Reviews
Dear Teen Me: Authors Write Letters to Their Teen Selves by E. Kristin Anderson, Miranda Kenneally
hereistheend's review against another edition
4.0
Read this over the summer. YA authors write letters to their teenaged selves. These letters include photos, stories, advice, laughter, tears, and more... Really fun.
lornarei's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting collection of advice from the future. I can't quite give it four stars because I found it depressing in some ways - why do the teenage years have to be so hard? I may have my daughter read it, I know she could relate, but once again all the angst in it might be too much for her right now. And as for YOU, teen me, that guy you never spoke to again because you thought you were the butt of a joke - he was flirting with you, you big dummy. Took you 20 years to figure it out, but yeah. Would it have changed your life? No, but you wouldn't have thrown a potential friendship to the curb for no good reason.
shanyreader's review against another edition
5.0
As a teenager reading this, I can actually relate to this book a lot. The obsessive worrying about weight, and how I look, and whether or not this boy likes me, etc. And while the majority of the stories were about topics like that (some of which were very light-hearted and others which were very serious), you had a few oddballs like driving a drunk girl home, or thanking oneself for choosing to live, or thinking back to how awesome Prom night was, even though you weren't at Prom--so there's a lot of variety. But altogether, I thought this was a very good representation of what it is to be a teenager. I enjoyed the way the authors wrote because you could tell they were really talking to their teen selves from an older perspective, with a lot of love and support and acceptance and just, it was full of emotion. Sometimes teenagers feel like they're alone and life will always suck until the end of time and they'll never be able to love themselves, but this book really tries to tell teens that that's not true. There are good people out there, there are people who you might not think you like now but who you will be best friends with later, like a parent or sibling, and overall, things will be okay one day. There's always gonna be a rainbow after the storm.
I recommend this book to any teenager really, because as the book advertises itself, it's not just for the popular kids or the nerds or anything--each author is special and you will find yourself relating to a wide spectrum of them. Also, they had teenage pictures of all the authors after their individual letters which is so COOL! Plus, it had some authors whose books I've read, so that was Double Cool!! :D
I recommend this book to any teenager really, because as the book advertises itself, it's not just for the popular kids or the nerds or anything--each author is special and you will find yourself relating to a wide spectrum of them. Also, they had teenage pictures of all the authors after their individual letters which is so COOL! Plus, it had some authors whose books I've read, so that was Double Cool!! :D
thebookishlibrarian's review against another edition
Authors have come together to write letters to their teen selves, and to give the advice they wish they would have followed when they were going through some rough patches. Authors include Ellen Hopkins, Lauren Oliver and Tom Angleberger.
herlifewithbooks's review against another edition
2.0
Collections such as this one make me wonder who the book is really for. Is it for teens, looking for wise counsel from seasoned adults? If so, what gives 20/30-something YA writers the qualification to provide such advice? The stories are all so personal, too, I found it hard to relate to any of them and I *am* a 20/30-something.
I suspect the book is more for the authors to self-promote, or the industry to kind of bathe in everyone's success. Or perhaps for nostalgic 20/30-something YA-sympathizers who want a dash of nostalgia.
Also, I have no idea what advice I would give my teen self. Not one clue.
I suspect the book is more for the authors to self-promote, or the industry to kind of bathe in everyone's success. Or perhaps for nostalgic 20/30-something YA-sympathizers who want a dash of nostalgia.
Also, I have no idea what advice I would give my teen self. Not one clue.
blurrybug's review against another edition
3.0
I think a teenager would get more out of this than me
Some stories just annoyed me, others left me wanting more and some was just okay.
Having said that it gets a 3 star cause it was more okay than annoying or good stories.
Recommending it for youth that may be a little lost as a reminder that hey things may not go your way now but give it time or see how other resolved their issues.
Some stories just annoyed me, others left me wanting more and some was just okay.
Having said that it gets a 3 star cause it was more okay than annoying or good stories.
Recommending it for youth that may be a little lost as a reminder that hey things may not go your way now but give it time or see how other resolved their issues.
dilemma's review against another edition
3.0
Some good letters, but I wish I'd known more of the authors. I only knew four or five.
l1brarygirl's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't recognize a lot the authors featured but did notice a lot of them live in Austin. Out of the 70 authors featured in this book, 13 of them live in Austin! That's a crazy amount to me. In case you were curious (like I was) I broke down where are these authors are living:
Texas - 15
New York - 12
California - 9
Canada - 5
Washington - 5
Colorado - 3
Virginia - 3
Maine - 2
Massachusetts -2
Michigan - 2
Nevada - 2
Pennsylvania - 2
Indiana - 1
Maryland - 1
Minnesota - 1
New Mexico - 1
Ohio - 1
Utah - 1
Washington, D.C. - 1
Wisconsin - 1
Also, the majority were female (56 to 14 males)
I really thought it was cute that [a:Lauren Oliver|2936493|Lauren Oliver|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1416335442p2/2936493.jpg] & [a:Elizabeth Miles|121174|Elizabeth Miles|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1333268299p2/121174.jpg] are childhood friends and wrote their letters to each other. I liked the illustrated letters too ([a:Tom Angleberger|3172535|Tom Angleberger|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1307441716p2/3172535.jpg], [a:Faith Erin Hicks|996558|Faith Erin Hicks|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1310012075p2/996558.jpg], [a:Dave Roman|266715|Dave Roman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1200331121p2/266715.jpg], [a:Tracy White|4905708|Tracy White|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png])
Texas - 15
New York - 12
California - 9
Canada - 5
Washington - 5
Colorado - 3
Virginia - 3
Maine - 2
Massachusetts -2
Michigan - 2
Nevada - 2
Pennsylvania - 2
Indiana - 1
Maryland - 1
Minnesota - 1
New Mexico - 1
Ohio - 1
Utah - 1
Washington, D.C. - 1
Wisconsin - 1
Also, the majority were female (56 to 14 males)
I really thought it was cute that [a:Lauren Oliver|2936493|Lauren Oliver|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1416335442p2/2936493.jpg] & [a:Elizabeth Miles|121174|Elizabeth Miles|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1333268299p2/121174.jpg] are childhood friends and wrote their letters to each other. I liked the illustrated letters too ([a:Tom Angleberger|3172535|Tom Angleberger|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1307441716p2/3172535.jpg], [a:Faith Erin Hicks|996558|Faith Erin Hicks|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1310012075p2/996558.jpg], [a:Dave Roman|266715|Dave Roman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1200331121p2/266715.jpg], [a:Tracy White|4905708|Tracy White|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png])
ainiali's review against another edition
5.0
So how much did i love this book? i'm crazy over it. contemplating over a year whether to buy it or not. In the end, yes, i did buy the book & it was awesome!
Some letters are like self-expose & a whole lot sounds like a bunch of adult, looking back & unloading their inner regret in life.
We do look back in the past, thinking & wondering what mistake or decision that we made that lead us to ourselves today. some bad, some pretty good. For wishing that we did not do some things is unavoidable, so this for my dear teen me,
Stop sulking & love An more. For one day she'll be gone for good. Hug her even she refuse. Tell her she's the best friend you will ever have in your life. You'll regret that the last thing you said to her is how lame your life is. Stop! Call her up & ask whether she's OK. Where's she going? To the eternity.
Some letters are like self-expose & a whole lot sounds like a bunch of adult, looking back & unloading their inner regret in life.
We do look back in the past, thinking & wondering what mistake or decision that we made that lead us to ourselves today. some bad, some pretty good. For wishing that we did not do some things is unavoidable, so this for my dear teen me,
Stop sulking & love An more. For one day she'll be gone for good. Hug her even she refuse. Tell her she's the best friend you will ever have in your life. You'll regret that the last thing you said to her is how lame your life is. Stop! Call her up & ask whether she's OK. Where's she going? To the eternity.