Like, yer very own never-before-seen advance copy (called a "galley") of my new book, the one that's like the ttyl books only for tweens?  And looks like THIS?

Okay, lovie-dovies?  Y'ALL. ROCK.  Seriously.  Thank you so much for, um, helping me remember the deets of my novels!!!!!

One last question...I think.  I hope!

How many times did Winnie get stung by the yellow jackets that day when she was jumping on the trampoline with Amanda, and got miffed, and set off through the woods and ran smack into a wasp nest????

P.S. Guess whom that really happened to?  If you guessed me...yep!  Only it was in North Carolina, and I wasn't with Amanda.  And I was a lot younger, and there were no Mike 'N Ikes involved.  Still...owwie!!!!!

...I need your help! 

Why?  Cuz I'm busy as a bee finishing 14, but there are some deets I need that I, um, can't remember out of the smallness of my own brain.  Or the over-loaded-ness of my own brain?  And yes, I could look them up by GOING TO THE BOOKS, but that would be getting off my butt.  And away from my pooter, which is what my four-year-old calls my computer.  And then how would 14 get finished, hmmmm?  

So, for those of you with a head for trivia, give these babies a shot (if you dare):

What's the name of Amanda’s goth friend, the girl with lizard eyes who hangs out behind the cafeteria with Amanda when Amanda's in her black eyeliner phase?

Who was Winnie’s 8th grade French teacher?

Okay, this is embarrassing, but what is Winnie's Dad’s name?

And finally, what did Amanda’s first bikini look like???

(Yes, there is Amanda-ness being explored in 14...along with oh-so-many other things!)


Thanks, sweeties.  Correct answers win my undying admiration and appreciation!!!!

...who would you be?

Take this quiz to see which character from Peace, Love and Baby Ducks you're most like...and then share yer results, will ya plz?  Mwah!

There is a book that I love, and I call it PURE.  I call it that because that is its title. 


And I love it!!!!!  Love it and lurve it and luv it and...yeah.  You get the drift.  (And is that not the seriously most kick-booty cover EVER??????)

Anyways, I chatted with Miz Terra about her book and mine, Peace, Love and Baby Ducks, and DEEP DARK SECRETS were revealed about all sorts of stuff:  sex, God, hair plopping, virginity rings.  Hot guys.  Sisters and the ickiness of jealousy... 

Eavesdrop on us here...and tell Terra I said "hi"!  Oh, and run run RUN to read Pure!!!!!!!!

And P.S.  WEAR SUNSCREEN, even on the last day at the beach, even if you want to get "a little color"!!!!!!  Damn sunburn.  I itch, I itch!!!!!!

From The Washington Post, no less!!!!!

 

Dear Extra Credit:

I am a soon-to-be stepmother to a lovely 12-year-old girl. She recently brought home a bright pink book with yellow smiley faces on the cover titled "TTYL" (Talk To You Later, in text/Internet-speak). The author is Lauren Myracle. I thought to myself, "How cute; how perfect for a 12-year-old." I flipped through thinking I would find stories about nail polish and trips to the mall.

Instead, I found the tale of three 10th-grade girls who use the f-bomb, drink alcohol, dance topless at a frat party, have an outside-of-school relationship with a teacher and can't wait to lose their virginity. Plus, it's written as if it appeared in an online chat conversation. Our children should be expanding their vocabulary, not minimizing it. Who in their right mind thinks it's a good idea for a child to read a book that's missing most of its vowels?

This book came from the Washington Irving Middle School library in Springfield with a "Family Story" stamp on it. I immediately contacted the school counselor, who forwarded me to the librarian. She said, "It's hard to find books that don't have some cursing and sexual themes." Isn't it the job of a librarian to get age-appropriate material for the children to read? Is this the best we can do?

I submitted a formal challenge to the principal, which is now in the hands of the assistant superintendent for the Fairfax County schools. Regarding the "Family Story" stamp, the librarian told me, "That doesn't mean sit down and read it with your family. It means real-life situations." I am not ignorant of today's youth and their increasingly getting-older-younger/babies-having-babies/want-to-be-sexy ways, but why would our school libraries encourage this lifestyle? Have our schools given up?

Carole Darby

 

Springfield

Extra Credit's Response:

Wow. I would have reacted as you did, if I had bothered to read the book. Lazy parents like me let our kids pick the books and rarely check. The "Family Story" stamp is particularly upsetting. That says G-rated to me.
Fairfax schools spokeswoman Mary Shaw says she cannot comment on the book while we wait for the School Board to decide on your challenge, which usually takes at least 45 days. But I hope library supervisors will rethink their interpretation of that stamp. Not all of us are as conscientious parents as you are. I wonder whether others in the region have had similarly unpleasant surprises in our school libraries.

So, power librarian Betsy Bird got to go to wham-dazzle book party hosted by my publisher (um, was *I* invited? no), and she got a preview of the new fall books, including my new IM book, Luv Ya Bunches.  She has amusing things to say about it (and the other new books, and cupcakes, and Chad Beckerman) here, but I have copied and pasted my favorite parts below.  Betsy...mwah!


First up, a book I would not have thought to notice were it not for the fact that the cutesy cover has some interesting aspects.  Luv Ya Bunches by Lauren Myracle has several pros and cons going for it.  Pro: It's by Lauren Myracle.  You can trust Ms. Myracle.  Her book may be pink, may have the word "Luv" in the title, and may even featured big-eyed girl cartoons lacking noses, but you can trust her.  Con:  The "v" in the word "Luv" is a little heart.  Pro:  Ms. Myracle was declared to be "one of the most challenged authors in the country."  Con: Pinkness.  Oh, the pinkness.  Pro:  Interracial girls in a middle grade novel (and how many headscarves appear on the covers of girly books anyway?).  And the last time Ms. Myracle went all middle grade on us the results were Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen.  So I'll pick it up.  Some tween girls will flock to it like rats to sugar, and who am I to judge?  Jacket illustration or not, I trust Lauren Myracle.  So we'll see.

My second favorite part, which came from clicking on Thirteen, which took me to a review Betsy wrote like 5000 years ago, but which I'd never seen: 

It’s always weird to drop right smack dab into the middle of a series. You never know whether you’re missing out on some subtle details from the previous books, or even whether or not the book in your hand would be better if you knew its characters already. It’s more of a problem with series books, I suppose. Realistic fiction doesn’t contain crazy names and weird interior logics. Tween books starring girl characters supposedly are all the same too. The idea is that if you’ve read the Anastasia Krupnik books by Lois Lowry then you’ve read the Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Alice series then you’ve read the Lauren Myracle books, and so on and so on. Which, let’s face it, isn’t true at all. Tween girl heroines each have their own set of quirks and characteristics and Lauren Myracle is no exception. Now I’ve heard a couple people who are fans of Myracle pooh-poohing her latest book Thirteen. They say it isn’t as strong as the other books or the plot wraps up too neatly. Stuff along those lines. Well I myself haven’t read any other books by Ms. Myracle except for thistitle and what I read I really liked. I’m sure that every series like this one has its supporters, but when it comes to an incredible voice and a likable heroine, color me a new Myracle fan. I can’t wait to start recommending this book left and right to my patrons.

She survived the age of eleven. She breezed (sorta) through the age of twelve. Now Winnie Perry is a great big beautiful thirteen and boy is she feeling it. She has a boyfriend (sorta sorta) by the name of Lars who seems okay and all but is much better at kissing than communicating. She has her two best friends Cinnamon and Dinah by her side, helping her through her roles. And then there are her siblings, moody for their own reasons, and a mom who has a couple secrets of her own. The trek into teenagerhood is fraught with many perils, but through it all Winnie comes this much closer to knowing who she is and what she can accomplish.

Ms. Myracle is one of the few authors I know of to acknowledge and thank her cover artist (in this case the fabulously named “Beegee Tolpa”). For this reason alone I believe that she must have more in common with her charming heroine than one might initially think. It doesn't hurt matters any that Myracle gets the sheer level of tween/teen selfishness down pat. The constant fears that you aren’t looking the way that you should be looking, for example. She has an ear for relaying when people trying to hard, like Winnie laughing uproariously at her friends’ jokes when Lars is near, so as to look wild and free and attractive. I loved too how Myracle accurately got down the fogginess teens feel about what constitutes “old” (example: “I thought it was important to make this promise to myself now, before I turned thirty and got saggy and fat.”). She gets the age.

I suppose I could see how Winnie’s bon mots might tap dance on a person’s nerves, but somehow they never got to me. I liked her insights most times. Like when a popular girl acts like she’s a loser, which was weird but, “better than being snotty”. I loved her cheery sarcasm regarding boring children’s primers. “Oh, the joy of short A’s. Might there be a bat in the cat’s future? A bat wearing a hat? Who knew! That’s what made it so exciting!” Any author that can make a thirteen-year-old character sound like someone who would call herself a stud (“that’s the kind of stud I am”) wins my heart. She also has this unexpectedly dirty mouth that just pops out of nowhere. I can think of at least one section where the words “turd”, “penis”, and “vagina” all pop out at you, and somehow it’s funny rather than overly scatological.

Some things didn’t sit with me perfectly, though. Maybe I just had a really self-involved life, but when I was thirteen nobody had parties where they invited the whole class. I went to public school, though, and Winnie is going to a private one where issues of class and race (set against an Atlanta setting, no less) never even come up. Still, I can’t imagine the kind of privilege a person would have to be raised in to hear about 14-year-olds throwing house parties with hot tubs and liquor cabinets. It happens probably, but at least in my own case it made Winnie’s story seem so much older than its scant thirteen years. Then again, if Myracle continues at the rate she’s been going, Winnie’s gonna be nineteen soon and possibly outgrowing her young fans. On the other other hand, I have this weird desire for that to happen. Remember in the old days when books like Betsy-Tacy and Anne of Green Gables would just keep going and going until their characters grew up, got married, and had kids? How cool would it be if Lauren Myracle continued that trend? I mean, what if? I know that publishers would shy away from that kind of retro writing, but I think that there’s a real allure in following a character through life. Winnie certainly has plenty of material to work from, and instead of the standard marriage ending you could finish the series off with something appropriately grown-up, mature, and feminist. Awesome.

Spoiler alert, if you care for that sort of thing. I’m sure that there will be teen girls cheering Winnie on for getting back together with Lars at the end of the book when he apologizes for being a doofus, but I know that the adults reading the story will wish heartily that Winnie moved on. Wouldn’t she be so much better off with that nice boy she met on the camping trip? Lars is the kind of guy willing to laugh at his sweetheart if it’ll impress the sexy girl with the nose ring hanging about. If I were Winnie I’d dump the fool and move on. But then, maybe that’s where Myracle is going and we’ll get some kind of magnificent dumping scene in the next book. Hey, a gal can hope can’t she?

If you’re too old to get a book’s references (My Super Sweet Sixteen anyone?) are you too old to review it? Not if the characters smack of reality, the story’s fun, and the drama lies at a low ebb (which, for me, is a definite plus). I don’t know how many more Winnie books Ms. Myracle has in her system, but here’s hoping she keeps cranking them out. Ms. Myracle has a brand new fan.

On shelves now.  (insert from me:  actually, on shelves AS A PAPERBACK now!!!)

So, now that Betsy Bird has officially won the Librarian of the Day award, don't y'all want to see this lovely lady?  Course you do!  And, as I live to oblige...

Hola, duckies.  Yeppers,  I'm still giving away songs from Carly's hippie-dippie playlist...but not for long!  To get in on the action, 1) read Peace, Love and Baby Ducks, 2) go to the Peace, Love and Baby Ducks contest site, and 3) request the goofy quiz by messaging me there (on my profile page).  High scores all receive an iTunes gift of one of Carly's favorite tunes!

      !

Okay, so here's the thing:  all you duckies worked SO hard to fulfill the challenges in the Peace, Love and Baby Ducks contest, and I just can't stop thinking about all the smarts and kindness and hilarity you put into your efforts.

Like just for example:

--from Kaushika's letter to Al Roker:  Al.  Buddy.  Hopefully, you don't have any stalkers that follow you around. But if you do, I can assure you, it's not me. However, if you have any stalkers, you know who you can talk to about it? That's right, Lauren Myracle! She's an expert on stalkers, because I bet that tons of her fans will stalk her - including moi. Ok, that was a lie for the most part because I know that I don't like people getting all up in my grill so I wouldn't dare put anyone else in that situation...

--from Campbell's Cream of Jesus on making the world a better place:  I like to think that I make the world a better place by just existing. ;)

--from Francesca T on the same topic:  Well there are like 8 stray cats im my neighborhood and they are very bony and starving. So I fed them today! They had bacon, a hot dog, and some cat food.

--from Hannah, in response to the question "Have you ever liked the right guy and had him turn out to be, indeed, the right guy?"  No all the guys ive liked are truly what seemed: Idiots.

--from the Rookie Writer, in a letter of encouragement to Anna after the whole terrible porn incident:  Dear Anna,
Sorry about what happened in class. I hope you are okay. I packed you a care package will with hard candy and a CosmoGirl to make you feel better. If you ever need revenge on Ben I'm the girl to call. Inclosed is an envolope with top secret plans to bring Ben down!!!!!

And these are just a FEW examples of comments that made me smile!!!!!!

Anyway, y'all have given ME so much; now I want to return the favor.  

That's right, I want to give some special duckies RUNNER UP PRIZES!!!!!  

Here's how it works:  if you want to play, send me a message on the ducky contest site.  I will then send you a DUCKY QUIZ.  (Yes, you have to have read the book in order to have a shot at a good score!)  If you get 90% or more of the questions right, then I WILL SEND YOU, AS AN iTUNES GIFT, A SONG OF MY CHOOSING FROM CARLY'S ULTRA-FABULOUS HIPPIE-DIPPY PLAYLIST!!!!  Yessir, you will own a piece of the magic, people!!!!!

So if you want to take the quiz...lemme know!  But please, darling duckies, NO CHEATING.  There are nearly 700 of you quackers out there, which I think is groovy beyond words, but, um...yeah.  I'm not in it to go broke, ya know?  So, take the quiz ON YER OWN and DON'T SHARE THE QUESTIONS *or* YOUR ANSWERS, K?


I just want to reward those hardcore duckie fans who deserve it!!!! 

Hey duckies!!!! Julia here, Lauren's contest administrator, with the RESULTS OF THE CONTEST!!!!! And the crowds go wild!!!!

OMG, hats off to everyone who participated. Those of you who competed in the challenge made my job very rewarding by giving me the opportunity to see what bright, smart, funny young adults (and adults too!) YOU all are!! I feel very special to have read all of your Challenge response and enjoyed my time with the contest very, very much! [LM says: I agree! Holy pickles, YES!!!!]

694 Peace Love and Baby Duck lovers entered the contest earning a GRAND TOTAL of 4,096 duckies!!! WOW! That is a lot of duckies! I am so impressed by all of your hard work and dedication to this contest! Kudos!

Everyone who entered the contest had a shot of winning, but the more duckies you earned, the GREATER YOUR CHANCES were. So this is how the drawing went: for each duck that you earned, I put YOUR name on 1 ticket. If you have 6 ducks, then your name went into the drawing six times, on six separate tickets. Get it?

I filled out 4,096 tickets. (Thanks for my roomies' help, you ladies rock! [LM: I agree!!!! Julia's roomies, mwah!]), Then I placed them in a giant Macy’s bag, stirring if and shuffling for 2:40 seconds (as long as my favorite Missy Higgins song). As I was shuffling the tickets around, I began to think about how nervous I was to pull out a ticket. I mean, everyone worked sooooooooooooo hard on these challenges, and I just wanted everyone to win. [LM: yep, with you there again, Miz Julia. I've been SO NERVOUS, too!]

But, it had to be done. A single winner had to be picked. So when my favorite song was over, I reached in the bag while taking a DEEP BREATH (relaxation technique, that works!). I pulled out a red torn edge ticket…..drum roll please, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-ching! It was KAUSHIKA!!!

Congrats, Kaushika for your hard work in the contest! [LM: Yes!!!! Kaushika, yay, you!!!!!!!] Please send Lauren a message to find out how to claim your PRIZE!

Again, EVERYONE worked really hard. I am so proud of you. [LM: ME, TOO, in a huge big smushy way.] Hope you had fun!!!!

[LM: P.S. If you want to leave your own message of congrats for Kaushika, I've made a blog post specifically for that!]

Still waiting for contest results...

While we wait, check out Lexi's cool playlist of her fave songs. I'm going to do one for Carly. Y'all should make your own and post 'em--then tell us what you listed. Maybe we can all learn some new fab tunes!!!!

I've also gone ahead and posted a new snippet from Peace, Love and Baby Ducks, just for the heck of it. I'd love to hear what you think! (And, bonus question: How do we feel about Urban Outfitters? Disagreeing--respectfully!--is of course allowed.)

“Life is short and we have never too much time for
gladdening the hearts of those
who are traveling the dark journey with us.
Oh, be swift to love, make haste to be kind!”
—HENRI-FRÉDÉRIC AMIEL

It's time for the VERY LAST CONTEST CHALLENGE!

I'll make it simple (ish):

1)  Read today's excerpt on the contest site.
2)  Have deep meaningful thoughts.  For example, you might think to yourself, "Hmmm.  What do *I* make of this world of ours?  What do I think we're here for, if indeed we're here for anything?" 
3)  Next, go watch the contest vid called "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood."  It has to do with spirituality and God and stuff like that.  Do not be scared.  Leave a comment about the video if you're so inclined.  Comments = fun!
4)  Think MORE deep thoughts.  Perhaps, following up on all of your "what is life's purpose" musings, you will even think to yourself, "HOW WILL I MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE TODAY?!"
5)  Do it.  Do that thing to make the world better.  It can be small; it can be nearly invisible.  It certainly doesnt have to be earth-shattering.  Just do it.
6)  Finally, report back by commenting to the blog entry called, "Hi, world!  It's me!"  (It's cheesy.  Deal with it.  A little cheese is good for the soul...)

Now, you're changing the world for the better because it's an intrinsically worthy thing to do...but you'll get an extrinsic reward as well, don't you worry.  Complete this LAST DUCKY CHALLENGE and receive 17 lovely sweet duckies!!!!!

Squeeee! The Duckies of Love Contest ends tomorrow!!!!! All who have been playing--y'all are amazing-awesome-creative-adorable-fantabulous. Seriously, it has been so fun hearing y'all's thoughts, seeing your creations, and getting a glimpse of your incredibleness.

Today's challenge:

Read the new excerpt from Peace, Love and Baby Ducks.

Then, leave a comment on the blog entry called "The Trouble with Guys."  Your comment should address one of the following questions:
--what do you predict for Carly and Cole?
--have you ever liked the "wrong" guy, only you secretly knew he was the "right" guy?
--have you ever liked the right guy only to have him turn out to be the wrong guy?
--WHY ARE BOYS SO COMPLICATED?!  WHY ARE WE SO COMPLICATED?!!
(of course, if you're a guy and answering these questions, you can switch the pronouns to fit your needs.  same if you're gay rather than straight.  just make it work for you!)

Completing this challenge will earn ya 13 golden duckies!

Also!  Bonus!  If you haven't yet done sol, go check out Li'l Dub's super-fun and totally not the slightest bit boring (as sometimes interviews are) write-up on ducks and life and books.  There's a hidden chance at winning a signed copy of Peace, Love and Baby Ducks in it, if you look hard enough!

Hola!!!!  Duckies of my heart, I salute you!

First of all, go check out Li'l Dub's super-fun and totally not the slightest bit boring (as sometimes interviews are) write-up on ducks and life and books.  There's a hidden chance at winning a signed copy of Peace, Love and Baby Ducks in it, if you look hard enough!

Then, if you're participating in the Duckies of Love contest (and if you're not, what's your problem?!), here's your next challenge:

Read today's excerpt from the novel, which involves porn.  (I wrote that really small as to not scare off parent peeps.  But anyway, there is no real porn, just oblique-ish references to it.  Kinda.  In a very embarrassing way to poor Anna.

Yesterday, y'all wrote (the most brilliant, btw) letters of support to Carly about her worst-ever hairdo in which Jerr dyed Carly's hair the color of early-morning urine.  Today?  It's time to give your kindest words of wisdom to Anna:  about the porn situation, about the whole dynamic of being rescued by her sis, about her parents' reaction...about ALL of it.  You can post your letter to Anna as a comment to the blog entry called "It's Not Easy Being Green Anna."

Cuz sure, Carly's dealing with some tough stuff, being the older sis of a suddenly super hot younger sis.  But it's not as if Anna's just cruising through all these changes without a care in the world.  SHE NEEDS YOUR LOVE, PEOPLE!

And for your trouble?  15 golden duckies!!!!!

Three days left, peoples!!!!!  And then the contest winner will be picked!!!!

Challenge #13: 

Read today's excerpt about Carly's nightmare haircut.  Then, pretend you are talking to Carly afterward in the bathroom of a ritzy country club.  Your goal is to comfort her...or offer perspective...or brainstorm coping strategies...or make her feel better however you can!!!!!

Post your words of wisdom on the contest site.  I'll set up a "Words of Wisdom" blog entry!

It sucks to feel "less than," doesn't it?  Yes, it does.

It feels cheesy to be all Polly Sunshine-y sometimes, doesn't it?  Yes, it does.  BUT WE MUST FIGHT IT!  Cheese is okay.  Sunshine is okay.  Even--gird yourself--even random acts of kindness are OKAY, and grumps who make obnoxious faces can do it on their own time.

Challenge #12:  Read the latest excerpt from my new novel, Peace, Love and Baby Ducks.  Blog about it on the contest web site by telling me what it means/says to YOU.  Then, make the world a better place by giving someone a compliment on how fabulous they look.  Be genuine.  Be brave.  Sometimes it's scary to be generous, but you can do it.  And then add that part--about what you did and whom you complimented--to your blog entry, too.  But maybe use fake names so as not to potentially embarrass anyone?  Cuz as you'll see when you read the excerpt, it totally has to do with owwie hot buttons like skinny versus fat, slender versus curvy, all those messy slimepits we girls and ladies can so easily get sucked into.

Here's to a more loving world!  Challenge reward?  11 duckies, beautiful JUST AS THEY ARE!

(Wanna earn some bonus duckies?  Bring someone new into our ducky circle!  When they sign up, tell them to email Julia M. and say, "_____ sent me!"  Julia will give you and your new ducky bud 5 ducks apiece!)

Okay, so those of y'all who have ESP know that I have kind of...well, kind of a thing for Al Roker. Cuz he's so sweet!  And smiley!  And he loves his family!  Oh, and he loves books.  All cool peeps love books, right?  AND, my first time in NY, way five thousand years ago, my editor said, "Don't look now, but Al Roker is at the table behind us."  So I whipped my head around very unsubtly, of course, and sure enough, there he was!  Just chillin'.  But it was my first "star sighting," and it made me feel VERY New York. 


Chapter Two in My Life with Al was when I gave him a cameo in How to Be Bad, the novel I wrote with E. "the Lips" Lockhart and Sarah "Killer" Mlynowski.  (And which I love and am so proud of and you should read!)
Chapter Three in My Life with Al took place this past Tuesday night, when he took part in the Children's Choice Book Awards ceremony!!!!  And he was just as adorable and classy as ever, BUT HE SNUCK OFF BEFORE I GOT TO SAY A REAL "HELLO" TO HIM, THE RAT.  Apparently he has some really nutty day job that requires him to go to bed early...

But when I got back to Colorado, I found this most amazing bouquet waiting for me:



I mean, seriously.  SERIOUSLY.  Is that not the most FAB bouquet ever?

Alas, it wasn't Al who sent it to me; it was from the super sweet peeps at Dutton, who are the peeps who publish the "Winnie Years" books.  (And really, "alas" isn't the right word.  The right word is yaaaay!  And thank you super sweet Dutton peeps!  But I'm just sayin':  the flowers, while adorned with Al, did not come from Al.)

Today is PUB DAY!  For y'all not in the biz (I just said that to be cheesy, by the way), that means that Peace, Love and Baby Ducks, which I worked soooooo hard on and am soooooo proud of, is finally available in bookstores!!!!!!

Wanna know something else cool?  My publishers did something nifty:  they had me sign a certain number of copies and then THEY HID THEM IN BOOKSTORES ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.  Is that groovy or what?  (Me?  I think it's groovy with a capital GROOVE!)

So...for challenge #10...IF you find yourself the proud owner of a signed copy, take a pic of the title page (where my autograph is) and post it to the contest site.  This one's luck of the draw, I know, but it's worth 10 duckies! 

I'll leave you with this, because the super cool girls I met in NY said that I need to let y'all have a taste of some of the HORMONES whizzing around the novel.  Okay, that came out sounding a little...wrong.  Nonetheless, from Peace, Love and Baby Ducks:

By 8:01, I am in a state of near apoplexy. I can’t wait till I get my license
and can drive myself to school, because I will leave Anna behind, and too
bad for her.
“Anna!” I complain as she sighs and mopes and roots through
the pantry for something to eat. “We have to go. We’re going to be
late!”
“Carly’s right,” Mom says. “Grab a protein bar and let’s go.”
“I don’t want a protein bar,” Anna says.
“I have a French essay to turn in,” I say to the air. “She’ll give me
a zero if it’s late.”
“Wasn’t it due yesterday?” Mom asks.
“Yes, but I left it at home. She said she’d give me until this
morning.”
“Hmm,” Mom says, and the message is: Guess you should have
turned it in on time, huh?
At last, we load up into Mom’s BMW and drive to school. Mom
drops us off, and I sprint up the outside stairs and into Grady Hall,
where the girls’ homerooms are. Madame d’Aubigné’s room is on
the third floor, but Madame d’Aubigné is nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s Madame d’Aubigné?” I ask Caitlin, who’s in the front
row pressing a jewel into the polish on one of her nails.
“She went to the office,” Caitlin says.
I jog back down to the first floor.
“Hi,” I say to the secretary. The last time we exchanged pleasant-
ries was when Anna was sent here for looking at porn. “Is Madame
d’Aubigné here?”
“Have a seat,” the secretary says. “She’s making some copies.”
I hear the whir-whir-whir of the Xerox machine. I slip off my
backpack and drop into one of the plush leather chairs.
“Are you here to register for the Summer Expo?” asks Jackie
Owens from my PE class.
“Huh?” I say. I didn’t realize there was anyone else in the office
but me, but there Jackie is, sitting primly in a worsted wool skirt.
Actually, I have no idea if it’s worsted wool. Worsted wool just seems
like something Jackie would wear.
“The Summer Expo. Enrichment activities for the summer.”
“It’s November,” I say.
“Which is why it’s time to start planning. If you don’t, all the
good programs get filled.”
“Uh, okay.”
“You cannot waste a whole summer,” Jackie says. “Summer in-
ternships are the kinds of things they’ll look for on your college
applications.”
“I already did one,” I say. “This past summer, I volunteered for
the Student Conservation Association.”
Jackie’s not letting this go. She’s earnest as she says, “You need
to do an enrichment activity every summer. One enrichment activity
doesn’t cut it. Do you realize we’ll be seniors in less than two years?
Do you realize how competitive college admissions are?”
I make an aaargh sound and put my head in my hands. I can do
this with Jackie because Jackie’s not the kind of person who notices
when someone makes aaargh sounds. At least, not when college
admissions are being discussed.
“I’m thinking Vanderbilt, Davidson, and UVA,” Jackie says.
“Safety: Savannah College. What about you?”
“Gross. Blech. Boring. This is not what I want to talk about.”
“The decisions you make now will affect the rest of your life,
Carly.”
“Anyway, I might not even apply.”
“To college?” Jackie laughs. “Yeah, right.”
“Maybe I’ll take a year off. Maybe I’ll get a Eurorail pass and
travel around Europe.”
“When has anybody from Holy Redeemer not gone straight to
college? Can you name one example?”
I don’t have to think about it, because no, I can’t. Two years ago,
Harriet Mackey told her parents she’d sent in her acceptance forms
to Kenyon, when in truth she hadn’t, that rebel. Her parents didn’t
find out until the registration check didn’t go through. Right away
her father called Kenyon and explained the “mistake,” and every-
thing got worked out. Peyton, who lives in Harriet’s neighborhood,
says that whenever Harriet comes home, she says, “I love Kenyon so
much. I’m having the best time.”
“So that means I’m not allowed?” I say to Jackie. “I have to go to
college straight out of high school just like everybody else?”
“Uh, yeah,” Jackie says. “If you want to make anything of your-
self, you do.”
A guy I’ve never seen before steps into the office. My heart stops,
and then it soars back fast and fluttery. Because he’s my age (ish),
and he’s gorgeous. Not in a button-down and khakis way, like the
majority of the guys at Holy Redeemer, and not in a fake-grunge
way or a jock way. He’s just. . .
Whew. The air goes out of me.
“Carly. You’re staring,” Jackie says under her breath. But she
is, too.
The guy’s got blue eyes, dirty-blond hair, and a faraway expres-
sion. He’s very James Dean in his jeans and T-shirt, only his jeans
fit him a whole lot better than James Dean’s ever did. James Dean
wore his jeans too high. In those posters of him, they’re, like, up to
his waist. But this guy wears his jeans just right. They do what good
jeans should do, which is make his butt look amazingly, fabulously,
adorably guy.
“Hey,” he says to the secretary. “I’m supposed to check in with
Mr. Perkins and get my books.” His voice is low-pitched and sure.
“He dips,” Jackie whispers, jerking her chin at the telltale round
outline of a tobacco tin in his jeans pocket. Dipping, in Buckhead,
is the equivalent of sneezing all over the salad bar at the Lone Star
Steakhouse. It’s trashy, it’s tacky, and it just isn’t done.
“He’s beautiful,” I whisper back.
“You must be Cole,” the secretary says. She stands and smiles.
“We’re so glad to have you. Come this way, I’ll show you to the
headmaster’s office.”
“Yeah, okay,” he says.
Jackie straightens her shoulders and says loudly, “So anyway,
I think you should really consider the Summer Expo. You could
go to D.C. and be part of the mock congress. Or you could do
a summer intensive at Fidelity Bank and learn about investment
portfolios.”
Cole glances at us. His eyes skim over Jackie—I swear they do,
they skim right over her—and land on me. I’m filled with unex-
pected courage, and I try to convey through the air that I am more
than I appear.
“I would rather eat my own shoes than learn all about invest-
ment portfolios,” I say, still holding Cole’s gaze.
He grins, and my blood dizzies.
Holy cats, I think I’m falling for this guy. Or rather, I think I already
have.
And hard.

THIRTEEN won the Children's Choice Book Award!!!!!!  And Al Roker talked about it on "The Today Show!" 






I am so so SO thrilled--and I give y'all *all* the credit.  Cuz y'all are the tweens and teens who voted, you sweet muffins.  Yaaaaaaaaaaaay!