JoAnn Shannon's Work
Young Adult Fiction
One Sister
Sixteen-year-old Bret has a challenging life as the keeper of her sister, Clovis. In the quiet Chicago suburb, Bret maintains her adopted sister’s safety and hides the secret that Clovis’ home planet is not Earth, but a place called La Premiere.
Clovis’ mother, The Grayling Queen, arranged the keeper to prevent the Redling rebels, who are at war on La Premiere, from killing seventeen-year-old Clovis and with her death, future royal offspring.
Bret puts her own freedom and a budding love interest on hold to care for Clovis, but a problem arises when Clovis stops ovulating weeks before The Grayling Queen is murdered.
Clovis is instructed to return to La Premiere as their sovereign, to end the war by marrying the Redling King, and to ensure peace by producing children.
Bret is convinced Clovis will be killed when her infertility is discovered, but Clovis believes her duty and her destiny await on La Premiere. The bond between the sisters grows with the crisis and makes it even more difficult to choose the best path forward.
Middle Grade Fiction
Bird Gamers
Reeve and John pull a seventh-grade school prank that lands them a suspension and a hefty fine. John, who’s resentful of his parents’ opulent lifestyle refuses to ask them for money, and Reeve’s embarrassed to admit her parents have no money to spare.
A video game contest with a sizable payout seems like the perfect solution. The game’s epic battles force the two students to develop ingenious methods to gain points. They learn to dig deep within themselves and to play off each other’s strengths.
As the prize draws near, Reeve and John discover the gaming experience has given them new perspectives. They begin to soften the lens they use to judge their families and begin to question the goals they’ve set for themselves.
Detective Flea
Detective Flea is an experienced sleuth who also happens to be a donkey. On a sunshiny day, he is called to Windy Farm to solve the case of a missing prize pony named Joey.
Interviews with horses on the farm provide Detective Flea with clues to solve the mystery and with insights into the personality of the popular pony. But Riley, a grumpy old horse, insists Joey is the victim of a kidnapping. Riley tells Detective Flea the ghost of a twelve-year-old girl stole Joey and worse, that she plans to take the pony into the underworld.
As pressure mounts on Detective Flea to find the pony, he realizes he needs to consider Riley’s theory. But before he begins the search for an allusive ghost, the detective must begin to believe in magic.