Dhonielle Clayton

Photo by Navdeep Singh Dhillon

Dhonielle Clayton is the coauthor of the Tiny Pretty Things series. She grew up in the Washington, DC suburbs on the Maryland side and spent most of her time under her grandmother’s table with a stack of books. A former teacher and middle school librarian, Dhonielle is cofounder of CAKE Literary─a creative development company whipping up decidedly diverse books for a wide array of readers─and COO of the non-profit We Need Diverse Books. She’s got a serious travel bug and loves spending time outside of the USA but makes her home in New York City, where she can most likely be found hunting for the best slice of pizza.

MFOB FEATURED BOOK: The Belles

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. Camellia is the favored Belle chosen by the Queen of Orleans to live in the royal palace. But behind the gilded palace walls live dark secrets, and Camellia soon learns that the very essence of her existence is a lie, that her powers are far greater, and could be more dangerous, than she ever imagined.

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