Return to Sender Author Visit with Vera Brosgol at The Bookies

Tuesday May 13th, 2025 6:00 PM-7:00 PM The Bookies

The Bookies is excited to welcome Caldecott Honor Book winner, Vera Brosgol, in conversation with Colorado author, Heather Sappenfield! Join us for a lighthearted afternoon as Vera presents her new book, Return to Sender. This middle grade novel is full of magic and mystery--you won't want to miss it! Let us know you're coming below!

About the book:

Magic, mystery, and a marvelous mailbox take two kids on a surprising adventure and, even, to a new dimension in this illustrated middle grade from bestselling comics creator Vera Brosgol. Perfect for fans of Greenwild and The Lost Library.

Be careful what you wish for…

After everything they’ve been through, Oliver and his mom finally have a place to call home. But Oliver’s fresh start feels more like a dead-end at his fancy new private school, where kids fly in on helicopters, wear the latest and most expensive sneakers, and go on luxury vacations. Oliver is only there because his mom’s the school custodian.

Oliver wishes his life could be easier. And then one day, after slipping a wish into a mysterious mail slot, it suddenly comes true. Pizza for dinner? Yes! The rarest sneakers in the world? Yes! Everything he could ever want, without spending a cent? Yes, yes, yes!

Oliver’s dreams are finally within his grasp… but what happens when he discovers that his wishes don’t come for free?

About the author:

Vera Brosgol was born in Moscow, Russia, in 1984 and moved to the United States when she was five. Her three graphic novels, Anya’s Ghost, Be Prepared, and Plain Jane and the Mermaid, were published by First Second. She wrote and illustrated several picture books including The Little Guys and Memory Jars, and her debut Leave Me Alone! was a 2017 Caldecott Honor Book. She’s also worked on storyboards for several animated films, including Coraline, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her dog Omar and a freezer full of khinkali dumplings.

About Heather Sappenfield

Heather Mateus Sappenfield writes across genres for all ages. Of her two contemporary YA novels, The View from Who I Was and Life at the Speed of Us, the latter was a Colorado Book Awards finalist. Her literary story collection, Lyrics for Rock Stars, was featured on Colorado Public Radio, earned a Ben Franklin Award, an Earphones Award from AudioFile magazine, and was a finalist for the Audies. The stories also won the Danahy Fiction Prize and the Arthur Edelstein Prize, garnered six Pushcart Prize nominations, and were a finalist for the Flannery O’Connor Award. Her most recent MG novel, The River Between Hearts, is a Moonbeam Awards Medalist, a Nautilus Awards Medalist, and winner of a 2023 Reading the West Award. Heather lives with her husband on the banks of Gore Creek in Vail, Colorado.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Bookies Bookstore, 2085 South Holly Street, Denver, United States