Publisher: Zest Books
Published: October 30, 2012
ISBN 978-1-9369762-1-8
Teenagers of the world, Dear Teen Me is for you.
For everyone who wishes they were on the football team. For everyone who would rather be in the glee club than ever run another lap. For the teens who dream of being far, far away from the small town or big city where they go to school.
The prom queens, the theater kids, the band geeks, the bad boys, the good girls, the loners, the stoners, the class presidents, the juvenile delinquents, the jocks and the nerds.
The teens who have good days and bad days and sometimes really really really bad days.
The teens who have good days and bad days and sometimes really really really bad days.
This is for you.
Signed,
A group of authors. some famous – some up-and-comers, who care about you.
When we heard about Dear Teen Me book and idea behind it, we jump to chance of participating in this. As a blog who centers around mistakes we understood the idea of the book. Sharing the experiences good and bad with others can make someone else's life less lonely and that's the whole point of this book.
Here's a chance of getting to know your favourite authors in a way you haven't before.
We're super exited to have Miranda Kenneally, one of the founders of the BLOG of the same name and editor of the book.
Miranda Kenneally is the author of the contemporary YA novels Catching Jordan, Stealing Parker (just published), and Things I Can't Forget (Spring 2013). Miranda is also the co-editor, with E. Kristin Anderson, of Dear Teen Me: Authors Write Letters to Their Teen Selves (Zest Books), and is co-creator of the Dear Teen Me website.
We: Hello Miranda, thanks for stopping by today! We know the tour is really busy!
How are you?
Miranda: Great! Thank you for having me.
For the first question, we decided to go with what’s your favorite color?
Blue! (Although, I frequently like to make a joke of this question and say, “My favorite color is clear. Especially in hot guy’s bathing suits.” :P
Ha! Well that might be our fav too...
Where did you get the idea for the blog Dear Teen Me?
My friend Emily and I were online one day talking about how much we loved the band Hanson when we were teenagers, so Emily decided to write a letter to her teen self, telling her about how she’d met a friend online who also loved Hanson.
What made you decide to make a book out of it?
The great people at Zest Books thought it would make a fun book, so we went with it!
Since our blog is all about mistakes (well, in books), what are some mistakes you made as a teenager that you wish you hadn’t? Or could have done differently?
I wish I had given guys who actually liked me a chance, rather than going after guys who treated me like crap and only wanted to make out. I also wish I had read more books during high school.
The book deals with different topics, some are really emotional... Did you feel more sympathetic towards some topics more than others?
The letter that made me cry was Heather Davis’, talking about how she had to figure things out for herself and raise herself after her mom left town. I often felt very alone as a teenager and didn’t feel like I deserved friendship or love. I wish I could’ve read that letter when I was a teenager, because it took years for me to understand that I’m worth something.
Is there anything you'd like readers to keep from Dear Teen Me?
Even if you feel alone, I guarantee there’s someone out there who understands what you’re going through. Stay open, keeping making friends, keep learning.
How did you go about getting authors to write letters for Dear Teen Me? Did some ask to be a part of it, or did you have to beg people at first?
A lot of people really wanted to be a part of it! We only had 70 slots, and we had over 100 people interested, so we made selections based on background, race, and life experience.
Was there something that made you decide you wanted to be a writer or was it something you always knew you wanted?
I’ve known I wanted to be a writer since I was eight years old. But I didn’t write anything good, per se, until I was at least 26. :P It took me a long time to become confident enough in myself and who I am to write true feelings.
As readers we know how inspiring the main character can be, when you write books, do you feel a lot of pressure to make a character people will want to be like?
YES. In my most recent book, my main character, Parker, is judged by her peers because her mom came out as a lesbian. Parker decides to act really girly so people won’t think she’s a lesbian, and she makes some bad decisions. I’ve found that some readers of Parker’s story judge her for her actions without really thinking about why Parker is behaving the way she is. No one really wants to be like Parker, but I want readers to know that there are people out there just like Parker who are hurting because they’ve been judged by others.
Thanks again for answering our questions! Hope you have a wonderful day!
Thank you for having me!
How are you?
Miranda: Great! Thank you for having me.
For the first question, we decided to go with what’s your favorite color?
Blue! (Although, I frequently like to make a joke of this question and say, “My favorite color is clear. Especially in hot guy’s bathing suits.” :P
Ha! Well that might be our fav too...
Where did you get the idea for the blog Dear Teen Me?
My friend Emily and I were online one day talking about how much we loved the band Hanson when we were teenagers, so Emily decided to write a letter to her teen self, telling her about how she’d met a friend online who also loved Hanson.
What made you decide to make a book out of it?
The great people at Zest Books thought it would make a fun book, so we went with it!
Since our blog is all about mistakes (well, in books), what are some mistakes you made as a teenager that you wish you hadn’t? Or could have done differently?
I wish I had given guys who actually liked me a chance, rather than going after guys who treated me like crap and only wanted to make out. I also wish I had read more books during high school.
The book deals with different topics, some are really emotional... Did you feel more sympathetic towards some topics more than others?
The letter that made me cry was Heather Davis’, talking about how she had to figure things out for herself and raise herself after her mom left town. I often felt very alone as a teenager and didn’t feel like I deserved friendship or love. I wish I could’ve read that letter when I was a teenager, because it took years for me to understand that I’m worth something.
Is there anything you'd like readers to keep from Dear Teen Me?
Even if you feel alone, I guarantee there’s someone out there who understands what you’re going through. Stay open, keeping making friends, keep learning.
How did you go about getting authors to write letters for Dear Teen Me? Did some ask to be a part of it, or did you have to beg people at first?
A lot of people really wanted to be a part of it! We only had 70 slots, and we had over 100 people interested, so we made selections based on background, race, and life experience.
Was there something that made you decide you wanted to be a writer or was it something you always knew you wanted?
I’ve known I wanted to be a writer since I was eight years old. But I didn’t write anything good, per se, until I was at least 26. :P It took me a long time to become confident enough in myself and who I am to write true feelings.
As readers we know how inspiring the main character can be, when you write books, do you feel a lot of pressure to make a character people will want to be like?
YES. In my most recent book, my main character, Parker, is judged by her peers because her mom came out as a lesbian. Parker decides to act really girly so people won’t think she’s a lesbian, and she makes some bad decisions. I’ve found that some readers of Parker’s story judge her for her actions without really thinking about why Parker is behaving the way she is. No one really wants to be like Parker, but I want readers to know that there are people out there just like Parker who are hurting because they’ve been judged by others.
Thanks again for answering our questions! Hope you have a wonderful day!
Thank you for having me!
You can still pre-order Dear Teen Me here:
§ Amazon
You can lear more about the contributors of Dear Teen Me HERE
And check out the other stops at the tour HERE
And now the GIVEAWAY
Here's what you can win! Just Fill the raffle below
*Please note the prize will be mailed by Zest Book directly, we hold no responsability over lost items.
US ONLY
Yes, there are so many things I wish I'd never done, but then, if I took them back, I'd have no idea who I'd be now. It'd be too much of a risk. Even the very worst things can make you into something valuable.
ReplyDeleteThere are many embarrassing things I did when I was a teenager, but I wouldn't want to take any back because they all helped me develop into the person I am today.
ReplyDeletefreshmankay[at]gmail[dot]com