It's
no secret how Jen Calonita knows the inside scoop on young
Hollywood. A former Senior Entertainment Editor at Teen
People, Jen has interviewed everyone from Reese Witherspoon
to Zac Efron. An entertainment journalist for the past ten
years, Jen has written for TV Guide, Glamour and Marie Claire.
It was her work in the entertainment world that inspired her first series, Secrets of My Hollywood
Life.
The six-book series is about a teen starlet named Kaitlin Burke who grows weary of the fame game, but loves being an actress. Us Weekly's Mara
Reinstein said about Secrets:
"At last! A witty, entertaining and refreshingly honest
take on what it's really like to be a celebrity 'It' girl."
Secrets of My Hollywood Life won the Louisiana State Young Readers' Choice Award for grades 6-8 in 2009. The series has been published in Germany, Brazil, Portugal, France, Japan and Russia.
Jen has also published two stand-alone novels. Booklist called Sleepaway Girls: "The picture-perfect setting, the sweet little kids, the seductive freedom from parents, and the lure of adult-like responsibility make this the perfect read-alike to suggest to fans of Ann Brashares' Traveling Pants series."
Reality Check is about best friends who get their own reality TV show. Booklist said: "Fans of Meg Cabot's Airhead series and Calonita's Secrets of My Hollywood Life will eat this fun, timely, cautionary tale right up."
Jen is hard at work on a new teen series, Belles, that will debut in April 2012.
When the self-professed entertainment junkie is not working, she can be found doing one of three things: scrapbooking, watching Glee, or going to the movies. Jen resides in Merrick, New York with her husband Mike, sons Tyler and Dylan, and their Chihuahua, Captain Jack Sparrow.
Check
out Jen's video interviews at the website for her publisher, Hachette
Book Group: LB Teens. She talks about growing
up and being a writer as well as Secrets
of My Hollywood Life: Family Affairs.
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