'PANDEMIC' In Morris County Nets Award for Chatham Children's Author

When Chatham’s Yvonne Ventresca put pen to paper, she was just hoping to write a children’s book that would keep young readers interested.

The author has done that and more, and her 2014 release, PANDEMIC, has been named the 2015 Atlantic region Crystal Kite Award winner from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

The fictional story follows Lilianna Snyder’s sudded change from star student to withdrawn pessimist as an untreatable and quick-spreading illness begins to envelope the country while her parents are out of town on business.

The book was published through Sky Pony Press/Skyhorse Publishing. While it’s Ventresca’s first fictional book, it’s not her first published work. She previously Avril Lavigne, a biography of the singer, and Publishing, a book about careers in the field.

The Atlantic region for which the author won the award encompasses New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Washington D.C., Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland.