YSU English Festival Author Spotlight: Megan Whalen Turner

One of the most exciting aspects of the YSU English Festival is the opportunity to read books by an author who will speak at the event. Megan Whalen Turner, author of Newbery Honor Book The Thief (1997), as well as the remainder of the series: The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia and A Conspiracy of Kings, is this year’s Thomas and Carol Gay Lecturer. She has also written a collection of short stories entitled Instead of Three Wishes. Additionally, her short story, “The Baby in the Night Deposit Box,” was also included in Firebirds edited by Sharyn November and Best Shorts: Favorite Short Stories for Sharing selected by Avi. Turner has also written Thief! about a younger Gen, a main character in the series, published in August of 2000 in Disney Adventures Magazine.

The Thief and The Queen of Attolia were selected for the 2011 Festival. Check out the full series’ book descriptions below.

THE THIEF

“I can steal anything.”

After Gen’s bragging lands him in the king’s prison, the chances of escape look slim. Then the king’s scholar, the magus, needs the thief’s skill for a seemingly impossible task — to steal a hidden treasure from another land.

To the magus, Gen is just a tool. But Gen is a trickster and a survivor with a plan of his own. – Harper Collins Book Description

THE QUEEN OF ATTOLIA

When his small mountains country goes to war with the powerful nation of Attolia, Eugenides the thief is faced with his greatest challenge. He must steal a man, he must steal a queen, and he must steal peace.

But his greatest triumph-as well as his greatest loss-can only come if he succeeds in capturing something the Queen of Attolia may have sacrificed long ago. – Harper Collins Book Description

THE KING OF ATTOLIA

By scheming and theft, the Thief of Eddis has become King of Attolia. Eugenides wanted the queen, not the crown, but he finds himself trapped in a web of his own making. Attolia’s barons seethe with resentment, the Mede emperor is returning to the attack, and the king is surrounded by the subtle and dangerous intrigue of the Attolian court.

When a naive young guard expresses his contempt for the king in no uncertain terms, he is dragged by Eugenides into the center of the political maelstrom. Like the king, he cannot escape the difficulties he makes for himself. Poor Costis knows he is the victim of the king’s caprice, but he discovers a reluctant sympathy for Eugenides as he watches the newly crowned king struggle against his fate.

Fans of the Newbery Honor Book The Thief and The Queen of Attolia will recognize Megan Whalen Turner’s signature plot twists and turns in the third exquisitely crafted tale about Eugenides. -Harper Collins Book Description

A CONSPIRACY OF KINGS

Sophos, under the guidance of yet another tutor, practices his swordplay and strategizes escape scenarios should his father’s villa come under attack. How would he save his mother? His sisters? Himself? Could he reach the horses in time? Where would he go? But nothing prepares him for the day armed men, silent as thieves, swarm the villa courtyard ready to kill, to capture, to kidnap. Sophos, the heir to the throne of Sounis, disappears without a trace.

In Attolia, Eugenides, the new and unlikely king, has never stopped wondering what happened to Sophos. Nor has the Queen of Eddis. They send spies. They pay informants. They appeal to the gods. But as time goes by, it becomes less and less certain that they will ever see their friend alive again.

Across the small peninsula battles are fought, bribes are offered, and conspiracies are set in motion. Darkening the horizon, the Mede Empire threatens, always, from across the sea. And Sophos, anonymous and alone, bides his time. Sophos, drawing on his memories of Gen, Pol, the magus—and Eddis—sets out on an adventure that will change all of their lives forever. -Harper Collins Book Description