Smith, Gordon 1951–

PERSONAL:

Born 1951, in Upper Darby, PA; children: one daughter. Education: Antioch College, B.S., 1973.

ADDRESSES:

Home and office—San Francisco, CA. E-mail—info@beatriz.co.uk.

CAREER:

Graphic designer and author. Tower Advertising, Sacramento, CA, art director, 1980-85; Tremain & Smith (graphic design firm), Berkeley, CA, partner, 1985-89; California Lawyer (magazine), San Francisco, art director, 1989-95; freelance graphic designer, beginning 1999; School Wise Press, San Francisco, CA, design director, 2005-07.

AWARDS, HONORS:

New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age designation, 2007, for The Forest in the Hallway; Society of Illustrators citation for art direction; Western Publications Association Maggie Award.

WRITINGS:

The Forest in the Hallway, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Gordon Smith began his career as a graphic designer and art director working for publishers, magazines, and corporate enterprises. The year 2006 marked a career shift, however, when Smith made his authorial debut. Based on a story he told to his daughter over the course of their daily commute to her middle school, The Forest in the Hallway focuses on a fourteen-year-old girl named Beatriz. When her parents mysteriously disappear, Beatriz is sent to live with her uncle, a man who lives in a strange and magical New York City apartment complex which holds a portal to another world. On the nineteenth floor of her uncle's apartment building is a hallway that magically transfers her into a dark forest in a magical realm. When Beatriz passes out of her own world and into the world beyond the hallway, the adventure she has there allows her to unravel the mystery of her parents' disappearance.

Featuring elements familiar to fans of C.S. Lewis's ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ books, Smith's middle-grade novel was hailed as an auspicious start by several critics. In Kliatt Donna Scanlon regarded The Forest in the Hallway as an ‘engaging debut’ and ‘a delight from start to finish.’ Although the novel is not illustrated, Smith's use of words evokes a visual element within the story, according to Scanlon. ‘Smith's prose is so vivid and evocative that one might believe that the book is illustrated,’ the critic maintained. Likewise, Booklist reviewer Shelle Rosenfeld praised The Forest in the Hallway for featuring both ‘creative characters and a story line that will keep readers engaged.’ Beatriz continues her adventures in a sequel, Beatriz and the Crazed Librarians from the Future, which Smith completed in 2007.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 15, 2006, Shelle Rosenfeld, review of The Forest in the Hallway, p. 61.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, February, 2007, April Spisak, review of The Forest in the Hallway, p. 267.

Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 2006, review of The Forest in the Hallway, p. 1080.

Kliatt, November, 2006, Donna Scanlon, review of The Forest in the Hallway, p. 15.

School Library Journal, December, 2006, Connie Tyrrell Burns, review of The Forest in the Hallway, p. 155.

ONLINE

Children's Bookwatch Web site,http://www.midwestbookreview.com/ (December, 2006), review of The Forest in the Hallway.

Gordon Smith Home Page,http://www.beatriz.co.uk (November 7, 2007).