The people in books told me things that the real people in my life either wouldn't admit or didn't realize I needed to know in the first place. And the more I read, the more I thought about writing my own stories, with my own kinds of truth in them. By the time I was nine, I knew I wanted to write. But I didn't tell anyone, because it was too wild ( Read more... )

...This leads me to why I write for teenagers. I'm pissed. I'm angry. I'm enraged. I wish I could be a sweet and cuddly author, but that's not possible. Inside, I'm 15 years old, and I'm mad as hell. I'm angry because I can see the world through teenage eyes and through grown-up eyes, and I know it's not fair. The lies, the injustice, and the ( Read more... )

THE FIRST TEN LIES THEY TELL YOU IN HIGH SCHOOL ( Read more... )