Dear Teen Me,
I know you’re probably writing poetry in one of your notebooks or listening to The Cure right now, but this is important so pay attention. All the feelings you’re writing about on those lined pages—all the things that make you feel different and ugly and alone sometimes—you’re going to use them one day to write a book with your best friend, for other people who feel different and ugly and alone sometimes, too.
Because you won’t forget. You’ll carry these memories with you, trying to change them or hide them or re-write them. And they will stay buried for a while, but eventually they’ll always find you. Because they’re yours. So I’m going to give you some advice, which you probably won’t take because we both know how stubborn you are, but maybe someone else will. Someone a lot like you.
-If people hurt you over and over, they don’t love you no matter how much they say they do.
-Sometimes things really are right or wrong.
-Don’t let other people discourage you from following your dreams just because they didn’t follow theirs.
-Say what you mean and mean what you say.
-What goes around really does come around. You just have to wait for it.
-You can build a wall, but you’ll still get hurt.
And this one is the most important, so maybe you should write it down in that notebook. You can try to be someone you’re not, but in the end, you’ll still be you. And she’s not so bad.
Oh, one more thing. Take a look at the picture included with this letter & don’t let you’re friends cut your hair again.
x Kami
Kami Garcia is the co-author of the urban fantasy novels BEAUTIFUL CREATURES, BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS & BEAUTIFUL CHAOS (coming October 18, 2011). She grew up outside of Washington DC, but always felt like she had one foot in the South because of the powerful influence of her Southern grandmother and great-grandmother. She grew up drinking sweet tea, eating vegetables cooked with a little bacon grease, and biscuits made from scratch. In junior high and high school, Kami wore tons of black, lots of rings, and spent hours writing in her journals. By the time she graduated high school, she had probably filled a hundred of them. That was the beginning of writing for her.
Kami has MA in education, and was a classroom teacher and a reading specialist for twelve years. In addition to teaching, she led fantasy book groups for children and teens. She lives in Los Angeles, with her husband, son, daughter, and their dog Spike (named after her favorite character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer). She’s very superstitious and has lots of charms. She love disaster movies, hates flan, and could easily live on pizza and Diet Coke.
You can keep up with her here:
http://www.kamigarcia.com/
www.beautifulcreaturesthebook.com
http://twitter.com/kamigarcia
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Dear Teen Me: More Letters from Authors to their Teen Selves
Teen FictionWe hope you'll be inspired, shocked, amused, and touched by this selection of letters from the DearTeenMe.com website. 'How awesome would it be if authors wrote letters to their teen selves?' A year and a half later, you can pick up DEAR TEEN ME fro...
