Dear Teen Me Blog Tour: Meet EKA!

  

How many times have you looked back on your teenage years and cringed, wishing you could offer your younger self some guidance? This book of nearly 70 letters by top young adult authors—including bestselling writers Lauren Oliver, Ellen Hopkins, and Nancy Holder—does just that, and today’s teens will benefit. (official Zest Books blurb)

Dear Teen Me: Authors Write Letters to Their Teen Selves is a book edited by Miranda Kenneally and E. Kristin Anderson. Zest Books. This is a compilation of advice, stories, and encouragement from authors to their teen selves.

You may have seen other posts about the Deer Teen Me book floating around the blogosphere. If you’ve missed the posts thus far, I highly recommend checking out the full tour. It’s really quite impressive!

My special assignment on the Dear Teen Me blog tour was to interview one of the editors: E Kristin Anderson. I KNOW. Be jealous. But not too jealous because you get to read the interview and learn more about one of the lovely ladies that helped make this compilation possible!

  

1. Let's get to know YOU. You get invited to a sleepover with your best besties. They tell you to bring something fun! What do you bring?

I always end up on food duty.  So as long as someone else is already in charge of bringing The Breakfast Club and Mean Girls, I'm probably going to be bringing some kind of cupcakes.  One of my favorite recipes I've ever made were rootbeer float cupcakes, which are made in ice cream cones, with rootbeer-vanilla-flavoried cake, iced with buttercream frosting and garnished with chocolate ganache and marachino cherries.   Mmmmm.

  

2. Okay okay, to business. It's clear that you're very passionate about the Dear Teen Me anthology and spreading the word. What is it about this book that means so much to you and why should we read it?

I think that no matter when you grew up, there is a universal feeling of loneliness in the teen years.  And grown ups are so good at blocking that out.  They tell you to get over it, to enjoy your teen years while you can, that THE WORST DAY EVER is no big deal.  The authors in DEAR TEEN ME freaking get it.  We remember being teens.  We remember that it's real and it hurts and it's intense and it's dramatic and sometimes, yeah, it's really really funny.  I think people should read this book because a) it's so very very cuddleable and b) it will make you feel less alone.

  

3. The idea of Dear Teen Me is that authors are writing letters to their teenage self (which is AWESOME, btw) and giving insight or advice or encouragement or just a bit of humor. Is there any advice you can give that you think applies to all teenagers everywhere?

Embrace your inner weirdo.  Seriously.  Everyone has one.  Some of us are better at hiding it than others.  (That cheerleader with the perfect hair?  She secretly has a crush on a cartoon character.  The superjock?  Wishes he had the guts to do theatre.   Homecoming queen?  Wants to chop her hair into a mohawk.)  But you know what?  Being a weirdo is way more awesome than faking it.  Faking it only gets you so far.  And it's way more comfortable to celebrate your weirdness than it is to try and cover it up.  It took me a while to figure it out myself, but when I did, man, it was a very special kind of bliss.

  

4. More about who YOU are. I checked out your blog and I want to know the truth. Do you still rock out to Hanson? If so, how often? No shame here! I still bump the NSync so do not think judgment is happening.

Dude.  DUDE.  I listen to Hanson all the time.  ALL THE TIME.  And I go see them whenever they're in town and I sing along to all the songs.  Once a Hansonite, always a Hansonite!

5. Because honestly, we are here to nerd about books. What is your favorite book of all time and why do you love it so?

HARDEST QUESTION EVER!  Okay.  I'm going to go with HIGH FIDELITY today.  Which is a grown up book.  I know.  I mostly read YA but occasionally a grown up book captures me.  And HIGH FIDELITY by Nick Hornby is one of the books that inspired me to be a novelist.  His character, Rob, reminds me of me if I were a thirty-something grumpy man who owned a record store (okay, full disclosure, I'm weeks shy of being thirty by the time this post goes live, and I did used to work in a record store, but bear with me here).  What I love about HIGH FIDELITY is not only the brilliant writing and the fantastic voice, but the universality of human screw-ups.  We're all just giant balls of WTF.  And if we can just figure out how to be nut-jobs together, in a productive way, well, we're on to something then, aren't we?  Plus, I love all of Rob's Top 5 lists, and his total music snob ways, and...you know, I could gush about this book forever.  Just read it, ok?

How cool is she?! Just imagine if she is one of the masterminds behind this project, how incredible must the book truly be!

If you’re interested in getting to know EKA even more, be sure to check her out on Twitter or on Facebook.

Having read it and adored Dear Teen Me, I can assure you it’s one that you’ll want to read – whether you’re a current teenager, a not so young adult, or an adult who has a teen in their life. It’s hilarious and sweet and just so spot on. Read it. You won’t regret it!

Thanks to Zest Books, EKA and Miranda Kenneally for inviting me to be a part of this amazing tour!