Alexandra Adornetto
Encyclopedia
Alexandra Adornetto is the pseudonym of Alexandra Grace (born 18 April 1992), an Australia
n author who writes for children and young adults. Her works include The Strangest Adventures series and the Halo trilogy.
, Korowa Anglican Girls' School
and Eltham College
. In 2006, she won the State Legacy Public Speaking Competition. She claims she "kind of stumbled across writing as an accident." Although she had always had an interested in it, she didn't seriously consider writing a novel until she was thirteen. Whilst on school holidays, she began writing her first book, The Shadow Thief, out of boredom. When she finished, she decided to send the 45,000 word manuscript to HarperCollinsPublishers Australia but "didn't expect anything to come of it." However, about twenty-four weeks later, she received a response asking to publish the book and proposing that they turn it into a trilogy. Since then, Adornetto has written four more novels and has been featured in Fairfax publications commenting on youth issues such as sex and alcohol consumption.
She now resides in the United States of America where she is a student at the University of Mississippi
and continues to work on numerous projects.
were based on herself and her cousin and their own adventures together as children.
The children embark on a quest to warn the Queen of Mirth‚ encountering some fearsome obstacles‚ not least the ferocious Grin Bandits and their tooth−extracting apparatus as well being challenged in a life size game of Monopoly.
As the day of battle draws near‚ Milli and Ernest realize that if Lord Aldor defeats them‚ theirs won′t be the only lives at stake...
The children couldn′t be more excited. 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. Could this be the work of the evil Aldor − a malicious master plan designed to extinguish the very existence of childhood?
As Christmas Eve draws close‚ Milli and Ernest find themselves enlisted as Santa′s helpers‚ for a Christmas spectacle that will be like no other ... But can they protect the town before catastrophe strikes?
Halo takes place in Venus Cove, a fictional town later revealed to be located on the Georgia
coastline. The quiet, picturesque town is ultimately revolutionized when three biblical angels—Gabriel, Ivy, and Bethany—arrive on a mission to guard its residents against the dark work of Lucifer
's demons. The angels take up residence in a beach-side cottage named Byron (presumably named after Adornetto's childhood home), and Gabriel and Bethany begin attending Bryce Hamilton, the local high school. Here, Beth meets a human boy named Xavier with a troubled past and soon falls in love with him, defying the laws of Heaven and threatening the angels' mission. The story revolves almost exclusively around Bethany and Xavier's forbidden relationship until the arrival of a transfer student, Jake Thorn, who takes a sinister liking to Bethany. Jake is not who he claims to be, and the plot culminates in a confrontation between the angels and the forces of evil.
, Canada
, and Australia
on 30 August 2011.
It follows Xavier and Beth, whose relationship has finally been accepted by Beth's siblings, to a Hallowe'en party in an old, abandoned house, where Beth reluctantly takes part in a séance
with her friends. The séance ultimately awakens the demon, Jake Thorn, who tricks Bethany into a motorcycle ride on the pretense that Xavier is seriously hurt. The motorcycle takes Beth and Jake through a portal and into Hell
. Bethany is kept as a prisoner in Hotel Ambrosia, where she befriends two fellow captives, Hannah and Tuck. It is revealed that Jake is a Prince of the Underworld and intends to lure Beth into marriage, but Bethany refuses to have anything to do with him. She engages in a form of astral projection
in order to watch over Xavier, Molly, Gabriel, and Ivy in their mission to rescue her, and witnesses an attempt of Jake's to kill Xavier, which he ceases at the very last moment. Jake offers a proposition to Beth: that if she gives him her virginity, he won't try to hurt Xavier again. After much moral deliberation, Beth agrees out of love for Xavier—but is rescued from Hades just in time by Xavier and her siblings. Gabriel disposes of Jake Thorn for good, and they return to Venus Cove. The novel concludes with Xavier and Beth's graduation, which they end up ditching on Xavier's suggestion. Xavier then proposes, but the room starts rattling dangerously in what appears to be a heavenly intervention, and the novel ends on a cliffhanger.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n author who writes for children and young adults. Her works include The Strangest Adventures series and the Halo trilogy.
Biography
Adornetto is the daughter of two teachers—her father a drama teacher, her mother an English teacher—and grew up in Melbourne's inner East in a cottage called "Byron." She attended many different schools, including MacRobertson Girls' High School, Ruyton Girls' SchoolRuyton Girls' School
Ruyton Girls' School , is a non-denominational, independent, day school for girls, located in the inner-eastern Melbourne suburb of Kew, Victoria, Australia....
, Korowa Anglican Girls' School
Korowa Anglican Girls' School
Korowa Anglican Girls' School is an independent, Anglican, day school for girls, located in Glen Iris, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
and Eltham College
Eltham College of Education
Eltham College of Education is a private early years, junior and high school with an enrolment of approximately 1,200 students. It is situated in Research, an outer suburb north east of Melbourne, Australia. The current principal is Dr. David Warner.-Campuses:The school is currently divided up...
. In 2006, she won the State Legacy Public Speaking Competition. She claims she "kind of stumbled across writing as an accident." Although she had always had an interested in it, she didn't seriously consider writing a novel until she was thirteen. Whilst on school holidays, she began writing her first book, The Shadow Thief, out of boredom. When she finished, she decided to send the 45,000 word manuscript to HarperCollinsPublishers Australia but "didn't expect anything to come of it." However, about twenty-four weeks later, she received a response asking to publish the book and proposing that they turn it into a trilogy. Since then, Adornetto has written four more novels and has been featured in Fairfax publications commenting on youth issues such as sex and alcohol consumption.
She now resides in the United States of America where she is a student at the University of Mississippi
University of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1844, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford, four branch campuses located in Booneville, Grenada, Tupelo, and Southaven as well as the...
and continues to work on numerous projects.
Books
Adornetto's completed books are The Shadow Thief (2007) and The Lampo Circus (2008), Von Gobstopper's Arcade (2009), Halo (2010), and Hades (2011). Her sixth book, and the final volume in the Halo trilogy, entitled Heaven, is slated for release in August 2012.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." She said the two main charactersProtagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
were based on herself and her cousin and their own adventures together as children.
The Lampo Circus
The arrival of Federico Lampo and his traveling 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 (Patroness of the Arts)‚ 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‚ not least the ferocious Grin Bandits and their tooth−extracting apparatus as well being challenged in a life size game of Monopoly.
As the day of battle draws near‚ Milli and Ernest realize that if Lord Aldor defeats them‚ theirs won′t 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.The children couldn′t be more excited. 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. Could this be the work of the evil Aldor − a malicious master plan designed to extinguish the very existence of childhood?
As Christmas Eve draws close‚ Milli and Ernest find themselves enlisted as Santa′s helpers‚ for a Christmas spectacle that will be like no other ... But can they protect the town before catastrophe strikes?
Halo
Published by Feiwel and Friends, Halo marked Adornetto's American debut and was released in August 2010.Halo takes place in Venus Cove, a fictional town later revealed to be located on the Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
coastline. The quiet, picturesque town is ultimately revolutionized when three biblical angels—Gabriel, Ivy, and Bethany—arrive on a mission to guard its residents against the dark work of Lucifer
Lucifer
Traditionally, Lucifer is a name that in English generally refers to the devil or Satan before being cast from Heaven, although this is not the original meaning of the term. In Latin, from which the English word is derived, Lucifer means "light-bearer"...
's demons. The angels take up residence in a beach-side cottage named Byron (presumably named after Adornetto's childhood home), and Gabriel and Bethany begin attending Bryce Hamilton, the local high school. Here, Beth meets a human boy named Xavier with a troubled past and soon falls in love with him, defying the laws of Heaven and threatening the angels' mission. The story revolves almost exclusively around Bethany and Xavier's forbidden relationship until the arrival of a transfer student, Jake Thorn, who takes a sinister liking to Bethany. Jake is not who he claims to be, and the plot culminates in a confrontation between the angels and the forces of evil.
Hades
Hades, a sequel to Halo, was released in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
on 30 August 2011.
It follows Xavier and Beth, whose relationship has finally been accepted by Beth's siblings, to a Hallowe'en party in an old, abandoned house, where Beth reluctantly takes part in a séance
Séance
A séance is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word "séance" comes from the French word for "seat," "session" or "sitting," from the Old French "seoir," "to sit." In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, speak of "une séance de cinéma"...
with her friends. The séance ultimately awakens the demon, Jake Thorn, who tricks Bethany into a motorcycle ride on the pretense that Xavier is seriously hurt. The motorcycle takes Beth and Jake through a portal and into Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
. Bethany is kept as a prisoner in Hotel Ambrosia, where she befriends two fellow captives, Hannah and Tuck. It is revealed that Jake is a Prince of the Underworld and intends to lure Beth into marriage, but Bethany refuses to have anything to do with him. She engages in a form of astral projection
Astral projection
Astral projection is an interpretation of out-of-body experience that assumes the existence of an "astral body" separate from the physical body and capable of traveling outside it...
in order to watch over Xavier, Molly, Gabriel, and Ivy in their mission to rescue her, and witnesses an attempt of Jake's to kill Xavier, which he ceases at the very last moment. Jake offers a proposition to Beth: that if she gives him her virginity, he won't try to hurt Xavier again. After much moral deliberation, Beth agrees out of love for Xavier—but is rescued from Hades just in time by Xavier and her siblings. Gabriel disposes of Jake Thorn for good, and they return to Venus Cove. The novel concludes with Xavier and Beth's graduation, which they end up ditching on Xavier's suggestion. Xavier then proposes, but the room starts rattling dangerously in what appears to be a heavenly intervention, and the novel ends on a cliffhanger.