Teen Angst and Poetry

I've gone back to middle school!
Does that sound like I'm telling you the nightmare I had last night? For me, it could have been. My middle school years were not pleasant, to say the least, but I haven't been dreaming about them. Thank goodness. Middle school has come back to me recently in a couple of other ways.

1. I just read the book Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman. I don't typically read non-fiction, but this book was so gripping I practically read it in one sitting. (It kept me up way past my bedtime.) It is a must read for writers with characters in this age group, all parents (especially those with daughters,) and anyone who just wants to understand those awkward years. (How's that for an understatement!)

2. I just visited Shepard Middle School, and will soon visit Caruso Middle School, to talk about writing. I was blown away by the talent and enthusiasm of these students! Some of them had story concepts that would make many agents and editors salivate. I think I'll hold on to the attendance list, because I have a feeling we all might be hearing from these kids in the future.

3. In preparing for above talk, I found my writing journal! The one I kept all through middle school and high school. I thought it was lost forever. But now all that teen angst is right there at my fingertips. Every emotion that passed through my body for seven years imortalized in bad poetry. Have you ever heard anything so exciting?

exhibit a:

exhibit b:
a trusting soul
trying to find
an interlocking soul
one that is
just the same
and very different
-jenny, age 15

Any of you care to relive grades six through eight with me?