps the pages turning. It also provides a look at the innocent victims of war, the animals. The interactions between man and elephant in this book are fascinating. This is a great book to draw boys or reluctant readers into the realms of historical fiction.
Caroline B. Hopenwasser

It's out of the frying pan and into the fire for 14-year-old Nick Freestone, as he is sent out of London during the Blitz only to arrive at his father's teak plantation in Burma right before the Japanese invade. When his father is taken prisoner and hauled off to a prisoner-of-war camp and the plantation is taken over by the Japanese, Nick eventually escapes and reunites with his father with the help of an ancient Buddhist monk, a beautiful, smart girl named Mya, a Burmese Robin Hood, a rampaging bull elephant and various people resisting the Japanese occupation. It's the thrilling adventure tale Smith is known for, strong on plot and setting, and though the beginning is an uneasy mix of story and information, the tale soon rolls. Adult readers will be reminded of The Bridge on the River Kwai, as the threats of the steamy jungle and the brutality of enemy soldiers are twin complications in a country at war. An adventure tale that is also a family story-as is Smith's other 2007 title, Peak. (Fiction. 10-13)
Kirkus Reviews

As German bombs fall on London, 14-year-old Nick is sent to Burma to live with his British father on their teak plantation. Unforeseen in this plan is the impending invasion that puts them, along with the locals, under Japanese rule. Nick is forced to work on the plantation for the brutal commanders and his father is placed in a labor camp. The boy's predicament escalates as his trust in the Burmese employees who once worked for his father is challenged by their newfound loyalty to the Japanese. Escape through the jungle, with the help of a well-respected monk and great-grandfather to the boy's new friend Mya, is the only way out. This novel is filled with intrigue, danger, surprising plot twists, and suspense. It´s a well-developed historical adventure with villains and heroes that describes aspects of British colonization, forced occupation, and World War II.
School Library Journal

Awards:
Winter 2007/2008 Children's Book Sense Picks
Anderson´s Bookshop 2008 Mock Newbery Award List
American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults 2009

Nominated:
2009-2010 Wyoming Indian Paint Brush Award
2010 Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award Illinois' Children's Choice Award, Grades 4-8
2010 Nevada Young Readers Award
2010 Colorado Children's Book Award 
Tennessee 2010-2011 Volunteer State Book Award
2009/10 William Allen White Children's Book Award Master List
New Hampshire Isinglass Teen Reads Award 2008/2009
2008/2009 Great Stone Face Children´s Book Award
Vermont 2008/2009 Dorothy Canfield Fisher Mast List

Order now at Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Powell's.

NEW interview with Roland from Scholastic about writing!

Thirteen-year-old Quest (Q for short) used to live with his mother, a singer, on a sailboat in Sausalito, California. Fifteen-year-old Angela lived with her father, a songwriter, in a loft in San Francisco. Now their parent are married and Q and Angela are on a luxury motor coach traveling around the country on tour with their parents' new band called Match. Their schoolwork for the year is a Web diary of their travels. Perfect… Q can practice his magic tricks and Angela can read her spy novels. What could go wrong? more

As Q and Angela settle into their new friendship as siblings, they notice certain things that are just too bizarre to be coincidence. How does a roadside named Boone find them in the middle of the desert where their coach just happens to break down? A mysterious man from the wedding keeps showing up in the same cities as they head across the country. Does he have anything to do with the mysterious death of Angela's mother, who had been a Secret Service agent? When they reach Philadelphia, Q and Angela realize that this tour is definitely not the trip their parents had planned and that the “City of Brotherly Love” is full of intrigue and secrets that could threaten their new life together.

Nominated:
2010 North Carolina School Media Association YA Book Award
2010 New York State Charlotte Award
Texas Lone Star List
Finalist nomination, National Best Books 2008 Awards.

Children's Literature
Quest ("Q") Munoz, 13-year-old amateur magician, and Angela Tucker, 15-year-old Tae Kwon Do expert and amateur spy, have just become step-siblings. It's a good thing they get along, because only days after their folks tie the knot, they are pursued by Israeli (Mossad) spies. Speaking of spies, Angela's mom, who died in the line of duty four years earlier, was one of the best... or was she? Boone, the roadie/spy looking after them, tells Angela there is a 50/50 chance her mom is still alive! The plot thickens when they learn that Angela's mom had (has?) an identical twin who may (or may not) be terrorists! What's a girl to do? If it's Angela, the answer is risk her (and her stepbrother's) life to find the truth. To give away more would be criminal. This one is a humdinger! As with Jack's Run and Zach's Lie, Roland Smith has created an exciting page-turner, but he's outdone himself this time. Angela and Q make a terrific team, each using her and his respective talents in clever ways. First-person narrator Q also has a wonderful, dry sense of humor: "'I think I'm walking through a dead zone,' I said, hoping I wasn't being literal." This first entry in the cleverly named "I, Q" series leads right into the sequel. Let's hope it comes out soon.
Reviewer: Naomi Milliner at Barnes & Noble

Suspense draws reader in, The Leaf Chronicle
Roland Smith's IQ is a page turner for the 21st century with a genuinely realistic feel. In this new globalize world, the good guys from different countries, or even within the same country, don't work together or trust each other. The bad guys are in small terrorist cells that could be embedded anywhere, in any country. Our heroes, Quest and Angela, feel like real kids trying to figure out how to forge their new relationship as step-siblings, albeit with the added thrill of very famous parents and ever deepening intrigue.

It was a pleasure to read a book for middle schoolers that is fast-paced, with great characters and dialogue, where the author cleverly restrains the amount gadgetry, gore, and personal grief, and relies on plot and characters to write a ripping good thriller.

Dara La Porte Manager: Children's and Teen's Department Politics and Prose Bookstore Washington, DC

"I love Roland smith's writing, and I,Q is one of his best. If Smith had been writing suspense novels when I was a teen, I'd have never had to discover Ian Fleming (James Bond); Roland Smith, with his new novel I,Q, has become an American Ian Fleming for young adults."

Terry Trueman, Author, Stuck In Neutral and Hurricane

Kirkus Reviews
Thirteen-year-old "Q,"or Quest, is at a life-changing moment. His singer-songwriter mother, Blaze, is marrying Roger, and together they have a hit album. The rocker couple plans a cross-country tour with the kids. A year out of school with only an online tutor leaves plenty of time for Q to practice his magic tricks and to get to know his new 15-year-old stepsister, Angela. The tour bus stops in Philadelphia, the parents exit to do their show-and Angela confides to Q that she believes they are being followed. With the help of Boone, a former roadie (and retired spook) who is now in charge of the kids, they realize that Angela is in danger: Her mother, a CIA agent believed to have perished in a terrorist attack, may still be alive. A blend of adventure, suspense, intelligently imagined characters and terrific authorial sleight-of-hand (not to mention Q's own card tricks) will keep readers engaged as the kids solve the mystery in this series opener. An interactive website is scheduled to launch with the book's release. (Fiction. 10-14)

You can Order I,Q at Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.com

Peak Marcello is arrested for scaling a New York City skyscraper, he's left with two choices: wither away in Juvenile Detention or go live with his long-lost father, who runs a climbing company in Thailand. But Peak quickly learns that his father's renewed interest in him has strings attached. Big strings. Curriculum is ready. more

He wants Peak to be the youngest person to reach the Everest summit--and his motives are selfish at best. Even so, for a climbing addict like Peak, tackling Everest is the challenge of a lifetime. But it's also one that could cost him his life.

2009 Nevada Young Reader's Award

Peak wins the National Outdoor Book Award!
Miami Herald Best Kid's Books for 2007.
Peak makes the 2008/2009 Texas Lone Star Reading List.
Booklist Editor's Choice, 2007
ALA 2008 Best books for Young Adults
ALA 2008 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
ALA 2008 Selected Audiobooks for Young Adults
New York Public Library's 2008 Books for the Teen Age List
Mock Newberry Winner
Twelve Corners Middle School Mock Newbery Honor
Stillwater Library Mock Newbery List

Nominated:
2009-2010 Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award
2009-2010 Iowa Teen Book Award
2010 Oklahoma Sequoyah Book Award
2010 Evergreen Young Adult Book Award
Green Mountain Book Award Master List 2009-2010
Minnesota 2009-2010 Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award
2010 Pacific Northwest Young Readers Choice Award
2010 Louisiana Young Reader's Choice Award Grades 6-8
2008-2009 Georgia Children's Book Award
2009-2010 Missouri Gateway Readers Award Nominee
2009 The Kentucky Book Award Nominee
2009-2010 Tennessee Volunteer State Book Awards
North Carolina School Library Media Association Young Adult book Award for 2008
2009-2010 Nebraska Golden Sower Award
2008-2009 Wyoming Soaring Eagle Book Award
2008 Oregon Book Award
New Hampshire Isinglass Teen Reads Award 2008/2009
Maryland 2008/2009 Black-eyed Susan Award
Maine Student Book Award 2008/2009
Colorado Children's Book Award 2009
North Carolina Children's Book Award 2009
Sunshine State Young Readers Award 2008/2009

What the critics are saying about Peak!

This is a thrilling, multifaceted adventure story . Booklist

If you know a recalcitrant reader, a teen or preteen perhaps, who swears that he could more easily scale Mount Everest than finish a novel, try handing him a copy of Peak. Christian Science Monitor

Deftly developed characters who matter and a gritty story line packed with the intrigue and challenge of serious mountain climbing for serious stakes make this book a riveting read for reluctant and experienced readers alike. VOYA

Peak's first-person narration, evolves into a gripping story that pulls no punches about the toll Everest exacts on body and psyche alike. Horn Book

The narrative offers enough of a bumpy ride to satisfy thrill seekers while Peak's softer reflective quality lends depth and…emotional resonance. Kirkus

…the perfect antidote for a kid who thinks books are boring. The nifty plotting, gripping story line and Peak's assured delivery give those who join this expedition much to savor. Publisher's Weekly

A well-crafted plot and exotic setting give the novel great appeal to survival adventure fans. School Library Journal

Magnificent, enthralling, and entertaining. Peak's journey is about much more than the character's assent of a mountain . Pam Munoz Ryan , author of Esperanza Rising

Everything a great adventure story should be and a whole lot more—with powerful, unforgettable characters and a driving can't-put-it-down plot. Terry Trueman, author of Stuck in Neutral

“An” adrenaline laced novel…  Chicago Tribune

(All Peak Reviews)

Click  screen to see a short clip of me talking about Peak for Scholastic Book Fairs.

Order the book today at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Powells.

Teachers!  Curriculum for Peak is available. It is absolutely free. All you have to do is download it.

Order it now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Powells. Curriculum is now available. more

Here´s a wonderful review from my friend Jonathan Downes–fearless leader of the Centre For Fortean Zoology in the latest edition of The Journal of the Centre for Fortean Zoology. You can visit their webpage to learn about cryptids and cryptozoology.

Read Jack's Run! Sequel to my bestselling, award winning novel, Zach's Lie!

When Jack Osborne's father was arrested for drug trafficking, he agreed to tell the authorities everything he knew about his ex-boss, the ruthless drug czar Alonzo Aznar. more

But betraying a man as powerful as Alonzo has consequences. The Osbornes have spent the last year in hiding, forced to take on new identities and live under the close surveillance of the Witness Security program. Now, with his trial date fast approaching, Alonzo intensifies his hunt for Jack's family. One slipup, and Alonzo will find them, making sure no Osborne survives to testify against him. Jack has messed up once before, and he won't do it again. Unfortunately, someone else in the family hasn't been as careful...Read the first chapter of Jack's Run here. The paperback version is now available at Amazon, Barnes&Noble or Powells.

If you get a chance to read it, drop me an email and let me know what you think. Or, post a message on the message board. And don't forget my other adventure that came out this year, "Cryptid Hunters." I would love to hear what think about this novel as well.

Teachers and Librarians check out Erahm and John's documentary: Teen Truth. It's a wonderful, moving, and extremely important piece of work that should be viewed by every student in the U.S. See the movie trailer .

Order Roland and Marie's Waves book at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Powells.

This newest picture book may be ordered at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Powells. Curriculum is ready.

Another picture book in the Alphabet series may be ordered at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Powells.

Curriculum is now available for: Elephant Run, Peak, Cryptid Hunters, Z is for Zookeeper, Zach's Lie, B is for Beaver, Thunder Cave, Jaguar, Sasquatch, The Captain's Dog. Thanks for visiting!

Please take a look at a new page on my website featuring photos of friends and family.