Gita Ralleigh – författare

Longlisted for the Branford Boase Award 2024The story of a Queendom set in an alternate India. A debut rich in fantasy, friendship and faith, and an original middle grade adventure that sparkles with storytelling magic.‘A land that loses its stories loses its way.’The beautiful queendom of Moonlally has fallen under a tyrant’s rule. Their queen is dead, worship of their goddess, the Dark Lady, is forbidden, and the precious black diamond that protects the city – a rare fragment of fallen star ­– has gone missing.When fierce orphan girl Minou Moonshine’s life is unexpectedly shattered, she joins the ragtag band of rebels, the Green Orchids, who are plotting to overthrow the General.Armed with a secret and a map, Minou sets off with her friends and a mechanical elephant, through the lush jungles of Indica, in search of a queen, a goddess and her destiny.

Longlisted for the Branford Boase Award 2024The story of a Queendom set in an alternate India. A debut rich in fantasy, friendship and faith, and an original middle grade adventure that sparkles with storytelling magic.‘A land that loses its stories loses its way.’The beautiful queendom of Moonlally has fallen under a tyrant’s rule. Their queen is dead, worship of their goddess, the Dark Lady, is forbidden, and the precious black diamond that protects the city – a rare fragment of fallen star ­– has gone missing.When fierce orphan girl Minou Moonshine’s life is unexpectedly shattered, she joins the ragtag band of rebels, the Green Orchids, who are plotting to overthrow the General.Armed with a secret and a map, Minou sets off with her friends and a mechanical elephant, through the lush jungles of Indica, in search of a queen, a goddess and her destiny.

In Gita Ralleigh's second magical middle grade adventure set in a parallel colonial India, land-pirate Sam Singh sails to an isle teeming with spirits and secrets on a perilous journey to find the truth.'We are kings of the forest,Let them tame us if they can!'Sam’s older brother, Moon, has been missing for three long years. Moon is a skilled thief, but Sam fears Moon's luck has finally run out. It's rumoured he's held in the Octopus, a notorious prison on the Isle of Lost Voices, from which no one has ever escaped alive. Leaving his tribe of land-pirates behind, Sam sets sail with the shady Professor Bogusz and his faithful parrot, Suka. With help from a young forest guide called Lola, they trek deep into the island's interior, a place where spirits dwell and the Octopus casts a deadly shadow.With a storm brewing and the clock ticking, Sam is in a race against time to break into the prison, save Moon and find a brighter future for them all.