{"id":14687,"date":"2022-01-01T22:59:11","date_gmt":"2022-01-02T03:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/library.ryerson.ca\/asianheritage\/?page_id=14687"},"modified":"2025-12-12T16:27:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T21:27:11","slug":"sarena-nanua-sasha-nanua","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/authors\/sarena-nanua-sasha-nanua\/","title":{"rendered":"Sarena Nanua & Sasha Nanua"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Sarena Nanua and Sasha Nanua are twin sisters of South Asian ancestry who were born and raised in the Greater Toronto Area. Both are graduates of the English and professional writing program of the University of Toronto, Mississauga. While at university, they helped run a creative writing community, UTM Scribes, and also blogged about Canadian books. Their first works, self-published while still teenagers, are the volumes of The Pendant trilogy. These fantasy works feature Arica Miller, a student at a prestigious private arts academy. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fiction (Young adult)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Daughters of the Dawn<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

New York: HarperTeen, 2022.
(Ria & Rani #2)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Ria and Rani have barely settled into their new lives at the palace\u2014as princesses, as sisters\u2014when a sinister prophecy uproots them once more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Blood Moon will rise in one month\u2019s time, and with it their enemy Amara\u2019s opportunity to destroy everything Ria and Rani hold dear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The twin princesses must find Amara\u2014a deadly search that separates Ria and Rani once more and takes them to wintry kingdoms and scorching deserts, pitting them against ancient mysteries and trap-ridden labyrinths, lethal sea monsters and an elusive enemy that steals into their very dreams.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fiction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Gemstone<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

iUniverse, 2012.
(Pendant trilogy; 1)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fiction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The King’s Jewel<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

iUniverse, 2013.
(Pendant trilogy; 2)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fiction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Poisoned Emerald<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

iUniverse, 2014.
(Pendant trilogy; 3)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fiction (Young adult)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sisters of the Snake<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

New York: HarperTeen, 2021.
(Ria & Rani #1)
PS8627.A583 S57 2021<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Princess Rani longs for a chance to escape her gilded cage and prove herself. Ria <\/strong>is a street urchin, stealing just to keep herself alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When these two lives collide, everything turns on its head: because Ria and Rani, orphan and royal, are unmistakably identical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A deal is struck to switch places\u2014but danger lurks in both worlds, and to save their home, thief and princess must work together. Or watch it all fall into ruin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deadly magic, hidden temples, and dark prophecies: Sisters of the Snake <\/em>is an action-packed, immersive fantasy that will thrill fans of The Wrath & the Dawn<\/em> and The Tiger at Midnight.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Awards and Honours<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

2022 Arlene Barlin Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy (Finalist) <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fiction (Juvenile)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Spirit Service<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2025.
PZ7.1.N268 S657 2025<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

All Raveena wants is to bring back her school\u2019s beloved arts program. It\u2019s been six months since her music-loving grandmother passed, and four since Hollows\u2019 Peak Middle School cut its entire arts budget. Now Raveena has no way to practice music, and worse, no way to honor Grandmama\u2019s memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Raveena\u2019s world turns on its head when she and her friends stumble upon an otherworldly discovery: an old-fashioned telephone with the ability to contact ghosts!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With her newfound possession, Raveena devises the perfect plan to raise funds for the arts program: Spirit Service, an agency that guides deceased townspeople to the afterlife by reconnecting them with their living loved ones. The best part? There are tons of spirits in need of assistance\u2014and people willing to pay big bucks to communicate with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But not all spirits are interested in peacefully moving on\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To keep their neighborhood safe, Raveena and her friends must dive into the history of their town and the mysterious phone, and in the process, uncover secrets that are much closer to home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Links and Other Resources<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sarena and Sasha Nanua website<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publisher HarperCollinsCanada<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raughley, Sarah. “Sister Act.” Quill & Quire,<\/em> March 2021, p. 18<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rotberg, Ethan. “For Twin Authors Sarena and Sasha Nanua, YA Fantasy Novels Are a Family Affair.” Toronto Star<\/em>, 4 July 2021. https:\/\/www.thestar.com\/life\/together\/people\/2021\/07\/04\/for-twin-authors-sarena-and-sasha-nanua-collaborating-on-fantasy-novels-is-not-simply-a-family-affair.html <\/a>
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Sarena Nanua and Sasha Nanua are twin sisters of South Asian ancestry who were born and raised in the Greater Toronto Area. Both are graduates of the English and professional writing program of the University of Toronto, Mississauga. While at … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"parent":16,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-14687","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14687"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21042,"href":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14687\/revisions\/21042"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}