BOOKS | author

THE BOOKS

Set in a kingdom similar to Victorian England, the CASTLE OF SHADOWS series is about power, politics and weapons of mass destruction. But it's mostly about who to trust when you're the eleven-year-old heir to the throne with a missing scientist mother, a mad king father, a bullying housekeeper and a clever and ambitious prime minister. Thank goodness for the kind butler, Mr Moleglass; and Tobias Petch, the Castle gardener's boy with a talent for picking locks and a dark secret.

CASTLE OF SHADOWS won the Cornerstones Wow Factor Competition for best unpublished children's novel and was shortlisted for half a dozen regional book awards in the UK. It went on to win the 2010 North East Book Award, as well as featuring in both the Times and Independent Newspapers Summer Reading Selections in 2010. CASTLE, and the sequel, CITY OF THIEVES, made reviewer Amanda Craig's list for the Times Newspaper's BEST CHILDREN'S BOOKS OF 2010.

CASTLE OF SHADOWS was published in hardback in March 2012 in the U.S.A. by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Books and garnered a starred review in the School Librarians' Journal. It was chosen by Time Magazine's children's publication, TIME FOR KIDS as a 2012 summer read and will be published in Trade Paperback by HMH in November 2013 with an exciting new cover.

CASTLE OF SHADOWS

ISBN-978-1-40830-445-7

'No clue about why the Queen vanished had ever been found. Until now . . .'

The day Charlie discovers a scrap of paper that could solve the mystery of her mother's disappearance, her world changes. Forever.

Charle and her friend, Toby, must race against time on a dangerous mission to uncover the sinister truth.

But in this shadowy world of secrets and lies, there is more to fear than they can possibly imagine . . .

CITY OF THIEVES

ISBN-978-1-40830-446-4

'The final shock of it hit home. The Petches were thieves, and they had stolen him.'

Tobias is on the run. From the father who betrayed him . . . from the mother who couldn't comfort him . . . from his own desperate fear.

But when he falls into the clutches of his uncle's sinister gange of thieves, his fear grows.

And soon Toby realises: his nightmare has only just begun . . .

TRIBUTE

For Young Adult readers, TRIBUTE is the story of a world at war with itself - a society torn apart by tribalism and the lust for power. It's a story of evil and redemption, about chosing to be different, about risking everything for what you believe is right. It's a love story . . . and a hate story. It's Zara's story.

TRIBUTE will be published in March 2014 by Hot Key Books, with OUTCASTE following in August. The books will be published by DTV Junior in Germany in 2015.

Keep an eye out for extra content coming in January, to read or download for free: stories from the World of TRIBUTE

Endorsed by Amnesty International UK

'Thrilling and beautifully written' Amanda Craig

'Thought-provoking fantasy' Metro

'[TRIBUTE] establishes Renner as a major talent in the fantasy genre.' Books for Keeps

'Ellen Renner's TRIBUTE [uses] the [fantasy] genre to say something deeply resonant about our own world.' SF Said in The Guardian

OUTCASTE

Is there such a thing as a Lesser Evil?

Zara hoped to find her dead half-sister's Utopia in the country of the Makers -- a world without hatred, a world of personal freedom and hope. Instead, she finds a civilisation hiding a dark secret that threatens to separate her forever from the companions she has grown to love.

She soon realises that while some hunt her because she is the daughter of the most powerful mage alive, others just want her under their control.

As Zara fights for her life and strives to destroy her hated father and his allies, she faces the greatest challenge of her life -- the temptation to use her power for revenge.

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