Try Not to Skip This Intro
Don’t you usually want to just get to the heart of a book and not mess around with the introductory stuff? Okay, let’s do that.
The heart of this book is you.
You have questions, answers, great ideas and a few lousy ones, dreams and fears.
You might never want to leave your room in the morning or dread going home at night.
You might have a thing for the person sitting near you in math class. Maybe you can chat up anybody anywhere, or maybe you freeze if someone asks your name.
Perhaps you sit alone in the hallways at school during lunch, pretending you don’t mind because you’re busy on a cool phone. Or maybe you laugh and shriek with your friends so much that someone asks you to shut it already.
Sometimes you dream of doing something awesome that helps the entire world, and sometimes you can barely help yourself.
A teenager’s world has a whole lot going on, much more than most people realize.
So let’s talk about your world. Let’s have some fun with it, get serious when we need to, wonder and explore and not necessarily have all the answers.
Let’s ask questions and hear how other teenagers have answered them. Maybe you’ll hear the voice of a friend speaking, or a grandparent.
Or yourself.
You might listen to those voices and decide they’re not talking to you, or something might ring inside. Maybe you’ll say, “I don’t believe that” or “Yeah, that makes sense.”
This book will work to be honest, to be real. It will honor your strong spirit, your courage, your desire to do well, your fears and worries.
You didn’t skip the intro! (Totally okay if you just skimmed it.)