Denise Vega
Storyteller for teens and tweens

Featured Speaker, Saturday, Oct. 4, Edgerton High School English Hall
"How a Book Becomes a Book"

Vega – who has written books that appeal to “kids, teens and tweens” – made a name for herself with her breakthrough novel about making it through middle school alive, “Click Here (To Find Out How I Survived the Seventh Grade).” This beloved Denver, Colorado, author started her career by writing computer books, but has concentrated on her true passion for children’s lit since the late 1990s. Her other books include “Build a Burrito” and “Facts Of Life # 31.” Although she can’t carry a tune “worth pinto beans” and hates cheese, Vega is probably better known for her wildly enthusiastic school visits and the informative, funny, entertaining blog she keeps on her web site, www.denisevega.com. She is the co-regional advisor of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Vega brought her young children – daughters Rayanne and Jesse, and son Zachary – to her first-ever book reading and signing, at Denver’s Tattered Cover bookstore in 2005. Zachary was instructed to play a tape of Kool & the Gang’s song, “Celebration,” whenever his mother got “too emotional.” He played the song three times. Now it’s just three years later, but Zachary is starting high school this fall. Like many other writers, Vega is a member of a monthly, local critique group, which reviews her young adult novels and offers helpful thoughts. She and her husband stage an annual “Halloween bash,” where even the adults come in costume.

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