When I worked on the series of Real Deal books for Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, I was lucky enough to connect with then-teen author Dallas Woodburn. Dallas wrote two fantastic essays for the books I edited, and in the past five years, we’ve stayed in touch as Dallas went on to USC, graduated, and is now in a gap year between undergrad and an MFA program.

Besides the fact that Dallas is a great writer, one of things that’s always blown me away about her is that she’s always working on a zillion really cool projects to benefit children and teens centered around writing and creativity. She self-published her first book, a collection of stories and poems called There’s a Huge Pimple On My Nose at the age of 10, and her second collection of stories, 3 a.m., came out in 2005. She’s also run an annual Holiday Book Drive for the past seven years, speaks about writing to students, and runs her own summer writing camp for youth.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Dallas founded her organization, Write On! For Literacy, with the goal of encouraging kids to discovery joy, confidence, self-expression and connection with others through reading and writing endeavors. As part of Write On!, Dallas has formed Write On! Books, where she plans to publish collections of stories, poetry, and essays written by young people that are exciting, fun, and easy for young audiences to relate to.

Dallas is currently accepting submissions for Write On! Books at her website, so if you’re a writer in elementary, middle, or high school, and want to be considered, submit your best stuff here.

Congratulations on all you do for young people and creative expression, Dallas. You are truly an inspiration to Smart Girls everywhere!

The Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis is trying to raise public awareness about the number of homeless youth in the Twin Cities through new interactive art installations called Home is Where You Make It. Created by artists-in-residence Lauri Lyons and Tish Jones, the project gives homeless youth a chance to develop and display their artwork to a broad audience.

Participating homeless teens have been attending artist-led workshops and been supported in the act of writing personal narratives and shooting black and white portraits. Those portraits have been enlarged and mounted onto cardboard, where they’ve been assembled into 5’ x 7’ ‘houses’ on the street.

What a creative way to bring attention to the problem of youth homelessness! I volunteered with homeless teens in New York City when I lived there, and I always believed that if people really knew there were so many homeless teens, they would be motivated to support programs that work to remedy the problem. I love that the Home Is Where You Make It installation makes it hard to ignore what’s really going on with homeless teens in the Minneapolis area.

The installations will be set up through August 21. For a complete schedule, visit the website.

I’m excited to share that every night his week from 8-9pm EST (5-6pm PST), we’ll be broadcasting a live videochat where the “Louder Than Words” authors and I will be taking questions about the series, the issues the books deal with, what it’s like to be published as a teen, and much more.

The Louder Than Words online show is available for anyone to post in their blog or website, which means, anyone can host the show and chat. So, the show will be carried on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, as well as on book reviewers’ blogs and magazine sites like Teen Voices.

Oh yeah, and I’m airing it too, here on Smart Girls Know. So, you see the video below? Right now you can watch different promos from the show in that little screen. But tonight, at 8pm EST, it will go live and you’ll see yours truly talking about what it was like to create the series and work with such talented young authors.

Each night, Louder Than Words will feature a different theme. Here’s the whole schedule:

Monday, August 10, 8-9 p.m. ET – Deborah Reber, “How the Louder Than Words Series Came To Be”
How were the teen authors chosen? How were the books put together? How much of what happened is true? What has been the most fun part of the project for you? What’s been the hardest part? Are there more books coming? How can I be a Louder Than Words author?

Tuesday, August 11, 8-9 p.m. ET – Marni Bates, author of “Marni”, Compulsive Behavior and How the Internet Can Help
Marni Bates answers questions about her book, “Marni.” Marni has trichotillomania — a irresistible desire to pull out her own hair. What do you have? Marni discusses how the Internet helped her understand the problem, and also how she feels about having her secrets revealed in a book.

Wednesday, August 12, 8-9 p.m. ET – Emily Smucker, author of “Emily” – Sickness and Faith, Pickles and Cake
Emily Smucker will answer questions about what it’s like getting through senior year with a chronic illness. Emily is a Mennonite but, don’t worry, it’s not contagious. She’ll also talk about blogging and writing books.

Thursday, August 13, 8-9 p.m. ET – Chelsey Shannon, author of “Chelsey”, Assembling a New Life with Pieces from the Past
Chelsey Shannon talks about fashioning a new life for herself after her father was murdered a week before her 14th birthday and she had to move away from home and school. She’ll talk about overcoming grief, and how she discovered a group of women writers who helped her get over.

Friday, August 14, 8-9 p.m. ET – Deborah Reber – How to Break Into Publishing for Teen Writers
Description: On Friday, series editor Deborah Reber will answer questions about how teen writers can break into publishing.

*** If you have any questions you want to be sure get answered in the chat, email them to me and I’ll pass them along to the producer.***

Happy Monday!

I’m so excited to announce that the series of teen-authored memoirs I created and edited for HCI Books comes out today! Louder Than Words features three books written by three crazy-talented young women who share their personal, true stories and make their debut as published authors.

As part of the launch, next week we’ll be doing a 5-day online “TV show” that will be hosted on different blogs through Kyte TV. Starting Monday, August 10th, every night from 8-9 p.m. EST (5-6 p.m. PST), the authors and I will be doing a live videochat about the series and taking questions from readers. You can find out more and see a detailed schedule of the “shows” on the the Louder Than Words Facebook page.

To get the inside scoop on the series, read the teen authors’ blogs about their journey, watch a book trailer, and read excerpts from the girls’ books, visit the Louder Than Words website.

To become a fan on Facebook, go to the Louder Than Words Facebook page here.

And here’s a quick at the first three books in the series:

MARNI by Marni Bates, age 19

Unable to deal with the mounting stress at home, in school, and with friends, Marni’s compulsion to yank out her eyebrows, eyelashes…even the hair from the top of her head, helped her to quiet her mind and escape the pressures of the world around her. Marni first began pulling the summer just before entering high school, and she was immediately hooked. Unfortunately, by the time she discovered that her habit was an actual disorder – trichotillomania or “trich” – it was way too late.

“When I stared at the mirror and tried to recognize the girl without eyebrows, eyelashes, and bangs as myself and failed, I knew something had gone horribly wrong.”

CHELSEY by Chelsey Shannon, age 17

When her only surviving parent, her beloved father, was violently murdered before her fourteenth birthday, Chelsey’s life was forever changed. As she was forced to come to terms with a new home life, a new school…a new identity as an orphan, Chelsey struggled to make sense of her personal tragedy. Yet she found a way to flourish despite all the odds.

“Dad’s coming home tomorrow morning, I wanted to snap at them. I don’t know what you’re all talking about. Even so, I felt the world around me begin to slip away, my vision swimming as lightness filled my head. I couldn’t stand…I couldn’t think. Part of me, somewhere, knew that it was true.”

EMILY by Emily Smucker, age 19

Plagued with some sort of cold or fever or bizarre aches and pains for much of her life, Emily thought the dizziness and stomachaches at the start of her senior year were just another bout of “Emily flu.” But when they didn’t go away, she knew something was seriously wrong. Eventually diagnosed with the rare and incurable West Nile virus, Emily watched her senior year and the future she had planned for go up in smoke.

“I want a normal life for a teenager. I want to ache from a long day at work. I want to be so busy that I don’t have time to post on my blog. I want to run the race of my life instead of being pushed along it in a wheelchair. I want to be on the ride of my life, you know?”

Hello Smart Girls!

I’m am THRILLED to announce that the series of teen-authored memoirs I’ve been working on for the past year is almost ready to premiere! Louder Than Words hits stores on August 3rd, and in anticipation that, we just created a cool website for the series which went live today.

Because there are three AMAZING teen writers behind the first three books in the series, we wanted the website to give you chance to get to know them a little better. So, at the Louder Than Words website, each author has her own page where you can read about her book, check out her hand-selected book “soundtrack,” and read her blog. You can also read excerpts of each of the books and find out more about what went into the series, as well as learn how to apply to be a writer for future books. Visit the website here and let me know what you think!

Lastly, I put together a little book trailer for the series so you could hear about the books and the writing process in the authors’ own words. Watch it here!

We’ve got some really cool online promotional ideas brewing once the series comes out in August…I’ll post more when I have the details!

XOXO Debbie

I just watched a sneak peek of the new reality show on Bravo, NYC Prep, which premieres tomorrow night. Now, admittedly, I’m a reality show junkie. I love me some So You Think You Can Dance, American Idol, Project Runway, and yes, even The Hills and The Bachelor/Bachelorette. But I have a problem with NYC Prep.

The reality show follows the lives of a group of real NYC prep school students…kind of like Gossip Girl on steriods. Is there drama? Yes. Backstabbing? Yes. Drinking? Drugs? Casual sex? Yes, yes, and yes. Does this make for good entertainment? Of course it does.

But here’s my problem. The “stars” of this show are teenagers. Teenagers who are living out their lives, and experiencing their every high, and every inevitable low, on TV for the whole world to see. I shudder to think that the things I did in high school would ever be available for public consumption. While I had my moments of thoughtfulness and maturity, I also was plenty full of stupidity, selfishness, and ridiculousness. And yes, the teens starring in NYC Prep might believe they are all-knowing, mature, and aware of the possible effect their reality show stardom may have on their future, but seriously, the popularity of this show will ultimately be at their expense.

Why not a reality series about teens changing the world or being super athletes or overcoming difficult challenges? Can’t TV do better than another show that takes the most sensational aspects of teenhood and serves it up like a fast food combo meal?

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My apologies for the irregularity of posts and lack of images on my site in the past few weeks…I’ve been temporarily working out of New York and my Internet access has been spotty. I’m back in Seattle next week and will return to my regular Monday through Friday posts, complete with pictures, at that time!

As you know, I’m working on a series of teen-authored memoirs called Louder Than Words for HCI Books. So I was intrigued to read about SMITHTeens, a writing project featuring six-word memoirs written by teens.

That’s right. Your life story in six little words.

According to the website, SMITH is both a place for professional and never-before-published writers, artists, and photographers, bound together by a passion for storytelling.

Check out these six-word memoirs posted on the SMITHTeens website:

• I haven’t learned from my past. – by Kaida
• Maybe, hopefully, tomorrow will be different. – by Invisible Sunset
• My dad won’t be at graduation. by Still Small, Still Searching

I love the idea of these little memoirs. When you’ve got only six words to tell your story, you’ve got to make every one count. Not an easy task, to say the least. Which makes me wonder what my six words would be?

Keeping my eye on the goal. Nah. Too boring and predictable. Maybe: Living every day in the moment. Yeah, I like the sound of that. That’s my goal, anyway… I hope someday that really is my life story!

So how about you? What would your six little words be?

A new book for young girls recently landed in my inbox, and I wanted share it with all you Smart Girls out there. 113 Things to Do By 13 is described as “the go-to guide to life for young girls.”

What I like most about this book, besides the colorful and magazine-like interior, is that it was conceived of and co-written by a teen herself, 14 year old Brittany MacLeod. Brittany teamed up with her mom Terri to enlist more than 100 people (some famous, some not) to contribute their expertise and teen survival tips.

The book covers every imaginable topic, including things like: how to cope with bullying, mean girls, and gossip, tips for becoming involved, how-to’s for budgeting, body image advice, and how to communicate with parents.

To find out more and watch a video about the book, visit the website!

This week, teen social change organization Do Something honored five incredible social change agents as winners as their Do Something Awards. The awards recognize the difference these young people are making in the world, and gives each winner $10,000 to go towards the cause of their choice.

Each of the winners began their social change initiatives as teenagers, proving Do Something’s belief (and that of Smart Girls Know) that teenagers have the power to make a difference. Here is a quick look at the winners…I hope they inspire you the way they have me!

• Marvelyn Brown, age 24: The Marvelous Connections Tour – an activism tour about HIV/AIDS prevention and education. Marvelyn’s tour has resulted in more than 200,000 people getting tested for HIV.
• David Burstein, age 20: 18 in ’08 – a film and peer-to-peer effort to get 18 year olds to register to vote. This youth-run initiative contributed to the highest registration of 18-22 year old voters in history.
• Maggie Doyne, age 22: Kopila Valley Children’s Home – a children’s home for the most innocent victims of a decade-long civil war in Nepal. Maggie used her life-savings to buy the land and build the home following a graduation trip to Asia.
• Eric Glustrom, age 24: Educate! – a program that empowers the next generation of socially responsible leaders through scholarships, funding, leadership seminars, mentorships and more. Eric was inspired after a trip to film a documentary in Uganda at the age of 17.
• Darius Weems, age 19: Darius Goes West – a documentary Darius made about the realities of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy which has raised more than $1.6 million for research to find a cure.

Congratulations to all the winners! And to find out more, including how you apply for one of Do Something’s weekly $500 seed grants, visit the Do Something website.

Hello Smart Gals!

I just found out about a video contest sponsored by Action for Healthy Kids and Students Taking Charge, a new national program to motivate and empower high school students to take action to improve nutrition and opportunities for physical activity in their school, and to help themselves and their peers learn to be healthier.

The contests challenges students in 9-12 grade to create a video that tells the world how your students, teachers, groups, activities or classes at your high school make it easy for students to be healthy. The videos should be between 30 seconds and 2 minutes, and can be made in any style you want. Oh yeah, and they also must include a “red apple.” (Don’t ask me . . . check out the website for all the details.)

Creators of the winning videos will receive cash prizes, and their school will receive a donation in support of healthy activities or nutritional programs. Deadline for submission is June 1.

Good luck!