Dear Teen Me Blog Tour and GIVEAWAY

Dear Teen Me: Authors Write Letters to Their Teen Selves edited by E. Kristin Anderson and Miranda Kenneally

Publisher: Zest Books

Publication Date: October 30^th

Source: Publisher

Rating: I liked it

Dear Teen Me includes advice from over 70 YA authors (including Lauren Oliver, Ellen Hopkins, and Nancy Holder, to name a few) to their teenage selves. The letters cover a wide range of topics, including physical abuse, body issues, bullying, friendship, love, and enough insecurities to fill an auditorium. So pick a page, and find out which of your favorite authors had a really bad first kiss? Who found true love at 18? Who wishes he’d had more fun in high school instead of studying so hard? Some authors write diary entries, some write letters, and a few graphic novelists turn their stories into visual art. And whether you hang out with the theater kids, the band geeks, the bad boys, the loners, the class presidents, the delinquents, the jocks, or the nerds, you’ll find friends--and a lot of familiar faces--in the course of Dear Teen Me.

 
I loved Dear Teen Me! Some of the stories are heartbreaking while others will make you laugh and cringe with embarrassment. With every story, I learned something about others. Everyone is going through a situation that others are unaware of, and it is their journey that shapes them. Some of my favorite authors contributed to Dear Teen Me, and I enjoyed reading a raw piece of text about their lives. I highly recommend this book. Check out the full list of contributing writers here.  

GIVEAWAY! 

Zest Books is graciously offering 1 copy of DEAR TEEN ME to a US reader. To enter, please comment on this post and leave a way for me to contact you (blog, twitter, etc.). 

Good luck! I really hope you win!

E. Kristin Anderson was kind enough to answer a few questions. Check out the interview below!

With over 70 stories in Dear Teen Me, it is difficult to pick one that is my favorite. Some made me laugh or cry and others made me realize that everyone has something going on that we are not aware of during interactions. Is there a story that had a great impact on you?

It's so hard to pick any kind of favorite.  Really and truly.  There are, like you said, so many letters, and they are all so special!  I know that during the editorial process, one that gave me chills was Nancy Holder's.  Her language is so beautiful and ethereal, and I felt like I was there with her, dancing, grieving, making the tough choices. 

What is your most treasured experience of the Dear Teen Me process?

Definitely getting to know some of my author friends on a deeper level.  You think you know someone, and then you hear these stories about their high school days, and it definitely brings you closer.  Oh...and also the EPIC teen photos.  What's not to love?

Do you have any plans to create more Dear Teen Me books?

No plans yet, but if the opportunity arises, I'd love to!  Oh, who am I kidding -- I've been fantasizing about it for months!  I hope that DEAR TEEN ME does well enough to justify a sequel or a similar anthology.  Zest makes beautiful books, so I'd love to work with them again on any project, but especially on another DTM book!

If you could ask any writer to compose a Dear Teen Me letter, who would you select?

Oh so hard to answer!  Especially because so many of my favorite authors are already in the book!  But if I could ask anyone...maybe Douglas Coupland or Nick Hornby.  They're both adult authors, and I've never run into them before, and I've loved all of their books.  So it would be cool to see them navigating the waters of YA and talking about growing up.

Certain books come to us at points in our lives when we need them the most. Have you read a book that you wished you had read as a teen?

There are so many amazing books that I wish I'd had as a teen. I think THE NATURE OF JADE by Deb Caletti is up there on the list.  And definitely NICK AND NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLIST by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn.  And, because I'm a sister, I wish I'd read THE EXTRAORDINARY SECRETS OF APRIL, MAY, AND JUNE by Robin Benway...who is actually one of our DTM contributors!  And above all, STOP PRETENDING by Sonya Sones.

Receiving book recommendations from writers is always interesting, and I would love to know if you have any books that you think people should be reading right now.

My favorite book of this year is THERE IS NO DOG by Meg Rosoff. I want to hug it and cuddle it and pet it.  Also, look out for PJ Hoover's SOLSTICE, which comes out next summer.  It's sexy and exciting and an absolute must read!

What is your next project?

Right now I'm revising a book called VISITED THE SEA, which we're hoping to go out on submission with soon.  It's a YA magic realism taking place on an island off the coast of Maine.  Lots of local legend, romance, and a touch of the otherworldly.  I'm also gearing up for NaNoWriMo, for which I'm writing a contemporary story set at a boarding school, complete with mean girls, romantic entanglements, gender issues, and every insecurity ever.

 

Zest Books is an award-winning publisher of smart and edgy titles that focus on the colorful chaos of teen life. These nonfiction books cover timely topics in creative ways by incorporating solid life advice, practical how-to instruction, and humorous commentary. Zest Books’ catalogue includes 97 Things to Do Before You Finish High School, Where’s My Stuff: The Ultimate Teen Organizing Guide, and Scandalous! 50 Shocking Events You Should Know About So You Can Impress Your Friends. In Fall 2012, Zest Books launches a new line of memoirs and first-person accounts, and Dear Teen Me is the first book in this new line. Zest Books is distributed by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Learn more at www.zestbooks.net.