Dhonielle Clayton earned an MA in children’s literature from Hollins University and an MFA in writing for children at the New School. She taught secondary school for several years. Clayton is a former librarian and cofounder of Cake Literary, a creative kitchen whipping up decadent-and decidedly diverse-literary confections for middle grade, young adult, and women’s fiction readers. She is the author of The Belles (Disney Hyperion). Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orleans, Belles are revered, for they control Beauty, and Beauty is a commodity coveted above all else. In Orleans, the people are born gray, they are born damned, and only with the help of a Belle and her talents can they transform and be made beautiful. But it’s not enough for Camellia to be just a Belle. She wants to be the favorite—the Belle chosen by the Queen of Orleans to live in the royal palace, to tend to the royal family and their court, to be recognized as the most talented Belle in the land. It soon becomes clear that being the favorite is not everything she always dreamed it would be. Behind the gilded palace walls live dark secrets, and Camellia soon learns that the very essence of her existence is a lie. Weaving deeper questions about the commodification of women’s bodies, gender equality, racial identity, and vanity with high-stakes action and incredible imagery, The Belles is the must-read epic of the season.
