about the Contributors

Steve Almond’s story collection, My Life in Heavy Metal (Grove, 2002), is out in paperback. His stories have been anthologized in the Pushcart Prize 2003, Best New Stories from the South, Best of Zoetrope, Best American Erotica, and elsewhere. His new book, Candyfreak: A Journey Through the Chocolate Underbelly of America, is just out from Algonquin. It’s a non-fiction project about obscure candy bars. He cowrote Which Brings Me to You: A Novel in Confessions with Julianna Baggott, also to be published by Algonquin. For more information, check out www.stevenalmond.com.

The inspiration for “The Day I Turned Chickenhearted”: “Everything you are in life, you are at sixteen. Only more.”

M. T. Anderson is the author of three novels for teens and several books for children. His most recent novel, Feed (Candlewick Press, 2002), won the Los Angeles Times Book Award and was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award.

The inspiration for “The Mud and Fever Dialogues”: “Pyrrho, Empedocles, and Anaxarchus were all real philosophers; this story is based loosely on stories of their lives and teachings. Though Pyrrho could never be convinced that the universe actually existed, he lived to the ripe old age of ninety.”

Julianna Baggott is the author of the national bestselling novel Girl Talk (Pocket Books, 2001), The Miss America Family (Pocket Books, 2002), and The Madam (Atria Books, 2003), as well as a book of poems entitled This Country of Mothers (Southern Illinois University Press, 2001). She has also contributed dozens of short stories and poems to such publications as Ms., Poetry, and Best American Poetry 2000, and has read her work on NPR’s Talk of the Nation. Her next book, Which Brings Me to You: A Novel in Confessions was cowritten with Steve Almond and will be published by Algonquin. She is currently working on her first novel for young adults, The Anybodies.

The inspiration for “The Future Lives of Emily Milty”: “My own life didn’t inspire my short story. I don’t find my own life very inspiring, which in some ways is a lot like my character, Emily Milty, which makes the first statement ironic. My memories of sixteen are blurry, but that’s probably because I was partially blinded by eyeliner and my nauseous infatuation with Paul ‘Augie’ Augustine.”

Cat Bauer’s first novel, Harley, Like a Person (Winslow, 2000), was an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults, a Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, and a Popular Paperback. It was also selected as a Booklist Top Ten Youth First Novel, a Bookreporter Top Ten Teen First Novel, and a BookSense 76 Pick. In Europe, Harley is published in Danish, as Harlekindukken, and in Dutch, as Harley, Niet de Motor. A former actress, Cat now lives in Venice, Italy, where she contributes regularly to the International Herald Tribune’s Italian supplement. She is also working on her next novel, which spans two continents. Visit her website, www.catbauer.com. “Venetian Fan” is dedicated to Spencer Davis.

The inspiration for “Venetian Fan”: “Cold cuts catered by Uncle Phil straight from the meat department at the A&P— that’s what I remember about my sixteenth birthday. I was born in July, so I had a pool party. Sunglasses and bathing suits. Girlfriends. Some relatives. Probably my boyfriend showed up. A typical suburban New Jersey scene, nothing like my story. ‘Venetian Fan’ was inspired by the Titian fresco of St. Christopher in the Palazzo Ducale in Venice, where I now live. I imagined what it would feel like to be alone in a foreign country on your sixteenth birthday—a thrilling, awkward crossroad between childhood and adult.”

Tanuja Desai Hidier’s first novel, Born Confused (Scholastic, 2002), is both a Larry King and a Sunday Times (London) book of the week, and an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults. She has been a recipient of the London Writers Award for fiction as well as the James Jones Fellowship; in 2003 her short story “Tiger, Tiger” was included in the Desilicious anthology (Arsenal Pulp Press). She has also worked as a film-maker and is the lead singer/songwriter in two bands, one in New York, the other in London. Their CD of original pop/rock/folk songs based on Born Confused (including the track that led to this story) is now available. Please visit www.ABCreativeD.com for more information.

The inspiration for “Cowgirls & Indie Boys”: “As for Sulekha, sixteen for me was a borderline: neither here nor there yet everywhere. I was so delighted when Megan asked me to contribute to this anthology, as it allowed me to re-explore that epic moment. I’m deeply interested in the idea of borders—physical, mental, sexual—and of home, possibly because as a child of parents who immigrated from South Africa and India (though probably for a lot of people, regardless of where they’re from), the idea of home was and is such a complex one. At sixteen add in the fact that your body and mind are in the midst of such massive changes, your very tools to navigate the world need to be mapped anew as well. Sweet? Bitter? All of that, and everything in between.”

Sarah Dessen is the author of five novels, including This Lullaby (Viking, 2002), a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist, and That Summer (Orchard, 1996) and Someone Like You (Viking, 1998), which were adapted into the 2003 film How to Deal. Her latest novel is The Truth About Forever (Viking, 2004). She lives in North Carolina. Visit her at www.sarahdessen.com.

The inspiration for “Infinity”: “My family has a summer house in Massachusetts, where I first experienced my own rotary panic. Even now, when I approach one, I still have a moment when the whole thing just seems entirely too daunting. So I’d always wanted to write about it. I think getting your license is like a lot of things in adolescence: incredibly liberating and really scary at the same time. New responsibilities always bring new dangers. What really matters, in the end, is how you learn to face them. That’s what growing up is all about.”

Emma Forrest, a Brit living in Manhattan, began her writing career at age sixteen as a journalist at the Sunday Times of London. In the intervening decade she has contributed to numerous publications, from The Guardian to Vogue, specializing in no-holds-barred interviews with celebrities like Kate Winslet (whom she made cry) and Brad Pitt (who commissioned her to write a script). She is the author of the novels Namedropper (Scribner, 2000) and Thin Skin (MTV/Pocket, 2003), and her latest novel, Cherries in the Snow, to be published by Three Rivers Press.

The inspiration for “The Grief Diet”: “ ‘The Grief Diet’ was inspired by the dark places you can wander into if you only ever listen to your music through headphones.”

David Levithan is the author of Boy Meets Boy (Knopf, 2003) and The Realm of Possibility, which will be published by Knopf in 2004. He grew up in New Jersey, lives in New Jersey, and just might spend the rest of his life in New Jersey if he’s not careful. At age sixteen, he was involved in the fencing team, Junior Statesmen, Quiz Bowl, and took AP Physics. All of which is pretty funny now. Especially the AP Physics. Visit him at www.davidlevithan.com.

The inspiration for “The Alumni Interview”: “I think sixteen is that year when it finally sinks in that you’re growing up, that life is changing quickly, that home isn’t going to always be home, and that love has a deeper meaning than you ever imagined. For whatever reason, this made me think of alumni interviews—that first nervous step toward college and the future. Intersect that with love and identity, and you have the cross-roads of sixteen.”

Carolyn Mackler is the author of the acclaimed The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book and an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults. Her first novel, Love and Other Four-Letter Words, was an ALA Quick Pick and an International Reading Association Young Adults’ Choice. Her third novel, Vegan Virgin Valentine , will be published by Candlewick Press. Carolyn lives with her husband in New York City. Visit her online at www.carolynmackler.com.

The inspiration for “Mona Lisa, Jesus, Chad, and Me”: One of the things about growing up for which I was least prepared was that some friends slipped away. There wasn’t even a falling-out. It was usually just a drifting apart, developing different views on sex, guys, life, religion, and love. But it didn’t hurt any less. And it always took me a while to sort through what it meant to let friends go and accept that they may never come back.”

Sonya Sones is the author of Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy (HarperCollins, 1999), a novel-in-verse for teens, which has received a Christopher Award, the Myra Cohn Livingston Award for Poetry, the Claudia Lewis Poetry Award, and the Gradiva Poetry Award, and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Her second novel-in-verse, What My Mother Doesn’t Know (Simon and Schuster, 2001), was named an International Reading Association Young Adult Choice, a Booklist Editor’s Choice, and a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, and was placed on the Texas Lone Star Reading List, as well as being nominated for ten state awards. Both novels were chosen by the American Library Association as Best Books for Young Adults and Top Ten Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. Her newest novel-in-verse is One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies (Simon and Schuster, 2004). Find out more at www.sonyasones.com.

The inspiration for “Cat Got Your Tongue?”: “For me, turning sixteen meant finally, finally getting my driver’s license! “Cat Got Your Tongue?” was inspired by something that actually happened to me when I was much older than sixteen, but it was fun to imagine how I might have reacted if the same thing had happened on the very day that I had first gotten my license.”

Zoe Trope is the pseudonym for a seventeen-year-old writer in Oregon. She is the author of Please Don’t Kill the Freshman (HarperTempest, 2003), a memoir of her high-school years. For her sixteenth birthday, she ate a gyro, went bowling, and read magazines with a friend. You can reach her via e-mail at zoe_trope@hotmail.com or read her blog at www.zoe-trope.com.

The inspiration for “Relent/Persist”: “You will never love anyone like you loved at sixteen. Nothing can ever compare.”

Ned Vizzini began his writing career in high school in the late nineties. He is the author of Teen Angst? Naaah (Free Spirit, 2000) and the forthcoming novel Be More Chill (Hyper-ion/Miramax Books, 2004). Teen Angst? Naaah . . . was honored by New York Is Book Country, BookSense, the American Library Association, and the New York Public Library. Ned maintains nedvizzini.com and does his best to keep up with the loving contingent of dorks and rejects who e-mail him through the site (you can, too). He lives in Park Slope, New York.

The inspiration for “Rutford Becomes a Man”: “When I was about sixteen, I had very elaborate conspiracy theories about how the Cool (with a capital C) people ran the world and made a concerted effort to baffle and shame the Uncool people. I told my dad about this, and he told me I needed to get to a shrink; furthermore, if I were in the Wild West, he said, he would just send me to the whorehouse and I’d turn out fine.

Joseph Weisberg’s 10th Grade (Random House, 2002) was named one of the Top Ten Novels of 2002 by Entertainment Weekly. It was also a New York Times Notable Book and won the Young Adult Library Association’s Alex Award for adult novels that appeal to teenage readers. Joseph’s work has also appeared in Slate, Glamour, and a Chinese magazine with an untranslatable name.

The inspiration for “Kissing Lessons”: “Sixteen was a big year for me because it was slightly less bad than all the years that came before it.”

Jacqueline Woodson is the author of a number of novels for children and young adults. She has received numerous awards, including a National Book Award, a Boston Globe/Horn Book Award, and the Coretta Scott King Award. She lives in Brooklyn with her partner and young daughter.

The inspiration for “Nebraska 99”: “When I was growing up in Brooklyn, sixteen was about becoming a real girl—and all that that implied. I knew at sixteen that I would never be this femmie girlie-girl that the world thought I should be. It was a year of struggle, compromise, and, eventually, a year where I came to accept who I was becoming.”