I stopped by Katy Upperman’s blog this morning and read a great post about what we would all like to tell our teen selves if we could turn back time. It seems a group of YA authors got together and did just that…they compiled letters to their teen selves and those letters are now published in a book titled, DEAR TEEN ME.
From Goodreads: DEAR TEEN ME includes advice from over 70 YA authors (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.
Y.A. Author E. L. Schneider put together a video staring a few people who contributed letters to their teen selves. She also shared a wonderful “Dear Teen Me” letter that had me smiling, remembering and relating. You should check it out here.
What six words would I tell my teen self?
“Don’t believe them. Believe in you.”
What six words would you tell your teen self?
Related articles
- “Dear Teen Me” Letter (allisonsbookbag.wordpress.com)
- Dear Teen Me: Authors Write Letters to Teen Selves in New Book (connectwithyourteens.net)
- Things that inspire me to write #74: Dear Teen Me (likestrawberrytea.com)
- Dear Teen Me Book Trailer! (deliriumfandom.net)
- Dear Teen Me – Interview & Giveaway (iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com)
YA Chit Chat 
Life is short…
Enjoy your youth…
LikeLike
You gave six great words of advice. I’d have said something similar to myself. The book sounds wonderful. I hope some of the advice will be taken, but knowing what I was like at that age, I doubt I’d have listened because ‘adults could never understand what it was like to be a kid”. lol
LikeLike
“You’ll do a dozen impossible things.” So every time someone says I can’t I’ll know this is part of my dozen. 🙂
LikeLike
Jenny, thank you so much for helping spread the word on this awesome project! I had so much fun putting it all together – and am grateful I have so many wonderful writer friends that were willing to subject their photos to the world!
There are many six words I’d say to my teen self, including something fun:
Definitely invest heavily in Apple stocks! 🙂
Something important:
Stop caring what other people think.
And what I said in the video:
Be patient…great things WILL happen!
Thanks again, Jenny – so happy you stopped by!
LikeLike
I think I would tell my teen self to pick the other guy and trust my gut instincts more than I did. I think I would also tell my teen self to travel more and quit taking life so seriously. Thanks for the book. I hope kids read it, love it, and let the advice ‘in’. Since it’s not coming from parents and family, this strategy might just work. 🙂 Fingers crossed.
LikeLike
I know I would tell her: “It gets better.”
LikeLike
I think I have to share a line from my book: “Kiss the boys, don’t date them.”
LikeLike
You are better than this…of course I doubt I would have listened…that’s where celebrity endorsements would help..
LikeLike
Isn’t there a famous saying: Youth is wasted on the young. All this advice and their young selves wouldn’t understand a word. ::sigh::
LikeLike
I think some of it sets in. I see with my older kids. They’ve come back a few times and said, “I didn’t understand what you said then, but I do now. Thank you.” That’s when you know you’ve done a good job.
LikeLike
My six words would be ‘Take a bit longer to think’ – they aren’t great wise words or anything, but they are what I wish I had done several times in my life.
LikeLike
Amen! how true. and I know my husband and I have said those words to our teens more times than I can remember.
LikeLike
I LOVE your six words of advice, Jenny! Erin’s video turned out beautifully, and I’m so looking forward to reading DEAR TEEN ME. Thanks for linking to my post this morning, and have a wonderful weekend!
LikeLike
you, too, Katy. Lovely post. Thanks for turning me onto the book
LikeLike
I had heard about this book before now and I think it’s a great concept. I hope it really resonates with the teens who read it.
Knowing my teen self, I wouldn’t have listened, but my six words of advice:
“Don’t judge or be judged – live.”
LikeLike
great words of advice. I hope teens pick up this book and read it. I think girls will. I’m not to sure about the guys.
LikeLike