Alexandra Adornetto, an Australian actress and author who writes for children and young adults. Her works include The Strangest Adventures series, the Halo trilogy and The Ghost House Saga.
Biography
Alexandra Adornetto was born on 18 April 1994 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. She is the daughter of an English teacher and a drama teacher and attended several schools including Mac.Robertson Girls' High School, Ruyton Girls' School, Korowa Anglican Girls' School and Eltham College. She grew up in Melbourne's inner east in a cottage called Byron. In 2006, she won the State Legacy Public Speaking Competition. She says she was 13 years old and on school holidays when she decided to become a recluse and started writing her first book for young adults, entitled The Shadow Thief. She did some research into Australian publishing houses, making sure she followed all the submission guidelines exactly, and then sent her 45,000-word manuscript to HarperCollins. She has said that it took HarperCollins about twenty-four weeks to get back to her asking to publish her book. Since then, Alexandra has written six more novels and commented in print on politics and other matters. She is currently splitting her time between Australia and the US, while she studies at Mississippi and writes.
Books
Adornetto's completed books are The Shadow Thief and The Lampo Circus, Von Gobstopper's Arcade, Halo, Hades, Heaven and Ghost House.
The Strangest Adventures
This fantasy adventures series has a theme of threat to childhood and innocence. Adornetto commented, "Childhood is just this amazing place and in my books I was trying to express my concern about childhood being eroded."
The Shadow Thief
The main characters of Shadow Thief are Millipop Klompet and Ernest Perriclof, who live in Drabville – a town whose residents suffer from having their shadows stolen by Lord Aldor, who wants to use the shadows to become immortal, all-powerful and rule the world. According to Adornetto, "The shadow represents individuality and colour and a person's spirit, really." The story was inspired by Peter Pan, while the two main characters were based on herself and her cousin and their own adventures together as children.
The Lampo Circus
The arrival of Federico Lampo and his travelling circus brings a new threat to Drabville when the children are kidnapped and transported to the grim world of the Conjuors′ Realm. Lord Aldor‚ assisted by Ringmaster Fredrico Lampo and the vicious Contessa Bombasta ‚ is plotting to conquer the fairy province of Mirth. The children embark on a quest to warn the Queen of Mirth‚ encountering some fearsome obstacles‚ including the ferocious Grin Bandits and their tooth−extracting apparatus and being challenged in a life size game of Monopoly. As the day of battle draws near‚ Milli and Ernest realise that if Lord Aldor defeats them‚ theirs will not be the only lives at stake.
Von Gobstopper's Arcade
Master toymaker Gustav VonGobstopper announces plans to build a special Toy Arcade − brimming with the world′s greatest toys − to commemorate the extraordinary bravery of Drabville′s children who have twice escaped the clutches of the wicked Lord Aldor. But when Milli and Ernest encounter Theo‚ the bandana−wearing teddy‚ deranged designer Tempest Anamoli and the immoral Botchers at the Arcade‚ it quickly becomes apparent that they have stumbled upon a macabre plot.
Halo Trilogy
Published by Feiwel and Friends, the Halo trilogy marked Adornetto's American debut. It has also been published in Australia and sixteen European countries and has been translated into many languages, including Dutch, French, Spanish and German.
Halo
The first book, Halo, was released in August 2010. The setting is Venus Cove, a quiet, picturesque fictional town on the Georgia coastline. Three angels—the archangel Gabriel, seraphim Ivy, and junior angel Bethany—arrive on a mission to fight against the dark work of Lucifer's demons. The angels take up residence in a beach-side cottage and Bethany begins attending the local high school. She meets a human boy named Xavier with a troubled past and soon they fall in love, defying the laws of Heaven and threatening the angels' mission.
Hades
Published on 30 August 2011, Hades is the second instalment of the Halo series. Bethany is kidnapped by a demon and taken to hell.
Heaven
Heaven, the third and final instalment of the Halo series, was published on 21 August 2012. Rogue angels endanger Bethany and Xavier.
The Ghost House Saga
Ghost House
Ghost House, the first instalment of the Ghost House Saga, was published by Harlequin Teen on 26 August 2014. It was published in the UK as Lament. After the loss of her mother, Chloe Kennedy starts seeing again the ghosts that haunted her as a young girl. Spending time at her grandmother's country estate in the south of England seemed to be her chance to get away from her grief and the spirits that haunt her. But Alexander Reade, 157 years dead, with secrets darker than the lake surrounding Grange Hall, has a lifelike presence that draws Chloe more strongly than any ghost before. The bond between them awakens the vengeful spirit of Alexander's past love, Isobel. The projected sequels are Ghost Hour and Haunted.
