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Claribel A. Ortega
Claribel A.

Ortega

Bestselling Middle Grade Novelist
New York Times Bestselling Author
Travels from: White Plains, NY
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“Sharply insightful about the epidemic of hate against minority groups, Ortega invites readers to ponder the true definition of monstrosity as she puts her beloved trio through more challenges in this fast-paced and emotionally charged adventure. Cheeky and moving by turns; an adventure for a new generation.” — Kirkus Reviews

New York Times Bestselling and award-winning author, Claribel A. Ortega is a former reporter who writes middle-grade and young adult fantasy inspired by her Dominican heritage. When she’s not busy turning her obsession with eighties pop culture, magic, and video games into books, she’s co-hosting her podcast Bad Author Book Club. Claribel is a Marvel contributor and has been featured on Buzzfeed, Bustle, Good Morning America and Deadline.

Claribel’s NYT Bestselling debut middle grade novel Ghost Squad is being made into a feature film. Her latest Witchling’s series includes the books, Witchlings, The Golden Frog Games and House of Elephants, Scepter of Memories, and The Sea Witch Prophecy (Scholastic). Both Witchings and The Golden Frog Games were Instant NYT and #1 Indie Bestsellers. Her graphic novel Frizzy with Rose Bousamra was winner of the 2023 Pura Belpré Award for Children’s Text and an Indie Bestseller.

Claribel A. Ortega
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Claribel A.'s Featured Titles

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The Sea Witch Prophecy (Witchlings #5)

Scholastic Press |
Children’s/Middle Grade

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES! KPop Demon Hunters meets Wicked in this series featuring a magical trio of monster-fighting BFF witches.

The final showdown approaches.

Hidden monstruos

A fallen moon

A sacrifice

To end the doom . . .

With Ambert on the loose, plotting his return, and Ravenskill in ruins, Seven, Valley and Thorn pin their hopes on an ancient prophecy. But though it clearly points them to a voyage across the Twelve Towns, they aren’t able to make sense of the rest. Still, lacking any other clues, the Witchlings set off on a journey to find the hidden monstruos, fulfill the prophecy, and save their home.

But the sea holds secrets, spies are everywhere, and not even their closest allies can be trusted.

The Sea Witch Prophecy is the final book in the bestselling Witchlings series. Fans won’t want to miss the thrilling ultimate battle against the forces of evil, as the Witchlings discover what makes a monster.

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Scepter of Memories (Witchlings #4)

Scholastic Press |
Children’s/Middle Grade

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES! Perfect for fans of Wicked, Upside-Down Magic, and The Wizard of Oz. Dangerous times call for dangerous magic . . .

Evil dwells in Ravenskill . . .

Seven, Thorn, and Valley are determined to stop Ambert Lophiifor’s plan of taking over the Twelve Towns. With Seven’s Uncle powers and their new coven behind them, surely they’ll be able to defeat him at last.

But strange things are happening around Ravenskill — the Witchlings’ allies are starting to forget them! When the Witchlings are charged with the crime of practicing unnatural and dangerous magic, no one is there to come to their defense.

Without any support, the Witchlings are forced to flee beyond the borders of the Twelve Towns and into the swirling grey mists of the Enchanted Grim, hoping to find the one witch who might have the knowledge and power to help them: Delphinium Larkspur. The Grim is an uncharted wilderness filled with monstruos, where no normal witch would ever be able to survive.

But there’s nothing normal about the Witchlings, their courage, or their friendship. Together with their Nightbeasts, they are determined to find a way to save their home.

Even if it means embracing the monstruos within themselves.

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House of Elephants (Witchlings 3)

Scholastic Press |
Children’s/Middle Grade

From New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Claribel A. Ortega: The third book in the spellbinding Witchlings series!

It’s been months since the end of the Golden Frog Games, and a cure for the hex that turned young witches to stone still hasn’t been found. Seven and Thorn want nothing more than to find a way to heal their friends, but everything they try ends in failure.

When the Black Moon Ceremony arrives earlier than expected, Seven and Thorn take it as a chance to welcome any new Spares into their coven. But rather than welcoming a few Spares like they thought, all the witchlings in the ceremony are chosen to enter the Spare coven!

The new Spares are met with anger from the Hill Society. They create more unfair laws that ban Spares from using magic and being equals in Twelve Towns society! On top of all that, Spares start disappearing. And no one seems to care.

As Seven and Thorn struggle to find a cure for the stone hex and to stop the Twelve Town’s unfair treatment of Spares once and for all, they discover a piece of hidden history that will change everything―if they can get anyone to listen to them.

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The Golden Frog Games (Witchlings 2)

Scholastic Press |
Middle Grade Fantasy

An instant New York Times and Indie bestseller!

Get ready for more magic, mayhem, and monstruos in this magical sequel to Witchlings from Claribel A. Ortega, author of Ghost Squad and Frizzy.

Every four years, the Twelve Towns gather for a legendary magical tournament–the Golden Frog Games.

With Ravenskill hosting this year’s games, all eyes are on Seven Salazar, Valley Pepperhorn and Thorn Laroux: the most famous Spares in the Twelve Towns. Thorn is ready to compete as a fashion champion, but when a forbidden hex is used to turn her fellow champions to stone, suspicion lands on the Witchlings.

As the Witchlings attempt to unravel the mystery of the stonifications, future Uncle Seven is harboring a dangerous secret: While she’s supposed to be able to communicate with animals, the voices she hears most clearly belong to monstruos, and one spine-chilling voice is the loudest of all.

Can Seven fix her broken magic and find out who is stonifying the champions . . . before Thorn becomes the next victim?

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Witchlings

Scholastic Inc. |
Middle Grade Fantasy

Friendship is the most powerful magic of all.

An instant New York Times bestseller from the Pura Belpré Award-winning author of Frizzy! Disney’s The Owl House meets Nevermoor in a brilliant and magical adventure from Claribel A. Ortega!

Every year, in the magical town of Ravenskill, Witchlings who participate in the Black Moon Ceremony are placed into covens and come into their powers as full-fledged witches.

And twelve-year-old Seven Salazar can’t wait to be placed in the most powerful coven with her best friend! But on the night of the ceremony, in front of the entire town, Seven isn’t placed in one of the five covens. She’s a Spare!

Spare covens have fewer witches, are less powerful, and are looked down on by everyone. Even worse, when Seven and the other two Spares perform the magic circle to seal their coven and cement themselves as sisters, it doesn’t work! They’re stuck as Witchlings―and will never be able to perform powerful magic.

Seven invokes her only option: the impossible task. The three Spares will be assigned an impossible task: If they work together and succeed at it, their coven will be sealed and they’ll gain their full powers. If they fail… Well, the last coven to make the attempt ended up being turned into toads. Forever.

But maybe friendship can be the most powerful magic of all…

With action-packed adventure, a coven of quirky witchlings, Claribel A. Ortega’s signature humor, and girl-power vibes, you won’t be able to put down this middle-grade Latine witch story, perfect for fans of Amari and the Night Brothers or Harry Potter.

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Frizzy

First Second |
Children’s

Winner of the 2023 Pura Belpré Award for Children’s Text
October 2022 Indie Bestseller

New York Times-bestselling author Claribel A. Ortega and star debut artist Rose Bousamra’s Frizzy is about Marlene, a young Dominican girl whose greatest enemy is the hair salon! Through her struggles and triumphs, this heartwarming and gorgeous middle-grade graphic novel shows the radical power of accepting yourself as you are, frizzy curls and all.

Marlene loves three things: books, her cool Tía Ruby and hanging out with her best friend Camila. But according to her mother, Paola, the only thing she needs to focus on is school and “growing up.” That means straightening her hair every weekend so she could have “presentable”, “good hair”.

But Marlene hates being in the salon and doesn’t understand why her curls are not considered pretty by those around her. With a few hiccups, a dash of embarrassment, and the much-needed help of Camila and Tia Ruby―she slowly starts a journey to learn to appreciate and proudly wear her curly hair.

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Ghost Squad

Scholastic Inc |
Children’s/Middle Grade Fantasy

A New York Times bestseller!

Coco meets Stranger Things with a hint of Ghostbusters in this action-packed supernatural fantasy adventure!

For Lucely Luna, ghosts are more than just the family business.

Shortly before Halloween, Lucely and her best friend, Syd, cast a spell that accidentally awakens malicious spirits, wreaking havoc throughout St. Augustine. Together, they must join forces with Syd’s witch grandmother, Babette, and her tubby tabby, Chunk, to fight the haunting head-on and reverse the curse to save the town and Lucely’s firefly spirits before it’s too late.

With the family dynamics of Coco and action-packed adventure of Ghostbusters, Claribel A. Ortega delivers both a thrillingly spooky and delightfully sweet debut novel.

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How it's Made: Graphic Novels

I go through the steps, with visuals examples, of how I wrote and Rose Bousamra illustrated, Frizzy. I include tools used, timelines and how text transforms to art to make a graphic novel.

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Reading, and writing, through your fears 

I go through my journey of growing up in the South Bronx, and surviving various fears and hardships to become a bestselling author. I talk about how the grief of losing my older brother pushed me to become an author and how grief specifically shaped my writing career. I teach kids how they can use their own fears and insecurities to fuel their art.

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Witchlings: The Witches, Monstruos, and creatures of The Twelve Towns

I walk through the process of creating Witchlings characters and monsters. I include discussions on how my favorite movies, video games and songs inspired the series. This presentation can include a monster/character creation component at the end if time allows.

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Love Yourself: A Talk About Frizzy

In this talk I tackle the world of beauty standards, self esteem and how media influences what we perceive to be beautiful through the lens of the graphic novel Frizzy.

Resources for Educators & Teachers Link

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Claribel’s Quiz Link

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Claribel’s Events Link

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Honors, Awards & Recognition

Pura Belpré Award for Children’s Text, 2023
Eisner for Best Publication for Kids, 2023
Pura Belpre Author Award winner, 2023
Eisner Award Winner, 2023
Witchlings and The Golden Frog Games – Instant New York Times Bestseller
Frizzy – Indie Bestseller
BookPage Starred Review
Kids’ Indie Next List
Horn Book Starred Review
Publishers Weekly Starred Review
Kirkus Starred Review
SLJ Starred Review
A Barnes & Noble Bookseller Favorite
JLG Gold Standard Selection
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Best Books of the Year, 2022
School Library Journal Best Books of the Year, 2022
NYPL Best Books of the Year, 2022
Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year, 2022

Media clips

Popverse | Claribel A. Ortega on Frizzy, learning to love your hair, and BookTok

Dominican Writers | ‘Witchlings,’ Worldbuilding & Writing for Kids: A Q&A with Claribel A. Ortega

Publishers Weekly | Spring 2020 Flying Starts: Claribel Ortega

Media Kit

By clicking the link below you will be directed to a Google Docs Folder
where you can download author photos and cover images.

download

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