It's a period of dizzying change and newness. Dessen suggests that if adults can accept the extremes of feeling and action typical of the age, they may encourage youngsters to chart paths to self-discovery and stability rather than losing themselves in the wild urge to rebel."
Dessen can recall vividly what it was like to be an awkward child and teenager. When she was young, she was a very shy girl at school, "but as I got older I tended to gravitate towards friendships with girls who were more outgoing than myself," she said in Dream/Girl. Never thinking of herself as being as pretty or as popular as her friends, she did not have the best self-esteem, but in her reading she was attracted to strong heroines. As a young girl, two of her favorite books were Coming Attractions by Fannie Flagg and Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. Both books feature assertive, lively female protagonists. Her mother challenged her reading abilities by giving her books that were slightly above her reading level; they were often written by Southern writers and had strong female characters in them. Dessen not only liked to read, but she liked to write stories, too.
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