Dear Teen Me: Authors Write Letters to Their Teen Selves edited by Miranda Kenneally and E. Kristin Anderson
Release Date: October 30, 2012
Publisher: Zest Books
Genre: Teen Nonfiction
ISBN: 978-1-9369762-1-8

In celebration of the upcoming release of Dear Teen Me, I searched through my journals from my teen years to show you the letter that I wrote myself then. I found that the advice I gave to myself then still applies today, more than ever. I’ve also included a poem that I wrote when I was a teen which is self explanatory once you read it. I apologize for my terrible handwriting. I hate to say that it hasn’t gotten better. Click the photos to enlarge.

Above: My journals from my teen years (minus the entries that I would write in class and then throw away).

Above: A letter I wrote to myself when I was a teen.

Above: One of the many poems that I wrote when I was a teen.

I have also compiled seven (my favorite number) of my favorite lines from the ARC of Dear Teen Me and made a letter to my teenage self from them since that’s something my teen self would do. When I was a teen, I would take my favorite lines from my favorite songs to form a new one, a collage of sorts. To find out which author wrote which line below, you have to buy Dear Teen Me when it releases in exactly one week! Check it out:

Dear Teen Me,

You will make mistakes. Everyone does.

You think about how excellent it is that you dusted yourself off, and with utter seriousness of purpose, tried again.

There’s not one defining moment when it all changes, but gradually.

So do exactly what you’re doing.

Things changed because you made them change.

Teen Me, I know we’re not very good at patience.

You’ll figure it out. I promise.

Finally, I’ve answered the Q&A questions that are asked in the book. Check it out:

Q&A
What was your most embarrassing moment?
I have so many embarrassing moments, many of which I have blocked out. I’m not even kidding. Although never once using my locker and carrying my heavy backpack around school all three years (graduated a year early) because I couldn’t get my locker open for the life of me during orientation (the day before the first day of high school) comes to mind.

Who was your celebrity crush?
My biggest celebrity crush was and still is Justin Timberlake. While he will never be mine, it is nice to share the same birthday.

What was your first job?
My first job (aside from babysitting and the like) was a cashier at Eckerd.

Where was your first kiss?
I am going to take a line from the book and say, “I never kiss and tell.”

Check out the previous and upcoming stops on the Dear Teen Me blog tour, which runs October 15th – November 16th here!

Lauren Oliver (Delirium), Ellen Hopkins (Crank), Jessica Spotswood (Born Wicked), Jodi Meadows (Incarnate), Gretchen McNeil (Ten), and Jess Rothenberg (The Catastrophic History of You and Me) are just a few of the YA authors that participated. For a directory of author websites to ALL of the Dear Teen Me Contributors, click here. Finally, be sure to stay up to date on Dear Teen Me Events here.

Dear Teen Me: Authors Write Letters to Their Teen Selves edited by Miranda Kenneally and E. Kristin Anderson is available for pre-order at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and IndieBound now.