Ricki Thompson

City of Cannibals
Front Street, 2010
ages 13 to 17, ISBN 978-1590786239

It's 1536, and Dell lives on an isolated hillside with her bitter auntie and drunken father. Father has warned Dell never to venture past her mother's grave to the City of Cannibals. But unanswered questions plague Dell. Why did her parents leave the court of Henry VIII? Was her mother's death really an accident? And what about the mysterious Brown Boy who leaves sacks of supplies for her family?

Dell risks traveling to the City of Cannibals. Once inside London, she is not eaten alive but is confronted with a different horror—the Oath of Allegiance. If she and the Brown Boy don't sign, they could be executed. Dell has good reason not to sign. But who can defy King Henry VIII and live?

Ricki Thompson holds an MFA from Vermont College in Writing for Children and Young Adults. She has been previously published in Highlights Magazine and Ladybug Magazine. Her poetry and essays for adults have appeared in a variety of journals, magazines, and anthologies. This is her first novel for young adults. Ricki lives with her family in Minneapolis.