Celia Rees
Encyclopedia
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
of children's literature
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
, including some horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
and fantasy
Fantasy literature
Fantasy literature is fantasy in written form. Historically speaking, literature has composed the majority of fantasy works. Since the 1950s however, a growing segment of the fantasy genre has taken the form of films, television programs, graphic novels, video games, music, painting, and other...
books.
She was born in 1949
in Solihull
Solihull
Solihull is a town in the West Midlands of England with a population of 94,753. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is located 9 miles southeast of Birmingham city centre...
, West Midlands
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
but now lives in Leamington Spa
Leamington Spa
Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or Leamington or Leam to locals, is a spa town in central Warwickshire, England. Formerly known as Leamington Priors, its expansion began following the popularisation of the medicinal qualities of its water by Dr Kerr in 1784, and by Dr Lambe...
with her husband and teenage daughter. Rees attended University of Warwick
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...
and earned a degree in History of Politics. After university, she taught English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
in Coventry secondary schools for seventeen years, during which time she began to write.
During her time in teaching she asked several of her pupils why they would not read the books they were given and what they wanted to read about. The pupils said that they wanted books with action, horror, danger, magic and pirates.
All of these are main themes in Rees' books.
H.A.U.N.T.S. series
- H Is for Haunting (1998)
- A Is for Apparition (1998)
- U Is for Unbeliever (1998)
- N Is for Nightmare (1998)
- T Is for Terror (1998)
- S Is for Shudder (1998)
The series was repackaged in 2002 with the six books being combined to make a trilogie: two old books per new one. These were published using the new titles City of Shadows, A Trap in Time and The Host Rides Out.
Witch Child (2000)
In the seventeenth century, a girl named Mary Newbury discovers the cruelty of other people when her grandmother has been hanged. This was because Mary's grandmother has been accused of being a witch. After Mary has been sent out of the little village where she grew up, and encouraged by a mysterious noblewoman to leave England, Mary sets out for America. She gave Mary some things to take along with her, composing a story about who she is. Mary leaves with the Puritans, also leaving for America. Once she arrives there, she realizes it's going to be a lot harder than she thought just to survive there. As she makes unexpected and new friends, struggles with some things, and helps others with theirs, she learns her way into this new world.Sorceress (2002)
This book is set in the present day, with the main character being Agnes Herne ( in Haudenosaunee her name is Karonhisake, or Searching Sky), Mary's descendant. Agnes, a young Native AmericanIndigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
woman, gets visions that continue to tell Mary's story. Mary had gone to live with a Native American tribe, the Haudenosaunee. The Sorceress continues to explain Mary's life. Sorceress was shortlisted for the Whitbread Children's Book Award in 2005.
Other books
- Every Step You Take (1993)
- The Bailey Game (1994)
- Colour Her Dead (1994)
- Blood Sinister (1996)
- Midnight Hour (1997)
- Ghost Chamber (1997)
- The Vanished (Point HorrorPoint HorrorPoint Horror is series of young adult horror fiction books which include authors such as Richie Tankersley Cusick, Ljane Smith, R. L. Stine, Christopher Pike, Caroline B. Cooney, Diane Hoh, Carol Ellis, Auline Bates, Lael Littke, Barbara Steiner, D. E...
Unleashed) (1997) - Soul Taker (1997)
- The Truth Out There (2000)
- Truth or Dare (2000)
- The Cunning Man (Point HorrorPoint HorrorPoint Horror is series of young adult horror fiction books which include authors such as Richie Tankersley Cusick, Ljane Smith, R. L. Stine, Christopher Pike, Caroline B. Cooney, Diane Hoh, Carol Ellis, Auline Bates, Lael Littke, Barbara Steiner, D. E...
Unleashed) (2001) - Blood Sinister (Point HorrorPoint HorrorPoint Horror is series of young adult horror fiction books which include authors such as Richie Tankersley Cusick, Ljane Smith, R. L. Stine, Christopher Pike, Caroline B. Cooney, Diane Hoh, Carol Ellis, Auline Bates, Lael Littke, Barbara Steiner, D. E...
Unleashed) (2002) - Pirates! (2003)
- The Wish House (2005)
- The Stone Testament (2007)
- Sovay (2008)
- The Fool's Girl (2010)