Claudia Gabel

Claudia Gabel writes and edits fiction for younger readers, with a particular interest in friendship, technology, and choices made under social pressure. Elusion, coauthored with Cheryl Klam, begins a two-volume teen science-fiction series. Katherine Tegen Books introduced it in 2014, followed by Etherworld in 2015. The opening novel centers on Regan, whose late father helped create an immersive virtual-reality system that offers carefully designed escapes from a polluted near-future Detroit. When reports suggest that the technology may be addictive and unsafe, Regan investigates the company, her father’s legacy, and the people overseeing its launch. Gabel and Klam ground the high concept in questions of grief, loyalty, and corporate secrecy, letting the apparent perfection of the virtual world sharpen the problems outside it. Their collaboration grew from an earlier editor-author relationship, and the book’s combination of mystery and speculative technology reflects both writers’ experience with teen fiction. The sequel continues the same characters and unresolved threat.