Teen Experience Quotes

Jughead, to me, was reflective of a teen experience that made a lot of sense to me.

When I was in eighth grade, I created a Backstreet Boys fan site. I came in third place in a fan site contest and got to meet them.

As a teen, I heard the second Velvet Underground album, 'White Light/White Heat,' and it was too much for my limited scope of appreciation. It was intense, but I didn't get it.

I just felt being part of my peer group so strongly. I was immersed in teen culture, but not taken in by it.

I certainly witnessed bullying as a teen in both a small and a big school setting. I feel like it is a universal topic.

With 'Pariah,' at the time, I had just come out. I had a coming out experience, and I was writing about it, transposing my experience as an adult: What would it have been like if I had been a teenager in Brooklyn? The funny thing was people thought I was from Brooklyn. I had to be like, 'No, I'm from Nashville.'

I think you've got to be able to relate to what teens are going through.

I'm incredibly flattered when people tell me that my books helped them through high school. Because of my own experience, the thought that something I wrote might help someone who felt the way I did when I was a teen...that's huge. It awes me.

I visualized high school as being like 'Saved By the Bell.' I decided I would do all the things they did on that show.