Biography
Lisa Deresti Betik has been a storyteller since she was small. She used to spin wild tales about invisible, blanket-eating alligators in her room, and she once convinced everyone that the tooth fairy had made her fall out of bed. She talked a lot as a child (just ask her family!), but she also loved disappearing quietly into the fascinating worlds she found in books.#In high school, Lisa wrote and illustrated her own children’s book for an English class project. Her tale about a messy little monster didn’t turn out as well as she had imagined. (You probably wouldn’t want to read it!) But the process of creating it was engaging and fun, and Lisa knew she wanted to spend her adult life sharing books and ideas with young people.#After graduating from the concurrent education program at Queen’s University, Lisa enjoyed working for several years as a high school English and French teacher. Then she became a mom and spent many happy hours reading books, books, and more books with her two sons. Lisa developed her writing skills through her blog, Pocketfuls, as her boys grew. In the Dark is Lisa’s first published book. She is currently working on a second nonfiction book for children, and she guarantees that there are no messy little monsters in either book.#Born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Lisa grew up surrounded by majestic lakes and forests that encouraged her curiosity. She now lives with her family in Waterloo, Ontario, where she keeps a Little Free Library on their front lawn.~Twitter: @LisaDerestiB~Facebook: @LisaDerestiBetik.writes~Instagram: @lisaderestibetik.writes
Awards
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In the Dark
2022 - Red Cedar Book Award, BC Young Reader's Choice, Commended
2022 - Yellow Cedar Award, Ontario Library Association, Honor Book
2021 - Information Book Award, Vancouver Children`s Literature Roundtable, Commended
Non-fiction
In the Dark, 2020