Yvonne Ventresca is a successful American author, best known for her young adult novels that explore suspenseful themes. She grew up in Levittown, New York, a suburban town famous for its uniform housing designs and street names. Ventresca's interest in books and writing began in middle school when she asked her librarian about the process of creating a physical book. This early curiosity eventually led to her love for writing and her pursuit of a career in the field.
Ventresca has an unusual combination of educational background, holding both a major in English and Computer Science. She graduated with honors from Hofstra University and went on to earn her MBA from NYU's Stern School of Business. Throughout her writing career, she has written about careers in publishing and a biography of Avril Lavigne, but her passion has always been for writing fiction. When faced with a difficult literature assignment, she would turn to debugging her computer programs for inspiration, demonstrating the unique connection between her two fields of study.
In addition to her young adult novels, Ventresca has also written two nonfiction books and several short stories for anthologies. Her latest short story, "The Third Ghost," won the eponymous award in the middle grade anthology VOYAGERS: THE THIRD GHOST. Her young adult novel, BLACK FLOWERS, WHITE LIES, won a National IPPY Gold Medal for YA fiction in 2017, and her debut YA novel, PANDEMIC, won a Crystal Kite Award from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Ventresca's other works have been selected for anthologies such as 30 SHADES OF DEAD, HERO LOST: MYSTERIES OF DEATH AND LIFE, and PREP FOR DOOM.
Ventresca holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts and has a website, YvonneVentresca.com, where she offers resources for other writers. Her writing explores themes of trust, deception, and betrayal, and she has a particular talent for creating thrilling and suspenseful novels that keep readers on the edge of their seats.